Life changing events and Goatfell

[BobMcBob]

What a marvellous story.

[timmunro86]

What a great story to read. Thanks for sharing your family history with everyone. I especially like seeing the haggis photo, they are tricky beasts to get a pic of!

[dogplodder]

What a lovely story!

Thanks.

[dogplodder]

Yes a lovely story - and Arran is great - a real minature: but what were the midges like?
I had a cousin with a lovely sailing boat on the Clyde. One August, they dropped me off at Lochranza in the morning and sailed round to Lamlash, while I walked over Casteal Abhail, Cir Mhor and Goat fell, descended to the road and flagged down a bus - meeting them in the evening. But even on the top of Goat fell the midges were horrendous and I couldn't stop anywhere to have a bite to eat i've never experienced midges at such a height (before or since) but in general i've avoided the West highlands in August

Midges not too bad the day we were there. Higher up we had a pleasant breeze and lower down we just kept moving!

[mrssanta]

I really enjoyed reading that. It reminded me of the week I helped at an SU camp after my first year at Uni and discovered that residential camps with primary age girls was not my thing! But how lovely to climb Goat fell after all the years with both brothers.

[pollyh33]

Kathleen what another amazing story- sorry 'walk report' is an inadequate term for your posts!

I was engaged from start to finish. Who looked after you when you were left behind in Yorkshire? What is SU? And did you ever notice a wee scally wag constantly building sandcastles on the beach at Seamill?

When I was a child, Seamill was our default resort as soon as the sun came out. My mum and dad would bundle my brothers and sisters and a massive picnic (big tartan flasks featured heavily) down to our favourite spot for hours on end. Occasionally we would head for the bright lights of Saltcoats and try our luck on the Penny Falls in the amusement arcades.


And here's a strange thing. Me and my husband were in Saltcoats yesterday to get some fresh air and sunshine about ourselves and got talking to a elderly local man. He kindly helped me locate the site of the former King Kong amusements and the outdoor swimming pool. Anyway we got talking about Arran and he couldnt believe that we lived only 45mins up the road and had never been across to the island.

Needless to say a trip to Arran is very much on the cards, and I'll be rereading your account when this happens. Thanks once again Kathleen. X

[Caberfeidh]

Brilliant photos and nice story behind it all. I grew up in Ayrshire and would see Goat Fell, white with snow in winter and blue through a heat haze in summer, or a silhouette in varying shades from grey to deep purple in brooding sunsets. I moved to Aberdeenshire in my twenties and started a hillwalking, climbing and winter mountaineering life in the Cairngorms; despite being so keen on the hills I never climbed Goat Fell until I was in my mid-forties. I was quite pleasantly surprised at myself !

Planking at summit of Goat Fell

[Old Bill]

Lovely story!! Love the "then and now" photos!

[dogplodder]

What a marvellous story.

Thanks.

[dogplodder]

What a great story to read. Thanks for sharing your family history with everyone. I especially like seeing the haggis photo, they are tricky beasts to get a pic of!

Didn't really mean to share the family history but I guess it did turn out a bit that way! It's interesting the way hills become linked in our minds with stuff going on in life.... like a kind of anchor when all else changes but they stay the same.

[dogplodder]

I really enjoyed reading that. It reminded me of the week I helped at an SU camp after my first year at Uni and discovered that residential camps with primary age girls was not my thing! But how lovely to climb Goat fell after all the years with both brothers.

Residential girls camps not my thing either - but back in the day that was very much Moira's domain!

[dogplodder]

And did you ever notice a wee scally wag constantly building sandcastles on the beach at Seamill?

Needless to say a trip to Arran is very much on the cards, and I'll be rereading your account when this happens. Thanks once again Kathleen. X

And did you notice the scruffy Heinz variety mutt who nicked golf balls off the golf course and mooched for picnickers' sandwiches on the beach - back in the day when dogs could take themselves out for walks on their own? That was my dog Bruce and a cleverer dog you could not find.

You absolutely have to go to Arran! It claims to be Scotland in miniature - with a bit of everything!

[dogplodder]

Brilliant photos and nice story behind it all. I grew up in Ayrshire and would see Goat Fell, white with snow in winter and blue through a heat haze in summer, or a silhouette in varying shades from grey to deep purple in brooding sunsets. I moved to Aberdeenshire in my twenties and started a hillwalking, climbing and winter mountaineering life in the Cairngorms; despite being so keen on the hills I never climbed Goat Fell until I was in my mid-forties. I was quite pleasantly surprised at myself !

It's a good one to come back to. Love your description and so true.

[dogplodder]

Lovely story!! Love the "then and now" photos!

Thanks OB.

[The Rodmiester]

Great stuff there dogplodder, now I must follow you there. I've never been now it's a must go and hopefully very soon.
A brilliant story I'm off to read it again, thanks for posting, Rod