Sulaisgeir of the Gannets

Here are a few views of Sulaisgeir from a visit in 2011. I was hoping we'd be able to land, but it was not to be. Although the sky was clear and the wind slight, the sea was still lumpy from a week of bad weather. I will have to try again someday. 

The landing place (left centre)

The light beacon - 1

The light beacon - 2

Some of the cairns of the men of Ness

Sula - North Rona in the distance

Afoot on Eilean Tighe

It was a gray, wet day as we set out in the MV Rona from the pontoon dock in South Rona's Acairsaid Mor (Big Harbour). Bill Cowie was at the helm, and was taking the Cummings, a family from Cheshire who were staying in the Seacape and Skyescape Cottages, over to visit Kyles Rona. Along the way he dropped me off on the rocks of Eilean Tighe (the island of the house) - a tidal island connected to Kyles. I only had an hour to wander around Eilean Tighe, as the sea would shortly flood the shallow and narrow straight that separates it from Kyles. 

On the way to Kyles after dropping me on Eilean Tighe 

I spent most of my time on Eilean Tighe looking around the old settlement. Julia Mackenzie opens her book, 'Whirlygig Bettles and Tackety Boots', with a description of a visit to the island to see the house that she lived in as a child. She writes that it was originally occupied by her grandparents. And when her grandmother died Julia's family moved here, where they lived until she was 9. They then moved to Kyles Rona. Here are some photos of the house on Eilean Tighe.

After exploring the island I crossed over the slippery, sea-weed covered exposed beach to Kyles Rona, where I made my way to the bothy (once the home of Norman Mackenzie). Julia writes of visiting the house when Norman lived there. The rain was still coming down, so I went in to dry off, and inside I found the Cummings family doing the same. 

Norman Mackenzie's house, Kyles Rona - now a bothy

Bill was due to pick us up in an hour, so I did not have time to explore more of Kyles. Which was a shame as I would miss seeing what's left of Kyles House, where Julia's family had lived. I need to return someday to see it.

A View to Eilean Tighe

During a week-long stay on South Rona I had the chance to visit Eilean Tighe (House Island), which you can see off in the distance in this photo of Rona Chapel and burial ground. Bill Cowie, who manages Rona, took a group over to Kyles Rona, and on the way there he dropped me off on Eilean Tighe. I explored most of the island, including the ruined house, then, as it was low tide, I could walk over the narrow pebbly beach that separates the island from Kyles Rona, the northern tip of Raasay.

All  I knew about Eilean Tighe at the time was that the postman lived there that once delivered the mail to Rona. He'd row over to Rona, then walk all the way to the lighthouse and back. A few months after my visit to Eilean Tighe Bill Cowie sent me a copy of 'Whirligig Beetles and Tackety Boots'. It was written by Julia MacKenzie, the daughter of Norman Cumming, who had been the Rona Postman. How I wish I'd read it before going to the island. It is a hard-to-find book, and a short look today revealed only one copy available. As soon as I can find where I put them I will share some photos of Eilean Tighe.

A' Chuli - Cuil-ri-Brennan - An Unwritten isle

This photo was taken from the north tip of Eileach a Naoimh of the Garvellach Isles. In the foreground, just beyond the three skerries, cloud shadow can be seen darkening the island of A' Chuli; also known as Cuil-ri-Brennan - St Brendan's retreat. Just beyond it rises the larger island of Garbh Eilean. 

Eileach a Naoimh, with its monastic ruins, sees lots of visitors. But few set foot on A' Chuli or Garbh Eilean. I described a visit to Garbh Eilean in Book 1, chapter 9, and although I have visited A' Chuli, I never wrote about it.

I wanted to go there because, in a book that I've forgotten the title of, I'd read there was once a chapel on the island, and that St Brendan used it for a retreat. And so I set foot on the island to see for myself if there were any ruins. It didn't take long to scour every inch of the small rocky islet, and no ruins were seen. That said, the thick grass, heather, and bracken hid much of the surface, so I could have missed something.    

St Finnan's View to Eigg and Rum

Here are two photos taken from the top of Beinn Breac, on the east side of Ardnamurchan. The first shows the view looking to the northwest; Rum is in the far distance, and in front of it you can see Eigg. From this elevation, around 1000 feet, the notch of the notched isle (Eigg) can be seen. The second photo shows the view looking northeast towards Invermoidart. 

I climbed Beinn Breac for two reasons. The first was that it is known as St Finnan's seat, where he rested on his walk to Loch Shiel after coming to Scotland, and I wanted to see the view he had. And quite an amazing view it is. The second reason was that somewhere near Beinn Breac there are inauguration-footprints carved in stone, similar to the one on Dunadd. But I could not find them.

Looking towards Eigg and Rum

Looking northeast from Beinn Breac

Cave View - 9

This cave view is from Tunnel Cave on the northwest tip of Hirta (St Kilda). A natural ledge drops down the cliff face giving access to the cave. Except for the final 50 feet it is an easy decent. But the last bit is a steep, slimy slab of rock. When I first visited the cave in 1999 someone had strung a thick rope along the rocks to ease the way (see 3rd photo). On my second visit, in 2007, I was anxious to show the cave to a friend, and expected the rope to be there. It wasn't. But we still managed to creep safely down to sea level to get into the cave. 

Looking out the west end of the cave

Looking towards Glen Bay from the ledge down to the cave

The rope that was there in 1999

Looking towards Boreray from the east end of the cave

Northern Isles - Egilsay

On my trip to Orkney one of my must-see places was Egilsay. Two things drew me to the island: the martyrdom of St Magnus in the year 1116, and the 12 century church of St Magnus with its round tower. I was pretty naive back then, thinking I could just drive to the ferry terminal at Tingwall and await the next boat to Egilsay. They looked at me like I was from Mars. They said there was no on-demand sailing to Egilsay, and there was also not a lot of demand for regular sailings (this was 1990). But they did manage to get us to Rousay, where we had a 2-hour wait to get on a boat that was going to Egilsay. This gave us time to see some of the chambered-cairns that lie near where the ferry lands on Rousay.

When we finally got over to Egilsay we had two wonderful hours on the island. Egilsay is a beautiful, and quiet island. After finding the monument that marks where St Magnus was killed (first photo), we explored St Magnus' Church and round tower (second and third photo). The photos are marred a bit by the scaffolding that surrounded the tower, so I hope to return to Egilsay in June to get some better photos.

Monument where St Magnus was killed in 1116

St Magnus' Church, Egilsay

Scaffolding on the Round Tower

Looking up through the round tower

When time came to leave Egilsay the tide had dropped, so we had to descend the pier-ladders to get down to the small ferry. On the ride back to Tingwall the only passengers were my wife and I, and the Egilsay teacher returning to her home on Mainland Orkney.

Egilsay Ferry

My wife descending the ladder on Egilsay Pier