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 488 - David's Stone, North Devon

David's Stone is a small rocky uninhabited tidal island located on the North Devon coast at David's Hole half a mile to the west of Combe Martin.  David's Hole is signposted as Mermaid's Cove, although this name is not shown on any Ordnance Survey maps, so I presume it is either what the locals call it or it was a name invented by the owners of the Sandaway Beach Holiday Park, which is located on the cliff top above the beach, to make it sound more appealing.  It says on their website that it is their private beach but there is a public footpath, which runs from the South West Coast Path in a north westerly direction along the boundary of the holiday park and then through the northern part of it and down the steps to the beach.  However when we visited in December 2020 the section of the public footpath that runs along the boundary was barely accessible - we had to crawl under 3 trees that had fallen across it and fight our way through brambles. Devon County Council have assured us that the footpath will be cleared by spring 2021.

David's Stone has several trees and gorse bushes growing on the summit of the island.

David's Stone from across the beach at David's Hole

Looking up towards the summit of David's Stone

David's Stone from the footpath down to the beach

David's Stone

Looking east from David's Stone towards Lester Point and Little Hangman

David's hole from David's Stone

The beach at David's Hole aka Mermaid's Cove

Island 487 - Crow Point, Braunton, Devon

Crow Point is a sand spit, which is also a tidal island at the moment, although it is only cut off at spring tides.  It is a comparatively recent island, as a shingle spit, known then as Crow Neck, only started to form across the Taw estuary c1840.  The reasons for its formation were probably:

• Fish weirs, which were constructed in the intertidal area around Crow Point in the mid 19th century.  These obstructed the flow of the tide and caused the deposition of sand and shingle.
• Horsey Island was enclosed in 1857, which altered the course of the River Caen.  Before this time it flowed along the northern side of the island and probably provided enough water to keep the area where Crow Point now is, clear of excess sand.

By 1900 sand dunes had begun to form on top of the spit. In 1921 the spit was breached and Crow Point became an island.  Then for the next 25 years or so sand was gradually deposited on Crow Neck and by 1946 it was c60 metres wide and marram grass had established itself on the island.

The gap between Crow Point and Braunton Burrows is currently protected by a low line of rock armour.  A 2013 report commissioned by the Environment Agency and Torridge District Council says that the existing rock armour will fail at some point after 2025 if it is not maintained. Experts disagree what the result of this failure will be on Crow Point.

Crow Point Lighthouse was built by Trinity House in 1954 to guide ships and boats sailing up and down the Taw and Torridge estuaries.  It was originally powered by acetylene gas but was converted to electrical operation in 1978 and solar power in 1987.  The light is 7.6 metres above mean high water level.

Crow Point Lighthouse

Crow Point Lighthouse

Crow Point Lighthouse

The gap between Crow Point and Braunton Burrows

Looking NW up the landward side of Crow Point

Looking SE down Crow Point

Crow Point Lighthouse from the top of Crow Point

Crow Point Lighthouse

Common restharrow

Crow Point Lighthouse from the top of Crow Point

Memorial? on the top of Crow Point

Six-spot burnet moth on viper's bugloss

Appledore from Crow Point

Island 486 - Horsey Island, Braunton, Devon

Horsey Island is both a comparatively new and a rapidly disappearing island.  It is located to the south west of the town of Braunton in North Devon and has an area of 80 hectares. The land was reclaimed from the sea in 1857 and enclosed by an earth bank and a dam to protect it from the sea.  It was then used for pasture, arable crops and rough grazing. In 1910 a storm breached Horsey Island's sea wall in 5 places.  It was repaired in 1911.

The River Caen flows south down the eastern side of the island and into the estuary of the River Taw, which flows in a south westerly direction along the south side of the island.  Excess rainwater was drained from Horsey Island via a pipe into the river.  The pipe had a flap on the end to stop sea water from coming back up it. In 2014 or 2015 the flap broke and the condition of the sea wall around it gradually deteriorated.  In November 2017 the sea wall was breached.  In January 2018 the breach was widened by Storm Eleanor and the island flooded.  Several old stone farm buildings on the island were damaged.  The breach was not repaired and the island was regularly flooded with sea water and was reverting to salt marsh, sandbanks and mudflats. By autumn 2019 the breach was 60 metres wide.

In November 2019 Devon Wildlife Trust announced that it had bought Horsey Island, helped by a generous donation from a local resident and bird watcher called Mark Ansell.  It is now managed as a nature reserve. Salt tolerant plants such as samphire, sea blite and sea purslane have colonised the island, which is now visited by thousands of wading and other birds, which land there to rest and feed. Golden plovers, curlews, little egrets, shelducks and lapwings are common but ospreys, spoonbills, glossy ibis, cattle egrets, great white egrets and ruff have also been seen on the nature reserve.

The South West Coast Path used to run along the top of the sea wall on the south and east sides of the island.  Since October 2016 it has been diverted and it now runs alongside the toll road on the north west side of the island on the inner sea wall, which was built in 1811-1815 when Braunton Marshes were reclaimed from the sea.  This is currently the only way you can view Horsey Island - there is no access to the island itself.

Devon Wildlife Trust notice near Crow Beach House

Viper's bugloss on the outer sea wall

Looking across Horsey Island from the outer sea wall

Outer sea wall

Estuary of the River Taw and Appledore from Horsey Island

Looking NE across Horsey Island towards Braunton

Horsey  Island

Looking NW up the outer sea wall

Looking south west down the outer sea wall towards Horsey Mere

Female large skipper butterfly on the sea wall

Island 485 - Point of Nesbister, Whiteness Voe, Shetland

Point of Nesbister is a small tidal rocky outcrop on the east side of Whiteness Voe on Shetland Mainland.  A building, known in Shetland as a böd, was built on the outcrop by Hay & Co in 1844 to house fishermen and their equipment during the fishing season.  The fishermen would have dried fish on the beach outside the böd to prepare them for export. The böd consists of a single storey with a loft above and was built of rubble with stugged (random chisel marks) sandstone dressings. A short flight of stone steps leads up to the entrance door and the loft is accessed by a separate external flight of stone stairs at the north end of the building.

The böd is now used as a camping barn offering cheap but basic self-catering accommodation to visitors.  It has no electricity and the toilet is of the "bucket and bury" variety.  It is one of 9 camping böds in Shetland run by Shetland Amenity Trust.

Point of Nesbister is only cut off from the mainland during storm conditions. The rest of the time it is linked to the mainland by a beach.

Low tide at Point of Nesbister

Point of Nesbister

Nesbister Böd

Nesbister Böd