Ridgway Adventure, Ardmore, Highlands of Scotland

Ridgway Adventure, Ardmore, Highlands of Scotland Truly adventurous summer camps, school trips and bespoke stays in the mountains and on the sea in the far northwest of Scotland. 55 years family run.
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Sea kayak in sheltered coves and bays, rock climb and abseil from an ancient rocky outcrop, climb a mountain from a wild base camp, swim in the sea, build rafts from salvaged materials and race them in the sea loch, learn to forage for and cook wild foods, lay pots for crabs and lobsters, and survive overnight together on an un-inhabited island. Adventure courses, holidays and summer camps for sch

ools, young people, families and adults. Every school, camp or course has the Adventure School and our friendly staff team to themselves.

Happy Christmas to you all, and thank you to everyone who has helped make 2024 a success. We’re so grateful for the ener...
23/12/2024

Happy Christmas to you all, and thank you to everyone who has helped make 2024 a success. We’re so grateful for the energy that you bring. Best wishes, Rebecca and Mark x

The end of the season always takes us a bit by surprise. Twenty-three weeks at full tilt with our staff team and up to 40 enthusiastic and energetic children or teenagers each week or on each course, all making the most of the incredible adventures on our doorstep. Suddenly, it is a whole lot quieter.

The younger groups routinely ask, “Where do you live in the winter?”.

Just over there is the answer. They imagine we must go somewhere else, somewhere warmer or more accessible.

We’re just as busy in the autumn but with a different focus, and only Mark and I are here, with Dad and Mum at the top of the hill.

Recruiting staff for the following year, visiting schools coming to us the following year, talking to summer camp parents, looking after the croft and the adventure school and, grappling with all the admin that comes with running your own business, with time for a few of our own moments in the mountains or on the sea.

1. Mark and Rebecca high in the mountains above Ardmore with first snow in November
2. Home at Ardmore
3. Workboats out of the water
4. Daily dog walk for Tinker (now an old-man)
5. Rebecca’s autumn veg
6. Looking down the croft to the Beach House (not easily visible but the sea loch is frozen)
7. Lifting our lost creel on the far side of Laxford
8. Trying to retain the personal connection that means so much to us. Continuing with hand-written cards and paper marketing - not very 2024!
9. Managing summer camp bookings and planning for a return to Peru
10. Mark in the winter hills


Sea kayak expeditions with teens on the wild Atlantic coast between Ardmore and Sheigra. Part way through our Two-Week E...
08/12/2024

Sea kayak expeditions with teens on the wild Atlantic coast between Ardmore and Sheigra. Part way through our Two-Week Expedition Summer Camp.

Taking young folk out of the relative shelter of Loch Laxford, past Ardmore Point and onto gentle Atlantic swells with ocean horizons on one side and the mountains they have climbed on the other is a privilege.

It opens up an incredible journey along a truly remote stretch of coastline, camping on remote headlands above rocky coves.

At times the wind and swell conspire to keep us closer to home, hopping between sheltered spots in the lee of islands in the inner reaches of Laxford. A direct confrontation with the elements, different to being on the open ocean, but no less rewarding.

We have three expedition summer camps for 14-17 year-olds in 2025, rather than the usual two, and the sea kayaking phase forms the mid-point of each.

Stretch… don’t cruise.



The first of our two-week expedition summer camps finished last Friday.Thirty-six young people from all over the UK and ...
05/08/2024

The first of our two-week expedition summer camps finished last Friday.

Thirty-six young people from all over the UK and the rest of the world coming together for challenging expeditions in the mountains and on the sea.

The penultimate evening spent together at Sandwood Bay after hiking 30km to the Cape and then south to the beach over two days. Big packs, big days, big ambition.

The next two-week camp arrives today.





Cracking week with the Year 8s from . Real adventures in the mountains and on the sea, and pretty much every weather tha...
22/06/2024

Cracking week with the Year 8s from . Real adventures in the mountains and on the sea, and pretty much every weather that June in the far northwest highlands can offer up. Great company and so able.

Stretch… don’t cruise!




We can’t remember a June week like this where we haven’t had at least one weather window to get kids up into the mountai...
07/06/2024

We can’t remember a June week like this where we haven’t had at least one weather window to get kids up into the mountains during a six day course. Plenty of sunshine but unrelenting winds.

Instead, we took the cliffs from Sheigra to Sandwood Bay with the Year 6s. A truly stunning 15km round trip. It felt like we had the miles of remote white sands pretty much to ourselves, watching squalls come in from the mighty Atlantic. Hail rather than rain 😬 followed by blue skies and sunshine.

Such an incredible place, and offering many of the same challenges that the mountains offer to young people.

Another super team from , now on their way home after a week of great adventures.

Two great weeks with the plucky Year 6s from . Climbing mountains, wild camping, sea kayaking and rock climbing.Routinel...
26/05/2024

Two great weeks with the plucky Year 6s from . Climbing mountains, wild camping, sea kayaking and rock climbing.

Routinely capable of far more than they think. We love watching them grow in this landscape to a stage that they can work together without adult intervention, building shelters and cooking on fires on survival island.

Blessed with great weather and a brilliant staff team.

Busy summer to come. Expedition Summer Camps full but a handful of places remain on our One Week Summer Camps.




Early 1990’s and early 2020’s.Many young people who come on summer camps now are the daughters and sons of parents who c...
18/12/2023

Early 1990’s and early 2020’s.

Many young people who come on summer camps now are the daughters and sons of parents who came in the 80s and 90s when Dad and Mum ran the adventure school.

I was two years old when the first two week summer camp course came in July 1969 and my early 20s when quite a few of these photos were taken (probably by me). I’m often asked whether much has changed, and the answer is yes and no.

Amongst many other changes, better equipment and modern materials lighten the load on expeditions. Current methods of communication and weather forecasting leave less to chance, and the adventure school itself has more mod cons (although only a few).

The places we take young people to and the things that we do are very similar. Fundamentally and very importantly, though, the ethos of our summer camps remains.

Our ambition is to stretch and challenge young people, far away from the restraints, demands and worries that may preoccupy them, and to give them an opportunity to measure themselves against the sea, the sky and a primitive landscape of great beauty, with new friends from all over the world.

In the same way, as parents would write to or call my mother, Marie-Christine, back in those earlier years, parents enquiring now will reach me personally by email or phone.

Our 2024 summer camp dates are now on the website, and we look forward to another busy season.

Rebecca (Ridgway)

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Ridgway Adventure, Ardmore
Rhiconich
IV274RB

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