Largs: Pencil Walk

One of our favourite walks is from the centre of Largs to the Pencil Monument and Marina and back. This tall tower was built in 1912 to commemorate the Battle of Largs in 1263. As it looks like a pencil from a distance the name has stuck! It's a mystery to me that I don't remember it from frequent visits to Largs as a child. It was either because we just used to go to the beach on the other side of Largs or to Nardini's for ice cream, or because it wasn't so accessible or seen from the southern road (though this is unlikely, given the height of it!) Here are some of my photos taken one afternoon this October (apart from the first one which is from a different visit to Largs). The light was beginning to fail so some of the later ones are a bit dark:

Below: the Glasgow train going past some of the expensive new houses overlooking the monument!

It's essential to have coffee and cakes before the walk back to Largs!

The cafe at the Marina is quite good...

...some shots taken on the way back:

Below: the Coalpit Burn which runs down from the Haylie Reservoir, flowing into the Clyde.

Below: the path leading back to the town

There are some superb aerial views of the monument here and Wikipedia goes into detail about the Battle of Largs here