Beachcombing

The coastline to the east of Mingary Castle is beautiful, a series of long bays with steep backdrops that rise to the heights of Ben Hiant.  It's a pleasure to walk along these beaches, as they are the haunt of a wide variety of wildlife, from golden eagles to otters, and they are steeped in history.  But it's also the best stretch of coastline for beachcombing.

These pictures were all taken last Friday, when we saw the otter - post here - and we could have taken hundreds of others.

 

The material is washed up along every stretch of beach.  Much of it is plastic, and it appears to have come largely from passing vessels.  There's a fair bit from fishing boats, including fish and prawn boxes, creels - some in very good condition - oil containers, work gloves....

....and even the occasional fishing rod, rubber boots (pray this didn't fall overboard with its owner still inside), and masses of pieces of rope and trawl netting.

Then there are industrial materials, possibly from the fish farms, including a very nice spade made of plastic, a large plastic barrel....

 

....and other plastic items whose derivation are either obvious - but what did happen to the owner of the safety helmet? - or mysterious, such as this object which might be the cover for an air filter.

Along with all the plastic there are metal objects, such a propane and butane gas cylinders, and large amounts of wood, both branches off trees and lengths of sawn timber.  That it's such a mixture suggests there is something very special about the location of the beaches.  Perhaps it is that they face southwestwards, the direction of the prevailing wind, and towards the confluence of three busy stretches of water, the north and south Sound of Mull and Loch Sunart.

It's a cornucopia of items left over from the modern world, a snapshot of our careless habits and, for the casual beachcomber, a place where treasures can be found.  Yet this mess doesn't seem to intrude upon the scenery, for the setting has too much grandeur for that.

If the economy were to collapse tomorrow, and we were all thrown onto our own wits, it would be a great place to settle as it has almost everything anyone could need, and more of it being washed up every day.  It even has every Scotsman's favourite, a bottle of the national drink, Irn Bru.