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08 Tiree to Montrose Other

Maps 52, 53, 54 – Tay Valley & Angus

Things seem to be looking up for Scotrail. On a day when the rest of the country was beset by more train strikes, Scotrail ran a normal service. And by normal, I don’t mean their emergency timetable of late; but their full blown reinstated timetable of yesteryear. So it’s nice to be able to report […]

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08 Tiree to Montrose Other

Maps 49, 50, 51 – Mull to Dull – a day of 2 halves

One of the many delights of this adventure, so far, has been that the vast majority of my cycling has been done on virtually empty, or at least very quiet roads, with respectful drivers when vehicles have appeared. There have been a few exceptions; but really there are not many of the roads so far […]

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08 Tiree to Montrose Other

Maps 48 & 49: Staffa, Iona and back to Oban

Today was perhaps the warmest and sunniest day of cycling I have experienced on this trip so far in Scotland. I even wore sun cream. Well, you can’t be too careful. But it truly felt that warm. A perfect day, then, for a morning’s excursion to Staffa and the famous Fingal’s Cave. After the Giant’s […]

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08 Tiree to Montrose Other

What’s the story in Balamory?

There can be few more beautiful towns in Scotland, perhaps anywhere, than Tobermory. It even has a great name. And it sits squarely in OS map 47, which I wasn’t in, or even next to, having left Coll and map 46 by the only sensible option, the Calmac ferry to Oban. I needed to take […]

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08 Tiree to Montrose Other

Map 46 – Coll

What a difference a day makes. I was lucky to have the option to stay inside for most of yesterday, and happy to take it. Today began overcast and windy; but the clouds soon blew away to leave a bracing northerly breeze and warm, bright sunshine. Excellent conditions for seeing the island of Coll, and […]

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08 Tiree to Montrose Other

Map 46 – Sitting out the rain

It rained hard last night in Oban. A lot. It arrived and forgot to leave. By the time I crawled out of bed for the 7am ferry to Coll and Tiree it had eased a little; but we didn’t get much respite from it all day long today. Luckily, the forecast is for better weather […]