Remote Housing

We set off in stunning weather yesterday morning to walk across Ardnamurchan Estate land to the beach which runs along the shore almost as far as Maclean's Nose.  Other than the 31mm we had in mid-March, it's now 55 days since we've had significant rainfall, and the land reflects this: as dry, brittle and yellow-brown as the savanna grasslands of Africa.

We slid down a steep slope to the beach.  The bay here is called Camas Choire Mhuilinn after the clachan that was cleared in 1828 to make way for sheep farming.  Maclean's Nose is the point in the centre of this picture, which looks across the mouth of Loch Sunart to Morvern.

This is by far the best beach on the peninsula for flotsam.  We've often wondered where it all comes from but perhaps this sign board gives us a clue - the last time we saw this it was pinned to the railings in Tobermory High Street.

Having walked as far as we could along the series of beaches which form this coastline we headed up a steep slope which rises in a series of steps, many of which show signs of cultivation - the bracken is always an indication.  We've been here before and found field walls, but never any sign of the farmer's house.

Higher on the hill, and close against the deer fence we finally found what we'd been looking for, the broken stone walls of a 5m x 4m house tucked into a depression against the hillside.  The position had been carefully chosen: it was a warm day anyway, but warmer still in this sheltered spot.

We turned back, traversing the hillside until we plunged into oak woodland.  In it there were many signs of previous habitation, but this is something slightly more recent, a tree house built of flotsam, and built both with imagination....

....and an eye for comfort.

There's an interactive map of the area here.