SALEN

In my piece on Ulva, we met the "Father of Australia" Major-General Lachlan MacQuarie, who was born on the island. MacQuarie rears his head again here at Salen, as it was he who established the village at the start of the 19th century, considering the location ideal, being the closest point on the Sound of Mull to his estates. MacQuarie is buried in the MacQuarie Mausoleum two miles from Salen at Gruline. The original community here which predated Macquarie's village was visited by St Columba, who preached here, although he was allegedly disappointed by the turnout. Salen used to be a stopover point on the ferry service from Mull, but Craignure took over as the main ferry port on the island as bigger vessels came into service, rendering the pier at Salen redundant. The pier was in a state of disrepair for a number of years, but has now been restored. There is still a crossing nearby at Fishnish, linking the island to Lochaline on the mainland. Salen does retain one transport link out of the island in the form of the airstrip adjacent to the Glenforsa Hotel. The airstrip, one of the most picturesque in the country, does not have any scheduled services, but acts as an air ambulance evacuation facility. Two miles north of the village lie the ruins of Aros Castle, one of a series of castles built to defend the Sound of Mull in the 1200s. The castle was last occupied in 1608.

Webcam views of Salen Pier.

Map of the area.

Salen Bay sunset - Isle of Mull. Photo by Vangobanshee, via Wikimedia Commons.

CRAIGNURE

In my previous post, I talked about Duart Castle. If you catch the ferry from Oban to Craignure you will get a wonderful view of the castle as you approch Mull. Craignure is the main ferry port on Mull, and the 40-minute crossing from Oban runs every 2 hours. The town itself is a picturesque blend of houses, shops, a tea room and an inn. About a mile to the south is the Victorian mansion Torosay Castle and its gardens, which used to be open to the public, who could travel from Craignure by narrow gauge railway. However, earlier this year it was reported that the castle had been sold to a mystery Swiss buyer, not without some relief for the seller, given the repairs needed which would have totalled over £1 million. As a result, the castle is currently no longer open to the public, and sadly the railway has also closed down. In July 2008 an extraordinary find was made in a sideboard in the castle: the oldest bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne, dating from 1893, which is now on display at the Veuve Clicquot Visitor Centre in Reims. One would have thought that the find, which was described as "priceless" would have been enough to fund the repairs!

Live streaming webcam from the ferry terminal.

Map of the area.

DUART CASTLE

What do Duart Castle and Sean Connery have in common? Well, for a start the castle was the ancestral home of the MacLean Clan, and Sean Connery has MacLean ancestry on his mother's side. Added to which, appropriately, the castle was used in the film Entrapment, starring Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Another film featuring the castle was When Eight Bells Toll, starring Anthony Hopkins. It is not surprising that the film-makers were attracted to the castle, which makes a magnificent sight on a mound overlooking the Sound of Mull. The castle dates from the 14th century, when the 5th Chief of the MacLeans, Lachlan Lubanach, married the daughter of the Lord of the Isles Mary MacDonald, and she was presented with Duart Castle as her dowry. During the 17th century, the castle was subjected to repeated clashes between the MacLeans and the Campbells, until in 1691 the castle was surrendered to Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll. The Campbells then set about demolishing the castle, and it remained as a ruin until the 27th Chief of the Clan MacLean, Sir Fitzroy Donald MacLean, bought it in 1911 and a painstaking restoration was begun. The resulting born-again castle is now open to visitors, who can also enjoy the Millennium Wood, a collection of trees and shrubs indigenous to this part of Scotland which was introduced by the present Clan Chief Sir Lachlan MacLean.

Map of the area.

Duart-Castle. Photo by Philippe Giabbanelli, via Wikimedia Commons.

LOCHBUIE

Lochbuie is a tiny community named after the sea loch that adjoins the eastern end of the Ross of Mull. So tiny, in fact, that during the 2005 general election the local populace had their polling station installed in a caravan. However, for a place of its size it has plenty of interest. The most prominent buildings are Lochbuie House and Moy Castle. Lochbuie House was built in 1752, and took over from Moy Castle as the seat of the chiefs of the Maclaine clan, the dominant clan around these parts. Within the grounds of the house is a group of standing stones dating from the Bronze Age. Moy Castle is a castle in need: according to its website the castle urgently needs a new front door, as part of ongoing work to stabilise the structure. All donations gratefully received. The castle played a starring role in the 1945 film I Know Where I'm Going, which tells the story of an upwardly mobile middle-class woman (played by Wendy Hiller) who falls in love on Mull. Like all good castles, Moy Castle has its resident ghost: a headless horseman who rides around the castle at great speed, said to be a son of the Chief of the MacLaines who was decapitated during a battle with his father. St Kilda's Episcopal Church lies on the shore of the loch, and was built in 1876 by MacLaine of Lochbuie. The most interesting feature of the church is a yellow sandstone Celtic cross built into the south wall of the porch. The cross was discovered when the foundations of the church were being excavated, but its origins are unclear, since there is no history of a chapel or burial place on the site.

Map of the area.

Lochbuie House and Moy Castle. Photo by Dave Fergusson, via Wikimedia Commons.

THE ROSS OF MULL

The Ross of Mull is a large peninsula extending south west from the centre of the island - the word Ross comes from the gaelic 'ros' meaning peninsula. The eastern end of the peninsula is characterised on the map by its tightly packed contours, while the western end is a mix of lochs, inlets and small islands, one of which, Erraid, featured in Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, whose main character David Balfour was marooned for a while on the island. The peninsula has a rich variety of wildlife, from otters to adders, corncrakes to red deer and mountain hare. There are wildlife tours by minibus available for visitors to the peninsula who want to have the best chance of spotting its creatures. The peninsula also holds plenty of interest for geologists, with its columns of basalt, ravines and caves, most notably the Carsaig Arches, basaltic formations which have come about by the action of the sea, very similar to the more famous ones on Staffa. The tip of the peninsula is noted for its red granite, which has been extensively used for construction, including such famous London landmarks as the Albert Memorial, Blackfriars Bridge and the Holborn Viaduct. The peninsula has a scattering of tiny settlements, some of which offer accommodation and other facilities for visitors, such as Bunessan, Fionnphort - the departure point for Iona, of which more in the next post - and Carsaig, set in a beautiful bay with excellent walking options. The Ross of Mull Historical Centre is next to Bunessan old mill, and acts as a repository for historical records and data for people around the world who have traced their roots back to this area.

Map of the area.

Carsaig Arches. Photo by Hopgrove james, via Wikimedia Commons.

CALGARY

Calgary occupies a particularly lovely corner of Mull, nestling in Calgary Bay with its brilliant white sands. The beach, dunes and machair which make up the bay have been turned into a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in recognition of the need to preserve this beautiful location, where the wildlife includes otters, seals, deer and a variety of sea birds. From the beach, the Calgary Art In Nature sculpture walk leads to an art gallery with accommodation, weaving around the woodland, with interesting artworks around every corner. Calgary House, previously known as Calgary Castle, is a gothic mansion dating from 1817. One of the castle's guests in the 1800s was the head of the Canadian North West Mounted Polilce, Colonel James Macleod, and on his return from a stay there he suggested a fort back in Canada be named Fort Calgary. This in turn gave rise to the present-day city of Calgary, gateway to the Canadian Rockies. During the Highland Clearances people from settlements around the Calgary Bay area were evicted from their homes and many made their way to Canada. One of these settlements was Invea, above Calgary Pier, where the remains of the abandoned homes of the former inhabitants can still be discerned.

Map of the area.

Calgary Bay, Isle of Mull - geograph.org.uk - 1309754. Photo by David Hambidge, via Wikimedia Commons.

DERVAIG

To get to Dervaig from Tobermory involves the thrill and challenge of following a twisty single-track road with hairpin bends. The road is a favourite with the drivers who take part in the annual Isle of Mull rally, held every October. Those who undertake the drive are rewarded with a picturesque village set at the head of the narrow Loch a'Chumhainn, with the distinctive whitewash pencil-shaped tower of Kilmore Church poking above the trees. Dervaig was established as a planned village in 1799 by the Laird of Coll to provide accommodation for the Quinnish Estate, although its only inn, the Bellachroy, predates it by nearly two centuries, having opened in 1608, making it the oldest inn on Mull. The name of the village suggests that the Vikings were here first, since it derives from the Old Norse for "good inlet". Another sign of earlier habitation in the area is the presence of the Cnoc Fada standing stones in a clearing to the east of the village. The Old Byre Heritage Centre near Dervaig has displays on Mull's history and wildlife as well as a tearoom and gift shop. The Dervaig Village Hall not only acts as a community centre hosting a range of events, but also offers hostel accommodation.

Map of the area.

Dervaig Village - geograph.org.uk - 872457. Photo by Mrs V Bryant, via Wikimedia Commons.

TOBERMORY

Mull is the second largest island in the Inner Hebrides after Skye. The island's stunning scenery and wildlife earned it a place on our TV screens in 2010 when the Autumnwatch series featured the story of the re-introduction of white-tailed sea eagles to the island. Tobermory, the capital of the island, has also played a starring TV role as Balamory in the popular children's series of the same name. The brightly coloured buildings which feature in the show are not a figment of the producer's imagination, but are a reflection of the real-life town of Tobermory, where the town's buildings are every bit as colourful as those depicted in Balamory. There is also a children's book called The Tobermory Cat based on a well-known ginger tom, so well-known in fact that he has his own Facebook page. However, the cat unwittingly became the focus of a spat between the author and the artist who created the Facebook page, who accused the writer of stealing his idea, although the cat was well known before the Facebook page was set up.

The name Tobermory derives from the gaelic Tobar Mhoire, or "Well of Mary", a reference to the since disappeared St Mary's Well and St Mary's Chapel which dated from medieval times. There is a monument marking the spot where the well stood. The town lies on Tobermory Bay where, in 1588, one of the ships of the Spanish Armada was allegedly sunk with a quantity of gold on board. Although the area has been inhabited for several millennia, the present-day town was established in 1788 by the British Fisheries Society. The town never achieved the Fisheries Society's aim of becoming an important fishing port, but the harbour still provides a safe haven for vessels. As would be expected for an island so well stocked with wildlife there are a range of wildlife watching tours available from Tobermory. Walkers can head to Aros Park which is reached by a scenic path from Ledaig. For history buffs there is a group of standing stones called the Baliscate Standing Stones just outside the town. The Mull Museum in the main street is full of artefacts relating to the island's history. Cultural activities include the Mull Theatre at Drimfin, just outside Tobermory, and the An Tobar arts centre overlooking the bay.  Other attractions in  the town include an Aquarium and a Distillery with Visitor Centre.

Events in Tobermory include a Highland Games in July, and a regatta in late July/early August. For a list of events, see here.

Webcam view from Glenforsa Airfield.

Map of the area.

Tobermory