If I had started this series of posts with more imaginative titles I would have probably called this one “a day of little lights” or something similar. I think that describes it quite well really.
We started the day slightly earlier than the rest of the group and took the tender out from Craighouse on Jura across to land on Eilean Nan Gabhar, which is home to one of the “flat-pack” lighthouses – the one we had seen flashing while we ate dinner the night before. While the crossing was a little rocky, landing was absolutely fine and it was really just a hop across the rocks (I never enjoy that sort of thing very much though, but will do it if there’s a lighthouse at the end) to reach the lighthouse. This one is a fairly standard flat-pack so there’s not a great deal to say about it. It is always nice to see these ones close up though and, I believe, this is the first one I visited with my friend John who also has a rather rare appreciation of these structures.
Once we’re returned to the “mothership” as our North Coast Seatours skipper Derek so nicely refers to it, we joined the rest of the group and set off northbound again. It wasn’t too long until we reached the great lighthouse that is Skervuile. While we did see this one earlier in the year, the tide was out then and this time it was higher so we got to see Skervuile in its full rock lighthouse glory with the waves lapping at its base. It’s a very interesting tower and considerably smaller than any others sitting on rocks often submerged by the sea. This was our closest view that day of one of the Northern Lighthouse Board’s larger lights and those on the boat couldn’t fail to be impressed.
Continuing north we landed briefly on Ruadh Sgeir for a visit to the lighthouse. This was another one we had seen in January, but not landed on then. I am very fond of this type and it’s always nice to have a chance to see one close up. They strike a nice balance between the modern and the traditional. Although they don’t have the majesty of the old stone towers they have more substance to them than the flat-packs.
We sailed past Reisa an t-Sruith, another one we’d seen earlier in the year. In the interests of time we passed on landing at this one as lunch beckoned! The sea conditions in the area reminded me of the boat trip we did in January where the skipper informed us of the translation of the islands name, which was something along the lines of “the island in the rushing currents”. How very true that is.
A short distance on we sailed past both Fladda and Dubh Sgeir, almost at the same time, which always make it difficult to know which side of the boat to stand on. Do I look at the more beautiful one that I’ve landed at previously or the smaller, less impressive one that I’ve not seen close up before? I like to think I managed to get a bit of both in.
Not that it mattered too much as our lunch stop was on Luing from where Fladda lighthouse becomes the centrepiece of an incredible view. We were booked in for lunch at the Atlantic Centre, which I was particularly pleased about as it is now home to the old Fladda lens and I caught sight of it as soon as we walked in the door. It is very nicely displayed, surrounded by information about the lens itself as well as the lighthouse and details of what life was like for the keepers and their families on the island. That wasn’t it though as, very excitingly, the Centre has a really interesting lighthouse exhibition upstairs. There is information about the Stevenson’s and their lighthouses as well as some fantastic old pictures. The most interesting, in my opinion, due to its relevance to that particular day was a 1947 picture of the old Reisa an t-Sruith lighthouse. Also, a couple of historical pictures of the Garvellachs light with one from the 1950s showing a few people posing on the gallery. A really interesting exhibition.
After lunch we were off again and sailed past the lighthouse on Sgeirean Dubha. This is an interesting one and a little different from your average flat-pack as you can see from the picture.
A little while later we passed Oban and obviously saw Dunollie and Lismore lighthouses. We also sailed close to Lady’s Rock, a rock completely submerged by water at high tide, where a husband allegedly abandoned his wife only to then see her wander into the pub later that day after she was rescued by a passing fisherman. An interesting story, that one. Lady’s Rock now features a lighthouse. It’s a different one as the base is solid concrete while the top section is like a layer of the flat-pack design (like Sgeirean Dubha or Na Cuiltean), but the flat-pack section is clad in red rather than white panels.
A sail past of Duart Point on Mull was next on the agenda. Although we’ve been to Mull we’d not quite made it there and it will be nice to visit from the land at some point.
Further up was Glas Eileanan. As a structure in itself it’s a fairly standard flat-pack. The only difference really with this one is that it has a little stone hut – probably not associated with the lighthouse at all – fairly close by on the same small island.
Ardtornish was our penultimate stop of the day. Bob, John and I managed to land here at the little steps, presumably used by the Northern Lighthouse Board to access the tower. Once off of the rocks it was a really easy walk along the grass to reach the lighthouse. Again, there’s not much to be said about it, and the visit there was possibly not quite as fun as it would have been if it hadn’t been raining.
The final scheduled viewing of the day was Eileanan Glasa (not to be mistaken for Glas Eileanan!). Another flat-pack (I did say it was a day for the little lights, didn’t I?!)
Before heading for our final stopping place for the night, Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, we popped to Tobermory on Mull. There was a music festival taking place and we bought fish and chips to eat on the pier before spending an hour or so in a one of the pubs listening to some local music. On our way back across the water to Kilchoan that evening we could see the flashing lights of both Rubha nan Gall and Ardmore Point. More on Ardmore to come tomorrow.
A really good day and great to have seen so many of those lights that many would just shrug their shoulders at. I think John and I may be converting some of those on the trip towards liking these structures though 🙂
uklighthousetour 