Lismore Ridge Walk

Even though I've only done it once, the Lismore Ridge walk is an amazing day-out. The right way to do it is to spend a few days on Lismore, so you can take your time, wait for good weather, and then enjoy the walk at a relaxed pace. It is possible to do it as day trip from Oban, but you will always be thinking about making the last ferry. Although I call it the Lismore Ridge, it is actually a series of limestone ridges: Druim Mor (big ridge), Garbh Dhruim (rough ridge), and Druim nan Damh (deer ridge). 

When I made the walk I was staying in a B&B at Achinduin, at the south end of Lismore's west-side road. I set out on foot from the B&B early in the morning, then, after paying a visit to the ruin of Achadun Castle, I headed cross-country to the south, avoiding the top of Druim Mor until I reached Tom na Faire (look-out hill), at the southern tip of Lismore.

Achadun Castle

From the top of Tom Na Faire there is a direct view south to Eilean Musdile and its lighthouse. This particular island is seen by thousands of people every year from passing ferries, but it is rarely visited.  In the next photo, just beyond and to the left of the lighthouse, you can see Lady's Rock. This was where one of the chiefs of Clan Maclean is said to have stranded his wife, the daughter of the Earl of Argyll. He left her there to drown, as the rock is submerged at high tide. As one version of the story goes, she was rescued and the Campbells had their revenge. 

Eilean Musdile and Lady's Rock seen from Tom na Faire.

Eilean Musdile - Tom na Faire on Lismore to the right

From Tom na Faire I turned north to start the ridge walk to the north. There are many hills with "Faire" in their Gaelic names, which means "watching". And many of the 'Fairy Island', or 'Fairy Hill' place-names you come across are incorrect English translations of the name.

The next two hours of walking was magic as I made my way up the spine of the island; amazing sea-views in all directions.

Along the way you can also see low-lying Eilean Bernera off to the west; also know as Bernera of the Noble Yew. See this link for descriptions of visits to Bernera.

Bernera

As you continue north, placid Loch Fiart appears down the slopes to the east. Having covered nearly three miles you eventually reach Lismore's highest point, the Barr Mor.

Loch Fiart

Atop the Barr Mor

Many years ago, I've lost track of when, I was inspired to visit Lismore and climb the Barr Mor after reading Campbell Steven's The Island Hills (1955). It is a charming book, and one that every Scottish island-lover should read. In it, the author has this to say of the climb up the Barr Mor:

It provides no meal for the mountianeer, not even a boulder problem to whet the cragsman's appetite. It is in fact a real lazy man's paradise, like Iona's Dun I, or Windy Hill on Bute; the way to its cairn, from whichever direction one approaches, is no more than a stroll. Yet your Lismore resident is as proud of his hill as any Chamoniard of Mont Blanc.'

Looking southwest from the Barr Mor 

From the Barr Mor you can descend west to Achinduin, or east to the main Lismore road at Kilcheran. Kilcheran is an interesting place. It was a Catholic college for 30 years (1792-1822), and more recently the last home of Isabel Bonus (1875-1941), who illustrated many of MEM Donaldson's books. See this link for a photo of Kilcheran House.

When I made the Lismore Ridge walk I descended west from the Barr Mor to return to the B&B at Achnaduin to complete one of the best island hikes I've ever made. The hospitality of the Walkers, who ran the B&B, was wonderful. Unfortunately the B&B is no longer running, so I have no recommendations on a place to stay. But a long visit to Lismore is a must. So take a look at the Lismore Accomodation website, pick a place, and go explore.

A Day on Lismore & Back to Bernera

Back in 2006 I spent the better part of a week on Lismore. On one of those days I waited until low tide, and then crossed over to the tidal island known as Bernera of the Noble Yew. There was once a giant yew there, said to have sheltered hundreds, where Saint Columba once preached. 

Although the giant yew was cut down many years ago, I still wanted to find the site of the tree, as I'd wondered if there were still yews to be found there. And so once on Bernera I made my way to the old burial ground and chapel ruin said to be built on the site of the yew. I found the chapel ruin in a small glen above St Moulag's Well. There were several trees growing around the glen, which I thought, at the time, were yews. This photo is from that visit in 2006.

Bernera chapel ruin and trees (2006)

So let's jump ahead nine years. Two months ago Mavis Gulliver sent me a message questioning whether the trees I found were yews. She was preparing a story on Bernera for Scottish Islands Explorer, and had noticed that there were graze lines on the trees in my photo, indicating that animals may have been munching on them. If they were yews, whose foliage is poisonous, it would be unusual to have graze lines. I had no close up photos of the trees to confirm what they were, and so I decided a return to Bernera was needed.

As it turned out, I was shortly going to have a free day in Oban before an upcoming trip to St Kilda; a day that could be spent getting to Bernera. But there was a complication. You need a low tide to get to Bernera, and on the only day I could go to Lismore low water was at 6:30pm. The complication was that the last ferry back to Oban was at 6:15. Since the distance from Bernera back to the Lismore ferry dock is four miles, I'd have to cross to Bernera no later than 3:30pm, three hours before low tide.

To attempt a crossing three hours before low tide would be a close call. But I decided to see if I could do it. Since it would be so late in the day, I also decided to take an early ferry to Lismore and spend some time exploring the island as I worked my way to the Bernera crossing.

The route around Lismore to the Bernera crossing

There were only 5 passengers on MV Loch Striven as I made the 9am crossing to Lismore. It was threatening to rain, but as it turned out I would have a dry and sunny day afoot. As the ferry approached the pier at Achnacroish I noticed how much the old pier house has deteriorated since the first time I saw it in 1998.

Achnacroish pier house (Lismore) in 1998

Achnacroish pier house in 2015

MV Loch Striven at Achnacroish

From Achnacroish I decided to walk the shore path up the east coast to the broch of Tirefour. I'd tried to do this several years ago, but decided not to back then as I was not sure about walking so close to the homes there. But this time I noticed a sign with a giant arrow whch left no doubt about the way to go.

The arrow points the way

It was an easy path, and once past the houses it carved its way north through swaths of tall bracken, wet with the morning dew.

Through the wet bracken

A half mile up the path I came to this memorial cross that had been erected "by his sorrowing father" to Waverley Arthur Cameron. Cameron was an editor of the Oban Times who drowned near here on a visit to Lismore in 1891 (see this link for the newspaper report of the drowning).

Memorial cross to Waverley Arthur Cameron 

The path was a bit vague at times, but I eventually came to a sign indicating the way to the broch.

This way to the broch

A bit beyond the sign I made a wrong turn, and ended up in the middle of a boggy field south of Balure farm. But I could see the broch from there, and eventually reached it after marching through an unpleasant stretch of bracken and brambles. 

Tirefour broch is one of the best preserved in the country. Its inner courtyard is nearly 40 feet in diameter, and it must of been an impressive structure in its day. See this CANMORE page for more info on the broch.

Tirefour Broch

Inside Tirefour Broch

I was a bit tired of bracken bashing, so from the broch I followed the farm track up to the north-south road that traverses the spine of the island. I then followed the road south to the church at Clachan, passing, along the way, the old school and Bachuil House. A house on this site has been home to the chiefs of the Clan Maclea since the days of St Moluag.

Old schoolhouse

Bachuil House

I then came to the church at Clachan, once known as the cathedral church of the isles. It has several stained glass windows; one that depicts Saint Moluag holding a crozier (his staff), which is still held in safe-keeping on the island, and another that shows Saint Columba standing in front of the Bernera yew. 

Clachan Church

Stained glass in Clachan Church- St Moulag (left) and St Columba under the yew (right)

Columba under the yew

A half mile south of Clachan I came to the Lismore Heritage Centre, where I took a break to have lunch. Then it was time to head cross-country to the west coast of the island, where I crossed another stretch of bracken and brambles to see the giant abandoned lime-kilns (early 18th century) and pier at Grogan Dubh and Salen.

Lismore Heritage Centre

Old pier at Grogan Dubh

Lime-kiln at Salen

From Salen it was a long road-walk south to Achaduin, where I had stayed in a B&B during my visit in 2006. Then it was cross country to Achaduin Castle before dropping down to my final destination, the tidal crossing to Bernera.

Achaduin Castle -1

Achaduin Castle -2

The Bernera crossing (3 hours before low tide)

It was three hours before low tide, and the crossing to Bernera was still flooded. So I sat down and made myself comfortable while waiting for the tide to drop. I was getting a little disillusioned, thinking I'd not be able to cross over - I needed to start back to Achnacroish in 90 minutes or I'd miss the last ferry. After 45 minutes of waiting the tide had dropped a bit, and I decided to go for it. So I put on my rubber kayak shoes and started wading across. It was slippery going, but was only about three feet deep in the middle.

Time was short, so I put my boots back on and hurried down the east coast of Bernera along the same route I'd followed in 2006. It was not pleasant going; steep terrain with tall grass, bracken and brambles hiding slabs of sharp limestone. I then came to Bernera Bay, where I climbed up past Saint Moluag's Well to reach the ruin of the chapel.

The glen of the chapel

It was now discovery time. The trees I'd seen in 2006 were still there, and I walked up to the one next to the chapel ruin to take a close look.

Chapel ruin and tree

It was definitely not a yew, and all the other trees in the small glen were the same. When I showed samples of the foliage to someone a few days later they told me it was probably a hawthorn. 

Close up view of one of the trees

I was disappointed, not only in that I'd mistakenly thought they were yews nine years ago, but that it looked like there were no yews on Bernera. Mavis Gulliver had mentioned to me that there may be a few on the cliffs on the northeast side of the island. And as I returned to the crossing I looked all along that area, but saw nothing that looked like a yew. When I reached the crossing the tide had significantly dropped, so I did not need my kayak shoes, which I'd left on the shore, to cross back to Lismore.

The Bernera crossing an hour or so before low tide

At that point I had less than two hours to make it the four miles back to the ferry. The first mile or two was across trackless terrain to climb back to the road. When I reached the road a look at the watch showed I had 45 minutes to cover two miles. It would be a close call, but as I passed the side-track up from Salen a car came along. I stuck out my thumb, the car stopped, and I was soon on my way in comfort. Martin, who was visiting friends at Salen farm, kindly dropped me at the road down to the ferry, where a short walk took me to the ferry terminal with 15 minutes to spare.

Loch Striven arriving at Lismore

Oban seen on the way back from Lismore

I'd had an excellent day on Lismore, covering 12 beautiful miles. I'd also confirmed that I'd made an error about the Bernera yews. It turns out they are hawthorns. The hawthorn, like the yew, was a tree sacred to the early people of the isles; so perhaps they also graced the landscape of Bernera fifteen centuries ago when Saint Columba preached on Bernera of the Noble Yew.

Lismore Day trip - 3

From Acadun Castle I headed west to the Bernera crossing. Bernera is also known as Bernera of the Noble Yew. As the story goes, Saints Moloug and Columba preached there under the branches of a large yew. My interest to visit the island was peaked when I obtained the Pathfinder Map of Duart Point (Mull).  Way up in the right corner of the map was tiny Bernera island, and marked on it were the words "Chapel and Burial Ground". I had never read anywhere that there had been a chapel on the island so, from that moment on, visiting Bernera became a must.

As I descended from the castle I could see all of Bernera except for the crossing point (to the right in the next photo). The tide must still be low, I thought. So thinking I'd be able to cross to the island I hurried towards the shore.

Looking to Bernera from Acadun Castle

But as I neared the crossing my hopes were dashed. The tide had begun to fill the channel that separates Bernera from Lismore (next photo). I might have been able to cross over, but I knew that if I did, after spending any appreciable amount of time on the island I'd have to wait for the next low tide to cross back. Unfortunately there was only one more ferry back to Oban. If I lingered too long I'd miss it. In a depressed state of mind I had to turn my back on Bernera to start the climb back towards the centre of the island. My next destination the Barr Mor, the tip-top of Lismore. 

Tide filling the crossing to Bernera

Note: I would return to Lismore eight years later to finally cross over to Bernera to find the chapel ruin, St Molaug's Well, and to see if there are any descendants of Columba's Noble Yew (see Book 1, Chapter 27).

Lismore & Glensanda

I used a photo of Castle Coeffin on Lismore for the cover of Book 1. Here is another photo of the castle taken the same day. It is not quite as picturesque, for it also shows the massive super quarry at Glensanda.  I have always wanted to hike in to see Glensanda Castle, also known as Castle Mernaig (or Bhearnaig), but being on the grounds of the quarry it's pretty much off-limits. 

So why do I want to see the castle?  It is because of this quote from Nigel Tranter: "This must surely be one of the most elusive fortalices in all of Scotland, both as to its remoteness and inaccessibility and also in its identity, for it is also sometimes named Castle Mernaig, and is marked on the OS map as Casteal na Gruagaich."  (Gruagaich being the mythical creature also known as a Brownie.)  

Nigel Tranter wrote the above long before the quarry arrived, so these days it is even more elusive. But I still would like to find a way to see it. 

Castle Coeffin - Lismore

This is Castle Coeffin on the west side of Lismore: the most evocative castle ruin in the isles. The spiky remnants of a 13th century hall house rise from the top, and below them bits of the bailey that once defended the entrance can be seen.

On the mainland across Loch Linnhe you can see the massive Glensanda quarry. In its grounds is Castle Mearnaig; possibly the most inaccessible castle ruin in Scotland. Which means one thing....I must find a way to see it!

When my wife and I visited Coeffin in 1993 I wandered through a derelict farm house next to the castle. Trees were growing inside, and most of its roof was gone.

Coeffin Farmhouse - 1993

The next photo was taken on a visit in 2006. It was good to see that the house had been renovated and is now lived in.

Coeffin Farmhouse - 2006