Unexpected Waverley

There wasn’t a formal club-run during July; rather we went our own ways. Here's one of the runs we took in our own wee MGB.

It was a lovely morning so we decided to head for the hills. The A811 had a tail-back caused by a crash outside the Safari Park. This is such a frequent occurrence, with a driver slowing to turn and another, belting down the straight road, realising too late that the car in front had stopped - one of the disadvantages of straight roads and beautiful scenery.

We passed the picturesque village of Drymen then into Balloch. Here we turned north along the banks of Loch Lomond taking the B-road to Cross Keys and the unclassified road through Glen Fruin to join the main road outside the submarine base at Faslane. 

A short stop for coffee in Garelochhead followed.

We travelled down the west side of the Gare Loch to Kilcreggan where we saw the PS Waverley, the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world. She was just about to depart and there was great excitement, with a bagpiper playing a rousing send-off.

 Click images to enlarge

Driving north on the coast of Loch Long, then over the hill to Coulport, we were driving over a state secret. These hills are the home of most of the UK's nuclear weapons, buried deep underground in a huge armaments depot. 

 We turned onto the A814 to the head of Loch Long to Arrocher, where we had lunch in the garden of the Village Inn, overlooking the loch, which was once used for torpedo testing. Read about the history here, good pictures and a map:
http://www.arrocharheritage.com/HistoryOfTheRange.htm

We travelled north along the narrow strip of Loch Lomond to Crainlarich, through Glen Dochart and down to Lochearnhead, where once I spent a happy but very cold week as a Boy Scout. 

Not me but I was there

We bowled along the north side of the loch to Comrie where we turned south on the pretty B827 and then onto the A9 for home.