For a change, today has been a shorter day. In a recent post I mentioned the benefits of winter: being able to catch lighthouses at sunrise and the lights in action. The downside, though, is the later starts and earlier finishes. It’s still been a productive day though.

Two lighthouses beckoned this morning, and when they call one must go! The first was the Rinns (or Rhinns) of Islay, which resides majestically on the island of Orsay off of Port Wemyss. On the way there we passed what was to be our second stop of the day, Loch Indaal at Port Charlotte, and had a quick look at how we might be able to get access to it. While the field to the north of Loch Indaal House (which is available as a holiday let – the views of the lighthouse at night would be wonderful from there, I imagine) was home to a few young Highland cows, the field to the south looked a lot more inviting with just a few sheep roaming around. Back to that one shortly.

As we approached the small but very picturesque village of Port Wemyss the Rinns of Islay lighthouse just appeared out of nowhere, considerable bigger than I expected it to be. While I knew it wasn’t a huge stretch of water between Port Wemyss and Orsay, I hadn’t expected it to be so close. One of the first views we had of the lighthouse was fantastic. Heading straight for the coast with houses on either side of the road, the lighthouse was perfectly positioned at the end of the road, looking almost like you could drive right up to it. There are some wonderful spots to get views across to the island and lighthouse from the coastal road. A perfectly positioned picnic bench is just up the hill slightly from the slipway. A wonderful spot to spend some time “lighthouse gazing” and enjoying the moment. One day I hope to make it across to the island, but it’s not on the plan for this week. Something to look forward to another time.

Returning to Port Charlotte, we parked up in the village and wandered along the road until we reached Loch Indaal House. I asked my usual “are you sure we’re allowed to go through this field?” and Bob reassured me for the 500^th time that it was absolutely fine – we are in Scotland and there is “right to roam”! Onwards we went. I’d already said that I wanted to get a picture of the lighthouse with the Paps of Jura in the background, so we walked slightly further south before heading to the lighthouse. The best place to get this picture is actually from the road where the Paps still manage to look about the same height as the lighthouse! Where yesterday the Paps made Na Cuiltean lighthouse appear so small and insignificant, Loch Indaal light won this time, but only once we’d made it to the bottom of the field! It did make for a lovely view. No blue skies today, but also no rain and very little wind. It’s a nice rocky area to wander around and we slowly made our way towards the lighthouse. The tower is a fairly straightforward affair and reminded me a lot of the tower at Corran. It’s no wonder really as they were both the brainchild of the wonderful Stevenson team that was David and Thomas, with Loch Indaal first lit just 9 years after its twin on the mainland at Corran. I mean, why reinvent the wheel?! Interestingly, the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) face plate next to the door says “Loch Indaall”, but most spellings appear to only have the one ‘l’ on the end – even in places on the NLB website. It’s not the most astounding of lighthouses, but it’s really easy to get to and in a lovely location.

After a lunch break, we hit the road again with Bob shuttling us all (the four of us and his mum) to Port Ellen in two runs. I was dropped off first which gave me the chance to go on ahead to the Port Ellen lighthouse, which in these parts is more commonly referred to as Carraig Fhada. It’s a nice little walk around the coast and the lighthouse is visible pretty much all of the way along. It doesn’t resemble a lighthouse in the traditional sense, but it looks wonderful and you just can’t help but take numerous pictures on the approach. Well, I would have done just that had a couple and their two dogs not entirely ruined my view by walking out to the lighthouse at completely the wrong time. I can’t complain about them too much though as the man pointed out a heron on the rocks on the way out, so I managed to get some decent pictures of a heron (not really my sort of thing, but good to have to share with my birdwatcher dad). The best pictures and views though, in my opinion, are to be had near the entrance to the narrow walkway that leads out to the lighthouse. When you see a little walkway like that there is nothing for it, you just need to walk it. It could be pretty hairy at times I imagine and completely unwise to walk out in rough sea conditions, maybe even verging on impossible without getting washed away. I was splashed a little once on the way out and today has been really quite calm. It’s a great little wander. There’s not a lot to see once you are at the lighthouse. It’s a relatively small rock that it sits on, so you can’t get any decent pictures of the tower. Crossing back over the walkway I made my way back towards the cemetery where I’d been dropped off and met the others on their way to the lighthouse. We all bagged the lighthouse and had a walk along to the Singing Sands, which didn’t appear to be singing today (apparently the wind was coming from the wrong direction). On the way back to the car, I managed to get those pictures I’d missed out on due to “that couple” with the dogs. All was well in the end.

I should add that, as we arrived in Port Ellen this afternoon, I spotted a few flashes straight ahead. Considering it was still daylight at this point, I was quite amazed, and intrigued. Looking at the map, I wondered if it might be one of the lights on Rathlin Island off of the north coast of Northern Ireland, most likely Altacarry Head. Bob wasn’t sure. Having looked into it a little more though, I am very pleased to have been proven right. Altacarry Head, or Rathlin East, lighthouse does indeed flash 4 times every 20 seconds as we had seen and, very interestingly, does so 24 hours a day! This has been the case since November 1995 and was introduced to “improve the daytime conspicuity of the station”, as stated on the Commissioners of Irish Lights website. That explained everything.

That’s all for today. More to come tomorrow (she says, with crossed fingers)! 🙂