When in Largs, there are Vikings. So why not eat ice cream in the morning? Famous saying of the Rambling Knights We don't have a massive walk for our final day of the Ayrshire Coastal Path. That's partly because we choose the "low road", rather than the "high road" to Skelmorlie. I can't say it occasions much debate between us which we should take. We begin after a breakfast of ice cream and cake at Nardini's with a bit of rain but it clears as we follow the quiet B road which elevates us above the main noisy coastal road. Why are we going up? I thought this was meant to be the low road? Oh well, once we have climbed a bit the road levels out and we have good views over to Great Cumbrae which is now passing behind us, and the Isle of Bute becomes visible across the Firth of Clyde, the giant waterway which narrows to eventually reach Glasgow. We will be going there too eventually, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. And so we finally reach the end of the 100 mile Ayrshire Coastal Path at Skelmorlie. There is no fanfare awaiting us, just a weather battered sign and Wemyss Bay train station and ferry port. We are not quite finished for the day however as although we have completed the last 7.1 miles of the Ayrshire Coastal Path path this turns seamlessly into the Clyde Coastal Path, which we now follow a bit further to our accommodation at Inverkip. It is a case of headphones because the traffic is a bit annoying, but all we want to do by now is just get there. As we approach Inverkip Jennie locates a bench with a curiously enigmatic sign saying "Inverkip Bay. Pure delight, pure terror." Better not linger too long here then! A bit of retrospective research explains what this may refer to: "In the 1600s Inverkip became infamous as a centre, allegedly, for witchcraft, and many burnings of women accused of being witches took place. It was even said that a local landowner, Alexander Dunrod, was a practising warlock living with witches among his tenants." The real end to this second section of our epic walk from Mull of Galloway to John o' Groats arrives as we get in to our B&B and Jennie collapses holding a Tunnocks tea cake. You may find it surprising (or not) that Jennie was still motivated to go out to Inverkip Hotel not long afterwards where we celebrated with some top quality pub grub and beers. This completes a major phase of our walk . When we get home we enjoy plotting how far we have come on our map. Not bad! The next part of our adventure shall be in November as we venture along the Clyde into the industrial heart of Scotland's 'dear green place' - Glasgow.
Matthew
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