Taps Aff on Cumbrae

What a brilliant day we have had! James suggested a couple of days ago that we should go for a cycle together while this great weather holds out. I wasn’t keen at first, but once I thought about it, I decided that it would be fun to go back to Millport and cycle right round Cumbrae. This ten mile (16 km) round trip has been a favourite of mine for as long as I can remember. Jennifer and I cycled round the island with our Mum and Dad when we were children, and I cycled round on a school trip when I was in 5th year with my lovely school friends, with whom I still meet up every couple of months.  I cycled round Cumbrae with James when we were teenagers and many times since, and in due course with our three boys. The last time we did this cycle was in 2019, so it was high time that we visited again. I was reminded of this when Heather and Ewan cycled round the island a few weeks ago when Ewan was doing a locum there. 

So we set off this morning and caught one of the very frequent ferries which crosses between Largs and the slipway, which is a few kilometres outside Millport itself. The crossing was brief and beautiful, with views of blue sea and sky and fishing boats and seabirds around the Clyde Estuary. And on this stunning day we had fantastic views from every angle as we cycled our usual anticlockwise route around the island. The grass and trees were a particularly vibrant green and the shore was lined with warm red sandstone, punctuated by a few sandy beaches. The birds were singing loudly in the trees and we could see the mountains of Arran looking very splendid. A slight breeze kept me cool (thank goodness) and when we got to the town of Millport we stopped at the Crocodile Rock which has been painted there ever since I can remember. There was a group of young men cycling around the island wearing tartan bunnets and we passed them as they stopped in a lay by to remove their t shirts due to the heat - they then passed us with their “taps aff” but their bunnets still on! We cycled 5 km past the slipway to the pleasant Fintry Bay café, where we had coffee and scones. There were quite a few walkers and cyclists partaking of refreshments there, but since it’s a weekday during the school term it wasn’t too busy. Among other quirky decorations the café has a painted statue of a panda outside it and a wee dog was barking at it so frantically that its owner had to take it over to show him that it wasn’t real! After our break James and I went in opposite directions; James continued anticlockwise to compete a second circuit of Cumbrae, while I cycled the 5 km back to the slipway. I cycled a total of 26 km (which is a lot for me) and James cycled 32 km. He must have cycled very fast because he arrived at the slip way only about ten minutes after me! What a great day.