The Cross of Cave Bay - Rum

One of the most interesting short walks on Rum is to see the cross of Bàgh na h-Uamha (Cave Bay). To get there follow the Dibidil path for a mile until it reaches Allt Mor na Uamha, the Big Stream of the Caves. Leave the trail here and go cross-country to the west, following the stream as it tumbles down to the sea via a series of rocky waterfalls.

Looking west from Cave Bay to Hallival and the Dibidil track

Cave Bay is the site of an old settlement, and here you'll find the low outlines of several cottages pushing up through the turf. Just below the ruins, and above the rocky beach, stands a four-foot tall stone pillar. Incised into the top of the pillar is a Greek cross, four equal arms with flared ends. Carved in the seventh or eighth century, this cross style fell out of fashion at some point, as it had been later modified into a Latin style cross by doubling the length of the vertical arm to create a shaft.

The stone had been found lying prone on the beach in the 1970s, and re-erected a safe distance above the surf in 1982. Is this a Christianized standing stone, like St Taran’s Cross on Taransay?  Or did an early monk, perhaps St Beccan of Rum, originally put the stone up as a cross?  I don’t know the answer. But if you ever visit Bàgh na h-Uamha you’ll have plenty of silence to think about it. This tranquil spot sees few visitors. Most who come to Rum go up high to traverse the Rum Cuillins. Others come to see the wild-life: the deer, or the shearwaters nesting on Hallival. I saw nary a soul on my journey to Cave Bay, and I doubt if you will either.

Eigg seen from Cave Bay

See this CANMORE page for more on the cross of Cave Bay.

The Temple-Tomb of Rum

I've only had the pleasure of visiting Harris on Rum twice. The first time was in 1997, when my wife and I made the 12-mile round trip walk from Kinloch Castle. The second time was on a circumnavigation of the south half of Rum made in 2000 (see chapter 28 of book 1).

The weather in 2000 was atrocious, gray skies and a constant drizzle, which made for dreary photos. But the first visit, in '97, was on a hot spring day. So hot that when my wife and I reached Harris we put two cans of beer in the nearby Glen Duian River to get cold. The goal of the walk was to see the most bizarre grave sites in the Hebrides, the Bullough's Temple-tomb. Here are a few photos from that amazing day afoot on Rum.

Harris Lodge and the Bullough's Temple-Tomb at Harris

Looking to the western sea from Harris

The meager remnant of the Bullough's original hillside cave-tomb can be seen to the left of the temple

John Bullough's memorial

A beer cools in the Glen Duian River (at bottom)

MV Loch Mor

The Loch Mor plied the seas between Mallaig and the Small Isles for many years until she was replaced by MV Loch Nevis in 2001. It was always an adventure getting to Rum, Eigg, and Muck on Loch Mor, because you would have to transfer to the small island flit boats to get ashore.

I sailed on Loch Mor three times; two were week-long visits to Rum in 1997 and 2000, where my wife and I stayed in the B&B rooms in the back of Kinloch Castle (book 1, chapter 28). Another time was in 1998, when I took the 5am Saturday sailing out of Mallaig to spend seven hours hiking on Rum (book 1, chapter 25).

Loch Mor is now called MV Jurassic Scene, and offers cruises in the south of England. Below are a few photos of Loch Mor from the journey to Rum in 1998. 

Aboard Rhouma (the Rum flit boat) as Loch Mor arrives in Loch Scresort (Rum)

Loch Mor in Loch Scresort

The Rhouma taking hikers ashore on Rum

Riding high atop Loch Mor after a day on Rum

Bizzare Rum

This mausoleum, lying in a far off corner of Rum is, to me, the weirdest sight in the Hebrides. To see it involves a long hike across the island from Loch Scresort. But it is a hike well worth making for the views across the interior of Rum and to the surrounding isles. 

The castle at Scresort is itself an oddity, but this Grecian Temple standing atop a field of lazybeds at Harris Bay is Twilight Zone surreal. The small white patch on the hillside (to the left of the temple) is all that remains of the Bullough's original marble-tiled grave, blown to pieces after someone compared it to a public toilet.