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Bob Law: The Other Ridge on Arran

Walking and Photography: Beinn Bhreac. Mullach Buidhe. Beinn Bharrain

For those hill-walkers who have explored and enjoyed the main Arran ridgeline from Beinn Nuis To Sail an Im or Cioch  na h Oighe there exists another granite ridge of several peaks on the island of Arran.  Granted it took myself and several hill-walking friends 30 years and a similar number of visits to the island over the decades to climb them but the long wait was worth it.

The Ridge Scramble

For those not keen on scrambling the good news is this ridge line is not as knife edged as parts of the main ridge tends to be yet still very memorable. The better news is an easy scramble can also be had by ascending the north west ridge of Beinn Bharrain first, above Coire Roinn.

Scrambling Ridge on Beinn Bharrain**

To do this we jumped on the north circular bus to Pirnmill, after getting the mainland ferry at Ardrossan, skimming over the blue waters of the Firth of Clyde to Brodick, If you pick a sunny day a faint path from Pirnmill village leads up beautiful easy slopes to the ridge, which can also be easily avoided to cut out any scrambling altogether.  The rest of the summits, 715 metres, 721 metres and 711 metres respectively, make a very entertaining walk of 4 to 6 hours duration, depending on walking pace, including the possible add on of the spectacular Coirein Lochain then a descent path to Thundergay hamlet for the bus back.

Purple Heather Above Thundergay

A very memorable day out on that other and far less frequented Arran Ridge. The dramatic backdrop of the main Arran ridge, viewed from this unusual angle is another highlight of this trip as is the distant view of the isolated sea summit of Ailsa Craig.

Early Morning Light. Ailsa Craig

If doing this walk it’s advisable to catch an early morning Ferry/bus to give yourself plenty of time so that you are not always rushing to catch the last ferry back to the mainland.

Bob Law, April, 2022.

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