Rothesay, Isle of Bute

Fortunately, we had been warned that the harbour at Rothesay was being rebuilt and with noisy pumps etc it was advisable not to stay there for the night. So, after arriving fairly early, we had a quick look at the town. After lunch we caught a bus to Mount Stuart. This proved to be an astounding Victorian Gothic Mansion. The variety of marble and the detailed carvings must have taken hundreds of man years to achieve – all of which was paid for by the docks at Cardiff! The original wealth was created by a marriage of a man with ideas and a lady who owned a bit of land in south Wales. The result was a vast fortune created by some coal and by building the docks at Cardiff. There is a web site which is worth a visit:

http://www.mountstuart.com/

The Stuarts of Bute have been around the island for 700 years. Some readers may remember Johnny Dumphries, the racing driver with John Player Special Lotus. He is also known as: John Colum Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute – the present owner of Mount Stuart. I was fortunate to have been a host at a customer event, at a track near the Lotus headquarters in Norfolk, many years ago. He appeared at the event and drove willing volunteers (me included) around the track in a four seater Lotus sports car. The most memorable thing was that you could tell precisely where he was on the track by the sound of the squealing tyres which continued for the full circuit of the the windy track. Looking at oncoming cabages, while the car was travelling sideways, is also a memory that has lingered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Crichton-Stuart,_7th_Marquess_of_Bute

A memorable visit and well worth the bus ride.

Isle of Bute

Today was a day, for me, to catch up on my jobs. I had managed to service the port engine before Ann arrived at Inverkip. The starboard engine now needed oil and filter change and also the diesel filters needed changing. That involves removing most of the interior flooring and furniture in the

middle of the boat. So, Ann was going out in the car by herself and chose to visit the Isle of Bute. This was largely because it will be a difficult place for us to stay overnight because there is major construction work going on in the harbour area.

Ann thoroughly enjoyed visiting this beautiful island. There was very little traffic and she was able to visit both the largest town (the only town!) of Rothesay and also the eastern end of the island. It was an interesting adventure – and I managed to get my dirty jobs completed.