I am posting this from the community shop on the island of Canna, one of Scotland’s Small Isles to the south west of the southern point of Skye. That in itself says a lot about the island. The community shop is the only place on the island where visitors can access WiFi and there is very patchy mobile phone signal. To some that may be a reason not to visit, but my opinion is that it adds to the charm. As a result, Canna has been able to retain that traditional community feel where no one needs to lock their doors, and everyone helps and supports each other. The community shop is open 24 hours a day and works on an honesty box system where customers write down what they bought and how much they paid.
Owned by the National Trust for Scotland, the island is unique in that the National Trust will sometimes do calls for new residents on the island and people must apply. The school on the island has not been open for some years now as the teacher and all primary aged pupils moved away.
Canna – or its neighbour Sanday, which it is attached to by a bridge – boasts a little lighthouse and this was a key reason for choosing to visit the island. Bob had also never been here, so he was keen to get to the island’s high point. The trip had originally been planned for Easter and we had booked accommodation in the West Caravan run by Canna Campsite. Due to the pandemic, we had to postpone our visit and we re-booked for the October half term holiday in the hope that we would be able to travel. The announcement by the Scottish Government last week meant that we were still able to travel thankfully.
We had a stroll along the beach at Chanonry Point on the way to Mallaig. It was the first time I’d been to Chanonry Point since my 2012 tour and there were the usual dolphin spotters about. It was nice to approach it from the road end this time as last time I’d walked to it along the beach from the campsite to the east.
It also meant I got to see the old pier, which I assume was built for servicing the lighthouse.
After an overnight stay in Fort William we arrived in Mallaig. Another point I should highlight about Canna before I continue is that it is not allowed for non-residents to bring vehicles over to the island, so we struggled on board with our masses of luggage and food supplies.
The ferry journey was good with very few other passengers on it and everyone keeping their distance. The best part, of course, was seeing Canna lighthouse on the approach to the island. I do enjoy seeing these types of towers and it made me look forward to the walk to it even more – although it seemed like quite a long way!
After we’d had our bags collected by the campsite owner to take along to the caravan, we set off along the road passing the shop, the post office and a few houses on the way. The day was so calm and there were beautiful views all around.
I had two aims for my visit to Canna. The first was to reach the lighthouse and the second was to find a point on the island from which I would be able to see Hyskeir lighthouse flashing at night. Hyskeir is around 6 miles off of Canna and the lighthouse and island it sits on are one of my favourite places. My visit there a few years ago (that blog post doesn’t give it enough credit) was fantastic. It wasn’t long after we arrived at the caravan that Bob called ‘I don’t think you’ll need to go far to see Hyskeir flashing’. Looking out of the big living room window of the caravan I could see Hyskeir there on it’s low lying island, visible just above the bridge across the Sanday. I’ve since noticed that the caravan may be one of the only houses/places to stay on the island from which you’d be able to see it without going outside. So lucky! You can probably guess what I spent the evening doing that first night – oh, ok and the second evening!
After a showery day yesterday we decided today would be the best day to walk out to Canna lighthouse. The wind was still strong as it had been yesterday, but it was dry and sunny. We wrapped up in our numerous layers and set off. The puddles were still full this morning, which occupied the kids for the first half an hour of the walk. We’d been to the high point of Sanday on our first day here so we knew where we had to go. The track continued all the way along to the church and disappeared just before the six wildly spinning wind turbines.
From this point we became a bit more wary. The lady who owns the caravan had told us that there were some cows out towards the lighthouse and one of them had been a pet last year and so could be a little bit too approachable. We aren’t keen on cows and are very aware of the risks of coming across them when they have calves. We were on our guard and, as we reached the off piste and sometimes boggy section, Bob navigated us across higher ground to give us good vantage points as we went to help with spotting the cows before we reached them.
We found them eventually, in a small gully area – presumably sheltering from the wind to the south west of the lighthouse. We crept past as fast as we could and made our way up the other side. Checking back every now and then to make sure we weren’t being followed, we slowly began to let our guard down on the final stretch to the lighthouse.
These lighthouses are always in such beautiful locations. I think of Eigg lighthouse on Eilean Chathastail in particular. They look great with the extra platforms and, at this one, the platform made the perfect spot for a picnic. Here it was also possible to walk underneath the platform which I’d not been able to do before. Just down from the lighthouse is the landing area for the lighthouse with an old derrick. Here are a few pictures of the lighthouse.
Once we were satisfied that we had spent enough time there and eaten enough to get us through the return journey we set off. Considering the location of the cows on the southern side of the island on our walk out, Bob suggested we take the more direct route along the north coast on the way back. This turned out quite well with no sign of the cows and we got back to the ‘Gate of Safety’, as we called it, a lot quicker. From here it wasn’t long before we were back on the track near the wind turbines and church again, and then the walk was straightforward.
It had been a great walk and we were amazed at how well our six-year-old had coped with it. He was still managing to find enough energy to run up to and jump into the puddles as we neared the caravan! It had also been fantastic to see another new lighthouse and explore Canna and Sanday. There are so many reasons I would recommend Canna as a perfect holiday destination. Firstly, it’s a great place to ‘get away from it all’ as they say. Secondly, it is beautiful – it is the lowest lying of the Small Isles and therefore much easier to get around and explore. Which relates to the third reason to visit, which is that there is so much to see here as demonstrated by the fact that my son says he wants to stay forever and explore all of the tidal islands, hills, and other points of interest. There is a fantastic sea stack over on the east coast which we saw yesterday. Finally, if you are into lighthouses, the walk out to Canna lighthouse is great, if a little challenging in places, and getting to see the lighthouse on Hyskeir flashing is such a treat.
We have another two evenings left here, and I intend to make the most of seeing that beautiful Hyskeir flashing out of the window as the dark descends. 🙂
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