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.

Landing place

Clamshell Cave is hidden in the shadow to the right of the steps

Ferry at the landing place

Fingal's Cave

Fingal's Cave

Fingal's Cave

Path to Fingal's Cave

Inside Fingal's Cave

Path to Fingal's Cave

East coast of Staffa

Puffin

Clamshell Cave

East coast of Staffa

East coast of Staffa

Am Buachaille - 'the herdsman'

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 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