Island 499 - St Ninian's Point, Straad, Bute

St Ninian's Point is a flat tidal island located off the west coast of the Isle of Bute at the hamlet of Straad.  It is about 600 metres from north to south and 250 metres from east to west.  It is only cut off from Bute at high spring tides.  It is separated from Bute by a beach of flat pebbles.  There are two houses, a ruined chapel and the ruins of a smoke house on the island.

St Ninian's Chapel was excavated in 1952 and 1954 and an earlier pagan burial site of long cists was found underneath it.   The sub-rectangular building, which had an altar at the east end, is surrounded by a large enclosure wall.  The chapel was founded from Whithorn (St Ninian started his missionary work in Scotland there in 397AD) in the 6th or early 7th century and possibly abandoned in the 9th century when Norse people arrived. The ruins were repaired in 2009 by the Discover Bute Landscape Partnership Scheme.

The Smoke House (also known as the White House), was built on the island in the 19th century.  It was originally built as a two-roomed fisherman's cottage, but may have been altered at some point, so it could be used for curing herring.  It has a platform at one end, which may have been used to load carts.  A small pier, now ruined, can be seen on the shore nearby.

When we visited in mid May 2022 we identified scurvy grass, lousewort, daisies, dandelions, bird's-foot trefoil, buttercup, cranesbill, celandine, silverweed, cuckoo flower, thrift and iris growing on St Ninian's Point.

One of the two houses on St Ninian's Point

The other house on the island

Smoke House/White House

View from inside the Smoke House

Smoke House/White House

Looking north towards from the chapel ruins

Freshwater sump on St Ninian's Point

Gap between St Ninian's Point and the Isle of Bute

Looking west towards Inchmarnock from St Ninian's Point

Thrift in flower on St Ninian's Point

Looking south from Bute to St Ninian's Point

Standing stones on Bute just to the north of St Ninian's Point

Island 495 - Eilean an Fheior 2, Aros, Mull

Eilean an Fheior 2 is a small uninhabited tidal island located to the south of the estuary of the River Aros and off the east coast of the Isle of Mull.  It is covered in grass and when I visited in mid June 2021 silverweed, iris, tormentil, bedstraw, thrift and iris were all in flower on the island.  The island is visited by ducks and greylag geese.

Looking south from Eilean an Fheior 2

Aros Castle and Eilean an Fheior 1 from Eilean an Fheior 2

Bird's-foot trefoil in flower on Eilean an Fheior 2

Eilean an Fheior 2 from Mull

Island 494 - Eilean an Fheior 1, Aros, Mull

Eilean an Fheior is a small uninhabited tidal island located to the south of the estuary of the River Aros off the east coast of Mull.  It is a few metres to the south of Sgiath Ruadh. When I visited on a sunny afternoon in mid June 2021 the island was covered in silverweed, bird's-foot trefoil, buttercups and parsley water dropwort, all of which were in flower.  Thrift was in flower on the shoreline and there were also a few bluebells, although they had finished flowering.

Sgiath Ruadh from Eilean an Fheior - 

bird's-foot trefoil and parsley water dropwort in flower

Looking south east

Estuary of the River Aros from Eilean an Fheior

Looking towards Aros Castle 

Island 493 - Sgiath Ruadh, Aros, Mull

Sgiath Ruadh is a small uninhabited tidal island located on the south side of the estuary of the River Aros and off the east coast of the Isle of Mull.  The mud between the island and the mainland of Mull felt solid under my feet, as I crossed to the island at low tide. Sgiath Ruadh is covered in grass and silverweed.  Thrift was in flower on the shoreline when I visited on a sunny afternoon in mid June 2021.  

Aros Castle from Sgiath Ruadh

Eilean an Fheior from Sgiath Ruadh

Island 492 - Eilean Feòir, Knock, Mull

Eilean Feòir is a small uninhabited tidal island located at the south east end of Loch na Keal, close to the hamlet of Knock on the western side of the Isle of Mull.  The name means "grass island" in Gaelic, which appropriate, as it is covered in grass. There are also a few thistles and a number of yellow iris plants, which were in flower when I visited in mid June 2021. It is easily accessible from Mull across a rocky beach at low tide.

Looking west down Loch na Keal towards the island of Eorsa

Looking north from Eilean Feòir

Looking north west from Eilean Feòir

Iris flowers on Eilean Feòir

Eilean Feòir

Eilean Feòir from Mull

Island 491 - Eilean Dubh, Lochdon, Mull

Eilean Dubh is a small, uninhabited tidal island at Lochdon on Mull. It is separated from Mull by an area of salt marsh, which floods at high tide and is approximately 150m in diameter.  The name means Black Island in Gaelic.  The island isn't currently grazed by livestock.  It has large clumps of rhododendrons, juniper and gorse bushes in the middle and some mature trees, including rowan and silver birch.  Thrift was in flower on the shores of the island when I visited in mid June 2021.  There were also some heather plants.

Houses at Lochdon from Eilean Dubh

Eilean Ban from Eilean Dubh

Thrift flowers on the shore of Eilean Dubh

Juniper bushes and rhododendrons at Eilean Dubh

Trees and rhododendrons on Eilean Dubh

Eilean Dubh from Lochdon

Eilean Dubh from Lochdon

Island 490 - Eilean Mor 2, Lochbuie, Mull

Eilean Mor 2 is a small uninhabited tidal island located between the mainland of Mull at Lochbuie and the larger tidal island of Eilean Mor.  It doesn't have a separate name but it is large enough to count as an island and since my last visit in 2009 it has gained a stone cairn on it. The inscription on the cairn is as follows:

To Celebrate
The Coronation 1953
And
The Diamond Jubilee 2012
Of
HM Queen Elizabeth II
Erected by the
Corbett Family and Friends

Eilean Mor 2 is closely grazed by sheep. There were a few daisies, thistles and small gorse bushes on the island, but not much else in the way of wild flowers.

Jubilee cairn on Eilean Mor 2

Ben Buie from Eilean Mor 2

Eilean Mor from Eilean Mor 2

Sheep on the beach in between Eilean Mor and Eilean Mor 2

Lochbuie House from Eilean Mor 2

Island 489 - Eilean a'Gharraidh, Dervaig, Mull

Eilean a'Gharraidh is a small low lying uninhabited tidal island situated 100 metres to the west of the B8073 road, 250m south west of Kilmore Church, Dervaig and at the south eastern end of Loch a'Chumhainn.  It is separated from the mainland of Mull at high tide by no more than 20 metres of water.  It has a few rocky outcrops and is covered in grass and gorse bushes and has a solitary tree growing on it.

Looking west across Loch a'Chumhainn

Looking North East

Looking north west across Loch a'Chumhainn

The gap between Eilean a'Gharraidh and Mull at low tide

Kilmore Church from Eilean a'Gharraidh

Island 271 - Eilean Traighe, Argyll and Bute

Eilean Traighe is a very small tidal island located on the south side of Loch Etive, which is a sea loch, about halfway between Connel and Taynuilt.  It is about 50 metres long and 30 metres wide and is only cut off for a short while at high tide.  The area between the mainland and the island is almost all covered in grass but there was seaweed strewn across all of it, so it must get cut off at some high tides.  The island itself is covered in grass and is obviously sometimes grazed by cattle, judging by all the cow pats around but that is about all there is to say about it!  There is a handy layby on the busy A85 road and a stile over a fence to enable easy access to it.

Looking north towards Eilean Traighe

Looking south from Eilean Traighe

This is one boat, which won't be going anywhere any time soon!

Looking east from Eilean Traighe

Island 270 - Eriska, Argyll

Eriska is located 12 miles north of the town of Oban and 3 miles north of the village of Benderloch on the west coast of Argyll and Bute and at the end of a no through road.  It is linked to the mainland by a bridge.

The public road ends here

  The notices say Private Property and Access for Residents Only.  As the entrance to a luxury hotel, I thought the entrance wasn't very grand or welcoming and perhaps a tub of flowers on either side would have been an improvement or maybe a coat of white paint on the walls? 

Eriska is home to a 5 star luxury hotel.  I wasn't sure about how Scottish access rights apply to private bridges, so I emailed the hotel a few weeks before my holiday asking for permission to visit the island.  However they never bothered to reply.  I made the assumption that if they wanted to refuse me permission, they would have replied.  I parked my car at the end of the public road, ate a few blackberries off the bushes nearby, put on my smartest coat. so that I might possibly look like a paying guest and walked purposefully down the drive.  A few cars drove passed me but no one stopped and asked what I was doing.

The bridge is covered in planks of wood, which were quite loose and made a loud noise as cars drove over them - not a very grand way to access a posh hotel!.  It was also impossible for me to walk across it without making a noise.  I didn't venture far onto the island and didn't see the hotel, which is in the middle.  I spotted a lady walking towards me and decided it was time to go in case there were any awkward questions.

Should you happen to have a seaplane or helicopter at your disposal, you can land both at or near the hotel!  The prices for rooms and meals are way out of my price range.  Dinner is £50 but afternoon tea is a more affordable £15.  Self-catering accommodation is also available and there is a spa and a 6 hole golf course, both of which are open to non-residents.

Looking east from the Eriska side of the bridge

Drive to the hotel
 

Looking towards the mainland from Eriska

Looking west from the Eriska side of the bridge

Looking towards Eriska across the bridge