Peel L&P, who own the Ardrossan Marina including Cecchinis, have been involved in the redevelopment of Ardrossan for many years.

Their executive director, James Whittaker, is cycling around the coastline of Britain to raise money for Water Aid who provide clean water sources in remote corners of the world!). James is cycling circa 150-180kms a day.

On Thursday July 22, he cycled Portpatrick to Luss and stopped in Ardrossan for lunch (at Cecchinis) and to look at the Marina. The Herald spoke to him about his mamoth challenge: “I wanted to do the Africa trip first, and about ten years ago I said my wife that would really like an adventure realising I was fifty in this year [2021].

“I am big supporter of rugby, I realised the Lions were going to South Africa. I came across Marc Beaumont’s book, that was the inspiration, he did it, completely solo without any support, and I thought I could do something like that.

“I spoke to him, met him, and obviously read his book, and that was the inspiration really.

“I was lined up to do Africa, I had been training since January 2020, then Covid hit, and all the restrictions and the political issues in South Africa, it is probably a good thing that I’m doing this instead.

“The Lions went, but no spectators, but instead I’ve got to cycle all of Britain.

“I started at St Andrews, down to Berwick upon Tweed, the family are having a weekend the last weekend in July, so I thought that would be the best place to start. That was 22 days ago. The cycle from Portpatrick was amazing.

“What I didn’t appreciate was from this stretch was that although I was expecting some amazing scenes on the highland west stretch, the Ayrshire coast was just beautiful.“

“Nobody has ever told me about the stretch from Carlisle to Stranraer, it was just stunning. There was the route seven that I followed, they were just amazing routes, fantastic scenery and we probably had the best day of our cycling lives.

“It was so quiet, I literally saw just one car for an hour and a half.

“The last two days have been brilliant, this morning on my way to Ardrossan, along the coastal road, it is just a road that keeps on giving in terms of the scenery and views.

“It is quite a simple track, a lot of the route up until this point has taken me through cities and towns, and it can get quite complicated, the Garmin plays up when you go through those, but this morning it was just one simple road up north.

“The headwind was there but I am not complaining because we have this glorious sunshine for the rest of the trip to Luss.”

Find out more about the challenge here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cycleblighty4wateraid