The Beach

The Diary thinks West Ardnamurchan is like a beach, a very old beach, washed by the tides. Sometimes high water brings new people, like flotsam, and deposits them along the shore; at others, the ebb washes them away. The tides run higher in the summer, bringing visitors who stay for a few days or weeks, then leave; and they run slower in the winter, so that a stranger can almost be a curiosity. And then there are those whom the tides never touch, who have lived here all their lives.

Julie Allcock, who took these photos, and her partner Chris Wilkinson, have just been deposited on our shore, having bought Far View Cottage. They must have come on a strong spring tide, because they first saw Kilchoan in April of this year, when they stayed in Trevor Potts' campsite and at the Kilchoan House Hotel, and made the brave decision to buy the house. As Julie says, "We fell in love with Kilchoan. People were so friendly and we loved the peace and ruggedness - quite different from the lovely area where we lived near Stroud, on the fringe of the English Cotswolds. We had only lived there for a couple of years. The people were warm and welcoming, and we made lots of wonderful friends, but we needed a permanent base and hadn't decided exactly where it would be."

Julie and Chris have two dogs - Maggie, a springer, and Jenny, a black lab (pictured at Sanna). They love walking, watching wildlife, and gardening; and they're both avid readers. Chris was born in Old Trafford while Julie originates from Malvern, Worcestershire.

Julie adds, "Everyone has made us so welcome and we remain confident we have made the right move. Sometimes you must just follow your destiny, and we truly feel we were meant to be here as everything fell into place so beautifully."

Welcome to the beach.