I made an executive decision last night, as only I can when it comes to the trip. I mentioned in my post yesterday that the trip to the Mull of Kintyre lighthouse was looming. Well, I did some research (I don’t know how I coped before I had internet access to hand) and discovered that not only is there a long, winding single-track road that goes down 1000 metres, but that once you get to the end of that road you have to walk the rest of the way (steep hills) there and, of course, back. Now, I don’t want to be seen as a killjoy, but I’m not interested in any of that when it’s raining like it is. So, I decided against it (and Sanda island, which is a small island a short drive away).

Crinan was included in my original plan for today anyway. It’s a small village at the north west of the intriguingly-shaped Mull of Kintyre (look it up on a map and you’ll see what I mean). The lighthouse there looks like a fake. It almost looks as if it is part of a kid’s playground, but apparently not. Not only is it actually real, there is the old outer casing of a small lighthouse in someone’s front garden nearby, just rotting away really.

So, I then headed to Tarbet to catch my first ferry of the day. The next lighthouse caused me a few issues. I drove along the road I expected it to be on, but came to a dead end (a.k.a. a private road – they are very common it turns out). So, I decided to walk for a bit to see if I could spot it. Basically, I walked for half and hour and had no idea how much further I had to go, so turned back. It also started to drizzle just after I made the decision, which wasn’t massively appreciated! I decided to drive along the next road up and see if I could spot it. I saw during my walk, from a distance, what looked like a beacon of some kind on a small island just off of the coast, but you just don’t know, do you? Anyway, I had a nice walk and saw some great views, but no official lighthouse-sighting unfortunately.

So I moved on. My next location was Toward Point, south of Dunoon. I had previously decided to avoid the single-track option to get there and head north and then back down again on some sensible roads. However, I got to the junction where my final decision needed to be made and, surprisingly, I went for the windy B-road option. I was pleased in the end as it wasn’t anywhere near as bad some of those from previous days. I actually got up to 40mph for a while (never 5th gear though, not on those roads)!

The lighthouse at Toward was simply lovely and, most excitingly, for sale! It’s a bit of a change from Kilburn, but sometimes change is good! It was a quiet little place (with a private road, of course) and a great change to see yet another lighthouse that looked a little different!

My second ferry of the day took me from Hunter’s Quay to Levan where, just along the road, there is Cloch Point lighthouse. It’s similar to the one at Toward, but is a very different setting, just between the sea and a busy road. Perfect!

I then headed over to Port Glasgow (not actual Glasgow, but a town to the west of the city). I was really looking forward to seeing Perch lighthouse (pictured), which sits just off of the seafront. I love it’s black and white design and, although it looks a bit worse for wear now, it’s just a very lovely little thing. There is also a much thinner, taller version with the same black and white effect a little bit further along. Not quite as appealing unfortunately.

So, that’s been my day. It’s been full of lovely little lighthouses that all have their own style.

That also means that I am now back on the sensible part of mainland UK where there aren’t bits of land jutting in and out all over the place as is the case with much of western Scotland. As I was driving on the busy A8 near Greenock today, I was missing those small roads a little. One road was actually so wide that I had no idea where to position myself. Crazy in comparison to some of the roads to the obscure places! 🙂