The Ardnamurchan peninsula is a wild, lonely, and stunningly beautiful part of Scotland’s west coast, as Gayle Ritchie discovers.
The sea is almost make-believe, its aquamarine waters gently lapping against the vast expanse of white sand. The temptation to strip off and head in for a swim is overwhelming.
Sanna Bay in the Ardnamurchan peninsula is the most remote of the West Highland peninsulas and home to the most westerly point in mainland Britain.
It’s a place I’m drawn to time and time again, such is the magnetic pull of its beauty and sense of remoteness.
To reach Sanna, you need to negotiate a slow, twisting single-track road for 30 miles, so it’s a fair commitment.
On first seeing the magnificent bay, your jaw may drop. Then you’ll want to pause a while to simply stare before you stroll off along the silky sands.
If you’re into wild swimming, this is a truly fantastic spot.
I couldn’t wait to immerse myself and while the sea wasn’t exactly warm, I enjoyed the tingling, life-affirming sensation of salty water on my skin.
After I’d dried off, I spent a few glorious hours peering into rock pools, climbing dunes and exploring a series of headland cairns, stopping to drink in the views of Ardnamurchan Point and the Small Isles.
Treasures galore
Sanna Bay is just one of the region’s many treasures.
There’s so much to see here – hills, beaches, ruined castles, deserted crofting villages, the ghostly remains of lead mines, and wildlife in abundance.
My most recent visit to the area saw me staying in gorgeous Clan Cottage (uniquecottages.com), 100 yards from Loch Shiel and round the corner from the village of Acharacle.
It’s dog-friendly, ideally situated for exploring and less than an hour’s drive from Fort William.
Built around 150 years ago as the home of the local ferryman, the cottage has been extended and lovingly renovated to create a top-spec holiday home full of character
My days would usually involve a walk while evenings would see me popping into the Loch Shiel Hotel in Acharacle for a glass of wine.
On particularly warm days, I’d take a dip in the River Shiel, literally a stone’s throw from the cottage.
When the weather was cooler, I hopped up 845m Beinn Resipol, the highest peak in the Ardnamurchan peninsula, affording spectacular views of Loch Shiel, Loch Sunart, the Small Isles and Skye.
It’s a wee bit of a slog, through rough and boggy ground in places, but well worth it.
Another highlight of my week was a six-mile there-and-back walk to the magical Singing Sands near Kentra.
The first section is on a track that hugs the shore and then you head into dense forest.
Emerging from the trees, you cross small dunes to reach the Singing Sands, so called because they “sing” when you shuffle across them.
A couple of miles from Acharacle is ruined Castle Tioram.
Built in the mid-13th Century and extended in the 14th Century as a testament to the independent rule of Rough Bounds by the Clanranalds, the romantic fortress is perched on a rocky promontory on the tidal island of Eilean Tioram at the confluence of Loch Moidart and the River Shiel.
It’s reached via a sandbar causeway so bear in mind you could be cut off at high tide!
Getting close to the castle can be a risky business; if you climb up to the entrance, your proximity to a sheer drop to the rocks below is far from obvious.
Access to the interior is prevented by a gate, but you can peer through for a sense of the dangers inside – recently fallen rocks, cracks and vegetation sprouting out of walls, sure signs of instability.
A wooden post on the grassy sward beyond the sandbar marks the start of the Silver Walk – an estate path built in the late 19th Century, so named due to the discovery of a hoard of Elizabethan coins during its construction.
If you fancy a circular, you can head up through heather to the long-abandoned settlement of Briaig.
The folk who lived here were evicted in 1846, with the creation of a large sheep farm.
It’s a wonderful place for a picnic and a chance to reflect before you return, passing a series of pine-fringed lochans and a dam.
Another scenic walk heads through the oak woods of Ariundle to the abandoned lead mines of Fee Donald.
Large spoil heaps and tracks are testament to the 600 miners who once worked here in the 18th Century.
There are open-cuts and shafts galore, so be extra careful because some of them are terrifyingly deep.
I was soaked to the bone by the time I returned to the car (the rain came on a couple of miles in), and was glad of the warm welcome at the Ariundle Centre’s tearoom where I enjoyed a bacon roll and coffee.
Other highlights of my trip – and there were many – included: a cruise on Loch Sunart around the Isle of Carna with Ardnamurchan Charters during which I spotted porpoises, seals and two white-tailed sea eagles; coffee and cake at Cafe Tioram in Acharacle; a stroll along the beach at Ardtoe; and a trip to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse.
I can’t wait for my next trip west.
