Nowadays, Ardrishaig, on the shores of Loch Gilp, has a population of about 1200, but before the opening of the Crinan Canal in 1809, it was just a tiny fishing village. The nine-mile-long canal joins Loch Gilp to the Sound of Jura and cuts off a long, hazardous journey around the Mull of Kintyre. Ardrishaig is at the eastern end, and Crinan is at the other.
Over the years, we have sailed through the canal several times. It’s a lovely experience. However, the charms of the canal were best eulogised in the comedy TV series “The Vital Spark”. Dan McPhail, chief engineer aboard the Vital Spark puffer, famously sang:
Oh! The Crinan Canal for me,
I don’t like the wild raging sea,
It would be too terrific to cross the Pacific,
Or sail to Japan or Fiji.
A life on the Spanish Main,
I think it would drive me insane,
The big foaming breakers would give me the shakers,
The Crinan Canal for me.
From the title picture, readers can see that when we pulled into the car park in Ardrishaig, it wasn’t the Rumbling Tum that took our attention but the Ritz. Tea at the Ritz? We were excited.
We were crestfallen, however, to find that the Ritz wasn’t even a café but had converted to some sort of bric-a-brac shop. Argh! All thoughts of finely cut cucumber sandwiches under extravagant chandeliers were dashed as if on the jagged rocks of the nearby loch. Our rather raw emotions were somewhat salved, however, when we realised that, almost next door, there was the Rumblin’ Tum. “Tea at the Ritz” would have to be “Tea at the Rumblin Tum“. Not quite so splendiferous perhaps, but of course this is Ardrishaig, not Piccadilly.
Squidged
We got a warm, friendly welcome and were soon sitting down to our fruit scones. 
There was no shortage of fruit, but unfortunately, a little too long in the oven had baked them hard. The jam came in a long sachet affair that we had to squidge out directly onto the scone. It didn’t do anything to improve the overall situation. No topscone for the Rumblin’ Tum, but they do have lots of other things on offer.
Emboldened?
Far from the west coast of Scotland, news that President Erdoğan of Turkey has just thrown his chief political rival, Ekrem İmamoğlu, into jail is disturbing. Over the past twenty years, Erdoğan has been systematically dismantling the secular legacy of the country’s founding father, Atatürk. This latest move is deeply unpopular and hopefully can be reversed. The thought occurs to us, however, that the bully boys of the world, for some reason, are feeling emboldened.
PA30 8DX tel: 01546 606039 Rumblin Tum
///tribes.eagle.scooters
