Bay McNeil

We took the young to Bay McNeil yesterday morning, on a day which started fine but with a blustery westerly blowing.  Having parked the car just past Grigadale Farm, we walked along the public path through to the Grigadale static caravan park, and thence onto the beach..

Bay McNeil's sandy beach is trapped between an island called Eilean Corrach and the mainland.  On a day with a heavy sea, the rocks on the outer side of the island are an exciting place to stand and, for the younger of the youngsters, an ideal place to practice her mountaineering skills.

We lingered there for some time, watching first a rainbow grow across a sky which looked increasingly stormy, and while...

....one of the well boats that service the local salmon farms, the Ronja Commander, passed on her way south around Ardnamurchan Point.

By the time we left the beach the sun had disappeared behind increasingly thick cloud and that biting, wind-blown rain had returned.  We struggled back to the road and, despite the protests of the two girls, continued along it to the lighthouse.

It was the last day of this year's opening for the Ardnamurchan Point Visitors Centre, so we were able to buy a hot drink and some of the wide range of cakes which the manager gets in.  Not that we had our refreshments on these benches - we sat in the cafe area and enjoyed the warmth and good company.

Bay McNeil is marked with the yellow arrow on the map here.