48 hours in Bute

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Apr 23, 2006

YOU'VE just gotta love a place where even the public loos are award-winning bits of Victoriana, says ROBIN GAULDIE. So try 48 hours there...

BUTE - Scotland's most accessible isle - is just an hour away from Glasgow. Spooky standing stones, grand stately homes, peaceful moorland and sandy bays - where curious seals pop their heads up to greet you - are just some of the attractions.

There's plenty here for a whole weekend - and since Stella McCartney chose the island for her wedding last year, Bute has taken on a new air of glamorous chic.

Stella's pal, former motor sport champion Johnny Dumfries (that's the Marquess of Bute to you), is sinking a few hundred thou into doing up the family pile, Mount Stuart House, with its 300 acres of grounds. And posh Victorian homes in Rothesay, the postcard pretty island capital, are changing hands for record sums.

Film director Lord Attenborough is another famous resident, and the island was also the birthplace of tragic child star Lena Zavaroni.

Bute is wee - just 15 miles long and four miles wide - but it's a miniature Scotland, with a heartland of craggy hills where wild goats and roe deer roam, moors covered with purple heather, and long, sandy Atlantic beaches.

There are even palm trees along the esplanade at Rothesay - courtesy of the last trickle of the Gulf Stream, which takes the chill off Bute's winters.

Go there in summer to make the most of Scotland's long, light evenings and explore most of the island on foot, by bike or by boat in one weekend.

This year's Bute Live Music and Arts Festival is July 14-17 with lots of free gigs and starring amazing Japanese drum group Mugenko (www.butelive.co.uk).

BUS or train from Glasgow or Prestwick Airport to Wemyss Bay on the Clyde. Ferries (around pounds 10 return) leave every 45 minutes, then it's a half-hour ferry journey to Rothesay with a fine view of its Victorian seafront as you sail into harbour.

Head for the Port Royal Hotel's Russian Tavern (37 Marine Road, Port Bannatyne, 0044 170 050 5073), just outside Rothesay, where there's occasional live, foot-tapping music on weekend nights. The menu is a surprise - this Russian-style tavern serves stroganoff, latkes, sauerkraut and blinis and has a selection of vodkas to match its good range of real ales. Dinner pounds 21 -pounds 35 each.

START the day with a stroll along Rothesay's grand Victorian seafront with its cracking views of Rothesay Bay, and head for the Isle of Bute Discovery Centre (Winter Gardens, Victoria Street) to get your bearings.

This remarkable 1920s' glass and cast-iron building houses interactive displays that showcase the island's natural and man- made highlights. Bute has its share of Scottish rain, so the Discovery Centre is a good place to escape to.

Also for a rainy morning, the Bute Museum (Stuart Street, Mon- Sat 10.30am-4.30pm) is just behind the Discovery Centre and its collection of photos, paintings, old household furnishings and farm tools offer a glimpse of island life in years gone by.

Don't miss grim Rothesay Castle (Castlehill Street, www.historic- scotland.gov.uk, around pounds 5, open 9.30am-4.30pm) with its moat, towers and circle of massive outer ramparts.

Built in the 13th Century, it was captured by the last Viking raiders to attack Scotland in 1230. Later on, it was a royal residence, and its grand hall has recently been restored. Less fortunate residents were accommodated in the dark and clammy dungeons below.

Need to spend a penny? Well, 10p - that's inflation for you. Do it in the lavish surroundings of Rothesay's award-winning Victorian public loos (in the Winter Gardens), with their gleaming copper pipes, mosaic floors, marble fittings and glass cisterns.

BUTE'S biggest attraction will take up the rest of the day. Mount Stuart House (www.mountstuart. com, gardens around pounds 5, tour of house pounds 10) is a romantic Gothic-Victorian pile - all turrets and arched windows. The family home of the island's resident nobs, that Bute family, it's Scotland's most impressive stately mansion.

Start with lunch at the Visitor Centre restaurant, then stroll through the grounds where Stella had her star-studded wedding. The gardens are also used for open-air concerts and plays -they're doing Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in July and lots of other summer gigs are being lined up.

DINE at Chandler's Hotel on Ascog Bay (0044 170 050 5577, www.visitchandlers.co.uk), an award-winner with great food and views to match and a good choice of malt whiskies for after dinner. Expect to pay around pounds 42 a head.

For a noisier night out you could check out what's on at the Pavilion. Bute's main night spot is a grand Art Deco building that has hosted bands such as Mogwai and is the main venue for the annual ButeLive festival, and has DJs on Saturday nights when it's not hosting live music.

CYCLE round the island (bikes carried free on the Caledonian Mac Brayne Ferrries - www.calmac. co.uk). Go for a paddle - or a swim if you're brave enough - at Ettrick Bay, Bute's best beach, near the north tip of the island. The tail end of the Gulf Stream may keep these waters above freezing point, but the sun-kissed Caribbean it ain't, even in August.