Cycling around Scotland's west coast and its many islands inevitably involves taking a lot of ferries. These are not just a means of bridging the watery miles but are a wonderful, and quintessentially Scottish, experience in their own right. I absolutely love using the ferries and my autumn cycling trip to Mull provided plenty of opportunities to do so. But I also had a ferry experience of a slightly different nature.
As I jumped off the Oban train at Connel and started cycling north along the beautiful coastal cycle path, I was en route to a very special event in Ballachulish. My friend Graham was holding a preview in the village hall of his new film. It's all about ferries! More precisely, it's about the ferries that operated on the Ballachulish crossing before the bridge was built. As I've helped a little with the film (and even made a cameo appearance), I feel quite attached to the project and was really looking forward to the preview.
The cycle north was idyllic. As I pedalled over fallen autumn leaves, the sea and the rugged peaks of Ardgour stretched out to my left. There was a nip in the air that said winter was just around the corner.
I arrived in Ballachulish with plenty of time to help Graham set up the hall and we opened the doors to a flood of people. By the time the film started, the hall was packed full. The event was a great success and quite an emotional evening as many folk who had fond memories of the ferries had attended, including many who'd appeared in the film. There was a lot of chat afterwards, no doubt as people exchanged their ferry stories.
With the film premier behind me, I set out cycling again, hopping onto the Ardnamurchan peninsula via the Corran ferry. It's a peculiar looking craft with its asymmetrical ramps, designed specifically for this short crossing south of Fort William. My road meandered west through Ardnamurchan's autumn woods and undulated along the shore of the sea loch, Loch Sunart.
The weather was what you might call "atmospheric". Showers of light rain and banks of mist drifted in off the sea and hung around the woods and lower slopes of the hills.
At the end of my road on Ardnamurchan, there was another ferry that made a rough crossing on a lively sea to Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. Unlike the big, sleek ferry that does the main Mull crossing, this little one bobbed around like a bathtub and made slow progress in the swell. Tobermory is Mull's largest town and its pretty harbour is one of the most famous views in Scotland.
From Tobermory I climbed on the skinniest of single track roads. It was steep but the reward at the top was a beautiful coastal view taking in Ulva, the neighbouring island, and the Treshnish Isles, which were scattered further offshore. My road then plummeted down to Mull's west coast. The rugged shoreline here was backed by the misty outlines of the big hills, such as Ben More, in the south of the island.
This was great cycling but my excitement ramped up even more as I approached my favourite stretch of road on Mull - the narrow coast road that hugs the shore below the Gribben Cliffs. The road is the narrowest shelf of land between sheer, rock cliffs and the wild sea. It must be closed at times in westerly storms when the road will surely be swamped by waves. I love to cycle here - it feels so wild, especially in the persistent atmospheric weather!
A further hill climb round the edge of the cliffs took me to Mull's east coast and an undulating ride to the small settlement of Craignure. Here I would catch my final ferry of the trip to Oban for the train home. What a stunning ferry journey it was. A drop in temperatures overnight had laid the first snow on the hills and they looked so beautiful - snow-capped peaks plunging into the sea.
On the ferry and with my bike secured on the car deck, I made my way to the upper lounge which provided warmth on a cold, cold day. It also provided a gorgeous view back to Mull's own snow-dusted hills as we pulled out into the open sea. The ferry passed the Lismore Lighthouse, almost close enough to touch, then negotiated offshore skerries to dock in Oban.
I'd time to kill before my train which was perfect because I love hanging out in Oban. It's the main hub for ferries to the Outer and Inner Hebrides so there's a constant air of coming and going, of journeys beginning and ending. So until my train was due, I sat on the promenade, watched the boats and soaked up some final ferry-ness.
Fact File
Finish: Craignure, Mull
Public transport: Return train to Oban but on the way up got off at Connel which links directly to the cycle path.
Route: From Connel used National Cycle Network 78 north to Ballahulish and onto Corran. Cycle main road west in Ardnamurchan (quiet in October) to Kilchoan then took the Tobermory ferry from here. From Tobermory cycled over to Dervaig then took the left after the bridge - a great little road. When I reached the west coast road, turned left and then right at Gruline to cycle to Craignure.
Info: Graham's film is called The Last Ferries of Ballachulish.
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