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resolvedVarious mentions on here over the years re Cumbrae. Thinking of going for a few days sometime this summer.
Any advice re accommodation? Getting there with bikes on the train? Any issues with bikes on the ferry? other places we should go around there?
The world expert on great cumbrae will be along in a minute. There is a bike shop on the island where you can hire bikes? The island is basically the town of Millport and a road around the island and a road over the top which is not too high. There is a little cafe the ritz, almost back at Millport at fintry bay if you go round anti-clockwise, near the Indian rock ( a cliff that looks a little like a Native American). There is also the crocodile rock, highlight. Joke shop, cafe we used to go to at night as kids on our own as the place has little traffic. There is a cathedral which I think you can stay in, I am guessing a youth hostel, lots of private holiday cottages, the George hotel. The ferry from Largs goes to a slipway a few miles from the town, regular bus, or easy cycle. Co-op, butchers, tennis court, golf course, lion rock, newer cafe stop nearer the ferry slip. Eleven miles round. More cars now alas than there used to be.
All of this info is from the year and indeed the day elvis died. However as it is the 1950s on great cumbrae it should still be up to date.
The Waverley paddle steamer sometimes gets you there from Glasgow. If it is running you can also get on at Millport and go elsewhere on the Clyde e.g bute or around ailsa craig There used to be a boat that docked at the pier in Millport too but that might have stopped.
There might be Sustrans route all the way to Largs from Edinburgh but there is a very steep hill down into Largs, the hailey brae. Nardinis in Largs is restored to glory.
You used to be able to book fishing trips, the skipper gave you a hand line but the big Ruskie factory ships have taken much of the cod.
Bowling club used to do weekly membership. Again this was 1978. Bound to be many Nick nack shops. Kayaking might be option. You can also maybe stay at the marine research place. Glasgow uni psych dept field trip always went there.
Garrison gardens is a nice park. Recently spruced up. The hut theatre/cinema might be gone.
The pancake place long gone.
It is a long time since I was last on Gt Cumbraebut here is what I wrote about it, including getting there.
Thanks Kim, at least that's this millennium! Sounds do-able.
I'm keen to have an update on traffic levels for the island... has anyone been recently? This is presumably still a day-out destination for Ayrshire families / schools / etc? Are traffic levels still at a level where this is a pleasant day out - or are they beginning to kill off the cycling?
Not intending to visit myself as I remember it as a bit small. Just interested because I think of Cumbrae as a place where families and kids used to get their first experience of using bikes for a nice trip. If it still plays that role it's interesting - and if traffic levels have killed this off we should talk about this.
Looks like bike hire is still alive and kicking (see Openstreetmap data using Overpass Turbo)
Recent observations welcome.
My mum who has been this millennium reports more cars.
When we went in the 1970s on regular basis for our summer hols it was largely traffic free.
For famille SRD who can all cycle good distances bute might be better. No joke shop though and unclear what the woolworth's in Rothesay has become.
"unclear what the woolworth's in Rothesay has become"
https://canmore.org.uk/site/310219/bute-rothesay-85-99-montague-street
That place will not sell me Denis Denis by blondie, a large jumbo rubber and some pic and mix
Bute - tell me more.
We're also thinking about Loch Lomond. Need to get a pannier rack on miniSRD's bike though so that she can carry some gear.
"tell me more"
It's quite nice.
It has a House https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Stuart_House (not to be confused with - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bute_House)
It used to have an electric railway!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothesay_and_Ettrick_Bay_Light_Railway
Arrive by boat from this station -
"Need to get a pannier rack on miniSRD's bike"
Easy.
Wemyss bay, classic Victorian station. Actually in Renfrewshire though the next village slelmorlie is Ayrshire
Bute bigger than cumbrae but smaller than Arran. Rothesay is the town, with castle. Mount Stuart the stately home of Johnny Dumfries.
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17TH AND 18TH OF SEPTEMBER 2016
Some people call it the Rothesay Weekend others the Bute Festival of Cycling. It's a weekend of bike racing with a friendly approachable atmosphere. We have road racing, a hill climb, two time-trials and a cyclocross race.
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Sorry about the delay, been busy with important stuff and trying to play a bend on the blow 7 hole of a harmonica. I'm not sure why you would want to as you get the same note from from drawing on that hole but the bend makes a nice sound when you hit it.
I was on Cumbrae two weeks ago. It's never very busy and the car drivers know to look out for people on bikes or just walking.
The Ritz doesn't sell chips.
You can see a speeded up highlights of the Brompton Birthday Bash here,
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It includes the Ferry Rd but not the Glaidstone. We back tracked a bit from Milport because some people had missed the ferry and we went round to meet them. It might give you an idea of how busy it is. You get great views from all round the island. There was a classic car show that day, you can see a purple Triumph, so it was probably busier than usual. Apparently the Morris Ital is now a classic.
I've never stayed there, more of a day trip from here.
It is always sunny on cumbrae and bute, as wee folding bike's footage shows. Though my recollections are from childhood holidays (and one Glasgow uni psych dept field trip in 1987). In the late 1970s the ritz did sell chips, you had to sit in and play the jukebox, place was full of kids without adults until bedtime. The cottage we stayed in was tiny. Two double beds in the bedroom and a sofa bed in the living space. One famous summer, probably 1977, our bad granny invited herself despite having had five saga holidays and an American trip that year. Mum and dad's friends were also staying so ended up with seven people crammed in with me sleeping on a camp bed in the kitchen alcove. Ah, but we were happy.
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The least expensive seaside towns were Port Bannatyne on Bute, Girvan, Campbeltown, Saltcoats, Stranraer, Invergordon in Easter Ross, Millport on Cumbrae, Rothesay, Thurso and Greenock.
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Went for a honeymoon in Rothesay. I'd always wanted to stay in the Glenburn. It was a wee bit run down but the stairs at the front are always impressive. The memsahib isn't keen on boats so I was lucky to get away with that one.
Maternal grandparents stayed in Saltcoats so I was often there in the summer for a few days, seemed longer. From second year in school I was allowed nip over there from Ayr for an afternoon, it's about 20 miles. There was almost nobody on the A78 in those days.
Just had an email from the headmistress of our village school who had been advised to cycle by her doctor to lose some weight but struggling to get going with it. She was very pleased with herself having spent a week's holiday on Cumbrae with a hired bike, working her way up till she was able to cycle all the way around the island. She has now bought a bike on her return and was enquiring about our summer rides. So Cumbrae must still be fairly novice friendly, even in the height of the tourist season.
She's now the second person I know who's used it as a jumping off point for cycling more generally, having been too nervous to start cycling around here. Possibly some combination of holiday time, a feeling that it's normal on the island, and the lure of being able to cycle all the way around something in a distance that's a challenge to a novice but not impossible.
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