South of the Lighthouse

These pictures, all of which include Ardnamurchan Point lighthouse, were taken on a walk this morning which took us from the road just short of the lighthouse into the empty land to its south. In this picture can be seen the narrow, walled road which leads to the lighthouse and the original stables, now the visitors centre's cafe.

The lighthouse sits on the eroded remains of one of the gabbroic ring dykes which cooled deep below a volcano that erupted some 65 million years ago.  This was one of several active volcanic centres at the time, the next one to the north being the one which formed Rum, visible in this picture beyond the Isle of Muck.

The lighthouse stands on one of several headlands that project into the Atlantic, the most westerly of which - Corrachadh Mor - is seen in the foreground of this picture. In the distance, from right to left, can be seen Eigg, the Cuillins of Skye, Muck, Rum and, almost lost in the haze, Canna.

The little white sand beach is tucked at the back of a sheltered bay called Port Min. Just beside the beach lie the long-abandoned remains of a house, surrounded by the field walls that once enclosed the farmer's arable land, now grazed by the occasional sheep.

The previous picture was taken from the ridge to the left of this picture, while this was taken from the next ridge inland, on which stands....

....this old, moss-covered cairn.  It's a slight oddity in that it's not at the summit of the ridge, suggesting it may be a territorial marker. The ridge leads steadily uphill to....

....a trig point and a beautifully constructed cairn, perhaps erected by the surveyors from the Ordnance Survey.

Our walk took us a couple more ridges inland, across Druim Reidh-dhalach to this glen, which we followed to return to the road.

An interactive map of the area is here.

The Ardnamurchan Point visitors centre website is here.