Waylandscape. Fine Art Landscape Photography by Gary Waidson. Ardnamurchan 2008

Select a hex to explore the Waylandscape.

Part of the Lore and Saga family of Web Sites

Ardnamurchan

29th April 2008

I had fully intended to stay in the area around Glen Coe and Glen Etive on this trip but the fates had other ideas. With deteriorating weather coming in from the East I decided to explore a bit further west and see if my luck would hold good.

Ardnamurchan is an area I had not visited before and I hadn’t really researched it either. I had a vague memory of there being a lighthouse but I couldn’t remember if I’d ever seen a picture of it.

With this as a very vague target, I took the ferry to Corran and set off along the coast to see what I would find.

Once again, cursing my lack of preparation in not checking the tides, I had little option but to just see what would happen.


	What also surprised me was just how calm the sea was on this day. As I explored the rocks below the light, there were gentle lapping waves that gave no sense of the perilous seas that such sentinels were built to protect ships and sailors from.


	Other guardians of the shore were the castles built in strategic places and islands along the coast. Tioram Castle (Pronounced more like “Cheerum” as I discovered from a local man) lies on a promontory that becomes an island twice a day as the tide rises. I thought I knew, or had seen pictures of most of the photogenic Scottish castles but this one was new to me. Mostly ruined now, it shows features from Thirteenth through to Sixteenth century by the look of it and also some interesting out buildings as well.




			Following my instincts westward had definitely proved a good move as the weather seemed to be breaking heavily further inland while seaward was relatively clear. As I drove along the coast road towards Mallaig I started looking for a likely spot for a good sunset. The problem often seemed to be finding somewhere to get a good line on the craggy islands out to west. Eventually, I found this view towards Rhum that had everything I was looking for.


	A perfect end to a good day. Post script. October 2008. The picture of Tioram Castle on the right above was one of the entries shortlisted for Take a View, The Landscape Photographer of the Year 2008. One of my other entries was fortunate enough to win 2nd place in the Adult class.