{"id":3169,"date":"2019-05-10T09:05:02","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T09:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aweewalk.com\/?p=3169"},"modified":"2019-06-11T20:15:59","modified_gmt":"2019-06-11T20:15:59","slug":"ardrishaig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/?p=3169","title":{"rendered":"Ardrishaig"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is where I\u2019m starting\u2014a depopulated village on Loch Fyne, which is one of the west coast\u2019s many \u201csea lochs,\u201d long arms of the Atlantic Ocean that invade the mainland like fjords. It took a little over three hours to get here from Glasgow by bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with all places of habitation in Scotland no matter the size, Ardrishaig is rich in history, and especially the history of the country\u2019s diaspora. Which we\u2019ll get into, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But first, here are a few statistics about this year\u2019s Great Outdoors Challenge, thoughtfully compiled by Sue Oxley and Ali Ogden, the event\u2019s indefatigable coordinators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 379 walkers from 16 countries. The vast majority are from the United Kingdom, but there are also 29 from the United States, 21 from the Netherlands, seven from Denmark, six from Canada, five from Germany, and one each from Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Uganda\u2014and the first person ever from Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The youngest walker is an 18-year-old man from Oregon. The oldest are a couple, the Borwits of Laurel, Maryland, whose combined age is 176. The median age looks to be about 60.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One person is making his 29th crossing, and another his 28th. (This is the 40th year of the event). 103 people are doing it for the first time. 77 people are leaving from the most popular starting point, a place called Shiel Bridge. Only five are leaving from Ardrishaig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which gets us back to the subject at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Looking south on Loch Fyne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The village is a couple of streets clinging longitudinally to the western shore of Loch Fyne. It has two hotels (only one of which\u2014mine, luckily\u2014serves dinner), two convenience stores, a \u201chair-and-health\u201d salon, a bar that appears to be closed, a flower shop, a second-hand store, a Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses Kingdom Hall, and lots of places for rent or sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directly across from the hotel, next to the loch, is a small memorial to James Chalmers, a missionary and son of Ardrishaig who was killed by natives in New Guinea in 1901\u2013a member of the diaspora who didn\u2019t fare well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Farther down the road is a cenotaph to the dead of the Great War, which every Scottish village has because none was untouched by that conflagration. Forty names are listed, the officers named first\u2014a protocol abandoned in late-constructed monuments because of complaints from veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The names include three John McGregors, and two Grahams (Hugh and Colin), who served in the New Zealand forces. Perhaps they were brothers who\u2019d emigrated together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The monument gazes at the loch, as the men it memorializes did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was still a little activity to be viewed, even after 5 o\u2019clock. I wandered down to the shore and found a 47-year-old fisherman named David Russell (camera-shy), who was power-washing his langoustine traps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Langoustine traps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The langoustines are off shedding and hiding for a month, so this is the time to pull the traps, scrape off the barnacles and slime, and make them look good (which they do).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a year-round fishery. Russell runs about 1,000 traps, which seemed like a lot to me, although he said some operations have more than 4,000. They\u2019re fished once every three days. The bait is hard-salted herring. Rotten or soft bait isn\u2019t used because the crabs take it all. Ten in a trap is a very good haul. The average size of his keepers is 100 grams (although frankly that didn\u2019t give me much of an idea of size). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shellfish are sold live, exclusively to Spain, he said. You mean I can\u2019t buy a dinner of langoustines here? I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot here you can\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when people from Scotland go to Spain, it\u2019s the first thing they order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Russell is Ardishraig\u2019s only fisherman. He said there used to be a big herring fleet here, but that fishery collapsed a half-century or more ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the harbor you could walk on boats all the way to the lighthouse,\u201d he said, pointing to a sea wall behind him. When I walked over and looked, there was one forlorn motorboat and five unused mooring balls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The harbor in Ardrishaig<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A canal enters Loch Fyne in Ardrishaig. It looks to be still operating, although too small for modern shipping. I\u2019m walking up it for part of today, so I may soon know more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

The Crinan Canal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Several sailboats were berthed in a basin near the first lock. Some were a few weekends short of presentable, but one was a showpiece. I admired it with an okay sign, and the owner, Jackie Kay, stepped out of the cabin to greet me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jackie Kay on Juliet Kilo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We talked for a bit and then, as it was cold, he invited me inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u201cI keep on top of everything. That way it\u2019s easy.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Kay is 80, a widower. He runs a small boatyard in town that specializes in refurbishing \u201cclassic boats\u201d\u2014wooden vessels from yesteryear. Among his accomplishments are two 26-foot steam launches, now plying the River Thames in private hands. He also builds small wooden boats, mostly dinghies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He built his boat himself. It took seven years. He\u2019s lived on it since his wife died, although he lived ashore in his house last winter and had the boat under cover, so he could get all the varnishing done at once. I told him I\u2019m always amazed when I see a wooden boat with spotless bright work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI keep on top of everything. That way it\u2019s easy,\u201d he said, although I was not entirely convinced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boat\u2019s name, Juliet Kilo, is the letter-naming protocol for \u201cJ\u201d and \u201cK,\u201d his initials. In the summer he takes it out for a sail \u201cabout once a fortnight,\u201d he said. He has three children, two of whom like to sail. I told him he was kind to interrupt his reading to invite a stranger aboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s always nice to hear a compliment on the boat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s still working, and I told him I might stop by his boatyard tomorrow to see it. He said that\u2019d be fine. But it won\u2019t happen, I\u2019m afraid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s time to walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Juliet Kilo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is where I\u2019m starting\u2014a depopulated village on Loch Fyne, which is one of the west coast\u2019s many \u201csea lochs,\u201d long arms of the Atlantic Ocean that invade the mainland like fjords. It took a little over three hours to get here from Glasgow by bus. As with all places of habitation in Scotland no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scotland4","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3169"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3638,"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169\/revisions\/3638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweewalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}