A lifetime of Islands: Caves

Saturday, 24 September 2022

Arran - A Look Beyond the Obvious - see also Island 3

Arran was the 3rd island I ever visited, back in 1976. I have returned three times since and this blog post highlights some of the less obvious interesting places to visit on the island.

Tin Tabernacle Church at Pirnmill

The church was built c1920.

Pirnmill Church Bell

Plaque outside the Co-op in Lamlash commemorating Donald McKelvie

Donald McKelvie (1867-1947) developed disease resistant potatoes, including the Arran Chief, Arran Victory, Arran Pilot and Arran Banner. The Maris Piper was bred from his Arran Cairn, He also bred Highland ponies. He was born on Arran and after training as an accountant in Glasgow he returned to Lamlash in 1894 to run his family's bakery business. He became interested in horticulture and developed the new varieties in his garden and on fields where the high school now stands.

Igneous Dyke at Kildonan Shore

The southern coast of Arran around Kildonan has one of the best exposed igneous dyke swarms in the world. They were formed when basaltic magma was squeezed up through vertical cracks in the earth's crust, which formed as the continents of Europe and North America were pulled apart 60 million years ago. Today they look like walls that extend out into the sea.

Igneous Dyke at Kildonan Shore

Waterfall at Kildonan Shore

Seat at Kildonan Shore

Eas Mor Waterfall

It was more of a trickle, than a waterfall when we visited in May 2022, despite a week of rain.

Paper lined hut near Eas Mor

Not sure what this was all about!

Outside of the paper-lined hut at Eas More

Bluebells near Eas Mor Waterfall

Sheep bollard at Glen Sannox

Elephant Rock near Sannox

Hutton's Unconformity, Lochranza

Fairy bench at the Fairy Dell near Lochranza

The plaque on the bench says:

In Loving memory of

Bill Stark.

A wee resting place for the fairies

at his favourite spot.

1928-1997.

Fairy Dell and fairy bench, Lochranza

Toposcope at Lochranza

Twelve Apostles, Catacol

This row of 12 cottages is known as the Twelve Apostles. They were built in the 1860s to house people who had been cleared from their homes in the interior of Arran to make way for deer.

Barking House, Catacol

This now ruined building is where local fisherman used to preserved their sails, ropes and nets by immersing them in a liquid known as cutch. Cutch was made by boiling the bark of the Acacia catechu tree (from India) in water.

St Bride's Church, Lochranza

The current church was built in 1795 on the site of an earlier church. It was enlarged in 1835 and restored in the mid 1890s by the Duke of Hamilton.

Stained Glass Window in Lochranza Church

This window was given by Miss Edith Kerr in 1931 in memory of the Reverend John Colville. It depicts the ship of the Gospel sailing through the troubled seas of life. The thunder and lightning represent the perils its experiences along the way. The lighthouse on the hill in the background is a guide to the ship's ultimate goal, the city of light and the harbour where the waters are calm.

Auchencar Standing Stone

Auchagallon Cairn

Coast Path near the King's Cave

The west coast of Arran near the King's Cave

Cave near the King's Cave

Entrance to the King's Cave

According to legend, a despondent Robert the Bruce sheltered in this cave before the Battle of Bannockburn and it was here that he saw the famous spider that took numerous attempts to create its web but never gave up on its task. This inspired him to have another go at claiming the Scottish throne. However, the story is probably not true and the cave is one of a number that claim to have sheltered Robert the Bruce on that occasion. The caves along this part of the coast to the north of Blackwaterfoot were eroded into the New Red Sandstone cliffs by the sea during the last ice age when glaciers covered much of Scotland and caused isostatic depression of the land. When the climate warmed the glaciers melted and the weight of the ice was removed from the land, which caused it to rise up relative to the sea and to form the raised beaches, which are a feature around most of the coastline of Arran.

Cross carving in the King's Cave

Looking out of the King's Cave

King's Cave

Caves close to the King's Cave

Entrance to the King's Cave

Rock sculptures in a cave to the north of the King's Cave

Unusual rock formation near the King's Cave - is this an example of pillow lava?

Beautifully carved wooden otter gate at Corrie

Postbox on The String near Glaister Bridge

This postbox was built in 1880 using stone quarried on Arran by either Thomas Hill or David Wilson. It was originally the private mail box for Dougarie Lodge. It replaced an earlier white box, which scared at least one horse because it was so visible. The replacement stone box blends into its surroundings much better. The markings on the stone are traditional masonry marks. The String is the B-road, which runs across the island from Brodick to Blackwaterfoot.

Thursday, 14 July 2022

Island 496 - Staffa

I finally made it to Staffa, 13 years after my first unsuccessful attempt. The weather for the first 6 days of our week on Mull in June 2021 was either too wet or too windy but on the final day it was perfect - calm, sunny and warm, so we booked two of the remaining few spaces on one of the trip boats running from Fionnphort (Staffa Trips and Staffa Tours). Boats also leave from Ulva Ferry (Turus Mara). Landing on Staffa is only possible on very calm days and when there is no swell. You only get just over an hour ashore on Staffa but that is long enough to see Fingal's Cave and also walk to and round the top of the island.

The only landing place is on the east coast. It is a simple concrete platform with a flight of steep concrete steps leading up from it to the top of the island.

Staffa is just over half a mile from north to south by quarter of a mile from east to west and the highest point on the island is 42 metres above sea level.

The island has been uninhabited since about 1800 but in 1772 it was home to one person and in 1784 16 people were living there. The island was originally part of the MacQuarrie's Ulva Estate but they sold it in 1777. It then had a succession of owners - Colin MacDonald of Lochboisdale, Ranald MacDonald, Gerald Newall, Alastair Watteville, the Langs and in 1986 it was bought by an American - Mr Jock Elliott Jr as a 60th birthday present for his wife Elly and donated to the National Trust for Scotland, who still own it.

Staffa is made of fine-grained black Tertiary basalt. Slow cooling caused the lava to form hexagonal columns. The same period of volcanic activity formed the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. The coast of the island is indented with many caves, the most famous of which is called Fingal's Cave. It is named after Fionn MacCool, a 3rd century Irishman, who defended the Hebrides against Viking raiders. He is known in Gaelic as Fionn na ghal, which means chief of valour. In Gaelic, Fingal's Cave is known as An Uamh Bhin, which means the melodious cave. The name Staffa means pillar/post island in Old Norse, referring to the basalt columns.

A natural path, known as The Causeway leads from the landing place down the east coast of the island, across the hexagonal blocks to the mouth of Fingal's Cave and then into it. In places the path has been made safer by the addition of some concrete steps. The acoustics in the cave are extraordinary, as the seawater moves in and out of it. The walls of the cave are all composed of tall hexagonal basalt columns. The cave is unique and absolutely amazing.

The other main caves on Staffa are Clamshell Cave, which is located next to the landing place; Boat Cave, McKinnon's Cave and Cormorant Cave on the south coast; Goat Cave on the east coast. McKinnon's Cave and Cormorant Cave are linked by a narrrow tunnel. The cliff near Fingal's Cave was damaged in 1945 when a sea mine exploded.

In 1772 the botanist Joseph Banks brought Staffa to the world's attention. He spent the night in the house of the only family on the island and became infested with lice as a result. He publicised the island on his return to London and tourists started to visit. The famous people who came to see Fingal's Cave included Sir Walter Scott, John Keats, William Wordsworth, Queen Victoria & Prince Albert, Jules Verne, Dr David Livingstone, Robert Louis Stevenson and JWM Turner. The composer Felix Mendelssohn visited Staffa in 1829 and the magnificence of Fingal's Cave inspired him to write his Hebridean Overture (also known as Fingal's Cave).

The top of the island is reasonably flat and a few puffins nest in burrows on the cliffs.