Memorable visits to Loch Buie on the Isle of Mull
Walking with a purpose in the Inner Hebrides
Before I start, welcome to new readers of this Substack. That’s really all of you, as I only started this a few weeks ago! Sorry about the generic Welcome email you received, I’ll get round to customising that soon, but have been focussed on trying to develop a habit of writing here regularly.
You may have noticed that I don’t have a set plan about what to post each week, but am varying it depending on how I feel. I will continue with the series of posts I have started on land use in Scotland in future (there’s lots to say!), but have picked a lighter subject this week as I am away travelling in Yorkshire. I am going to try posting this on Saturday as usual then will add audio when I get home.
Hysterical screeching rang out across the sheltered bay, each laughing yelp echoing off the rocky hills. It sounded as if we were in a tropical forest with a troop of monkeys moving through the trees overhead. I was camping on the shore of Loch Buie on the Isle of Mull with a boyfriend and neither of us had ever heard a sound quite like it before. After considerable puzzlement we decided that the only thing it could be was a white-tailed eagle calling. That was before the days of wildlife identification apps (or even mobile phones) to confirm our suspicion, but we knew that sea eagles reintroduced on Rum had rapidly spread to Mull. Sadly we didn’t see one on that occasion, but since then they have spread much more widely across Scotland, aided by further releases, including in the east on the Perthshire-Fife border.
The sunshine on that trip highlighted the terrific landscapes of Mull (in contrast with Skye where we met sheets of rain) and it became a favourite Scottish island. I have returned several times over the years., including last summer, when I caught the ferry from Oban to Craignure once more and immediately drove west to Loch Buie.
This time I was travelling alone but in the relative comfort of my campervan. Lochbuie estate has an informal camping area where one can stay for a modest fee paid to the Old Post Office Tea Room, whose red roof stands out against a backdrop of lush green trees. The tabletops inside are made from wood harvested in Argyll, each from a different species of tree. It’s a grand place to look out, through the glass frontage, over the tranquil bay.
My trip was to research a new walk guidebook, which is published this month: Mull and Iona, 10 leisurely walks across the outstandingly beautiful island. It was the fifth I have written in the Ordnance Survey’s Short Walks Made Easy series, which was born out of the Covid era, when so many people who had never used a map or a guidebook started walking because it was their only option to escape their houses for an hour a day.
As is my custom, I did a lot of research beforehand to identify and plan the most suitable walks. I was looking not just for straightforward routes in beautiful scenery, but wildlife and historical interest, preferably with the odd legend or fairytale to throw into the mix. My intention was to travel clockwise around Mull, doing the walks in turn as I came to them. It was a surprisingly long circuit on windy single-track roads; I covered about 200 miles in my journey around the island.
The next morning I started my walk early from the parking area at the end of the road, where a pyramidal cairn marks stands as a memorial to the coronation of King Edward VII. Soon I passed St Kilda's Episcopal Church, a neat little building constructed on an ancient religious site. When its foundations were dug in 1876 an Early Christian stone with a ring-headed cross was found and built into the wall of the porch.
Beyond stone pillars my route took to a sandy path on close-cropped grass. Emerging from a tunnel of rhododendron, Moy Castle and Lochbuie House came into view ahead. Both were lived in by the Lochbuie branch of the MacLean clan, who received their estate from the 1st Lord of the Isles in the 14th century and later changed their name to MacLaine. The castle was built as a tower house in the 15th century. When it became uninhabitable and defence was less important, the family moved to the big house, built in 1790.
I viewed the big house across a field, but was able to walk around the foot of the castle, which stands on the shore with traces of a little harbour where boast would have moored. Beyond, I continued south along the bay on tracks, including one that is built into crags overlooking a vast, pale beach, Traigh Bhàn Lagain. The track became a grassy causeway and led me to a copse of trees at the foot of steep hills.
Under the trees I found the medieval St Kenneth's Chapel, which was converted into a mausoleum on the death of Donald MacLaine, 22nd of Lochbuie in 1864. I went into its dim interior, lit by glass tiles in the roof that look like multi-coloured stars, to see plaques commemorating various members of the family. Few people can have such a peaceful final resting place.
My route returned above Traigh Bhàn Lagain then walked through woodland to the single-track road to complete my circuit. Another detour took me across damp pastures to the Lochbuie standing stone circle. Approaching past a pointed standing stone, standing over 9 foot high, I found a ring of nine granite stones. Erected in the Neolithic or Bronze Age, they are testament to the long habitation of this fertile bowl of land on the rugged south coast of Mull.
I could have lingered longer, but I saw a figure come into the far end of the field with a bucket to feed the cattle and I went over for a chat. She was the only person I’d spoken to that day, until I got back to the Old Post Office Tea Room, which was busy with people sitting outside in the sun. I was happy to sit indoors out of the breeze to have a late breakfast while reflecting on this lovely place and thinking ahead to my next walk on Iona, which I will tell you about another time.
I love reading about your Scottish walks - your knowledge is fantastic! Hope you are enjoying your travels in Yorkshire :0)
Ah Felicity, you have just reminded me of our recent stay at Loch Buie! I love it for its isolation, the scenery, and for us so so many memories. One place we visited anew was the fairy falls up above the old farm at Glenbyre. There is a circular walk up there but very difficult to work out! Loads of gorgeous temperate rainforest for me though!