A Pilgrim ramble.....St Ninians Cave

Walk: St Ninians's Cave

This short ramble was inspired by the Pilgrims walk from Glasgow to Whithorn but this is certainly not the full walk, only a very, very short section, the final mile or so. A recent visit to the Govan Stones and a chat with the staff kicked it off. Many pilgrims past and present would have visited the Govan site en route. Well worth visiting.

I was in the area for a break with the good lady site who was happy with a short walk to visit this historic place.

Scotland has so much history of all kinds and on my rambles I enjoy stopping and immersing myself in locations and try to imagine the sounds, sights, smells etc. of that history.

St Ninians Cave has been documented as a place of worship and healing back to the 8^th century. St Ninian is reputed to be the 1st Saint in Scotland, 397AD. That's a huge wow for me. The Latinus Stone on display at the Priory is the oldest surviving Christian memorial.

The ramble will be narrated mainly via the snaps.

Well sign posted

Despite the time of year the birds were still singing in this lovely wooded section

Out of the woods there are options

But we continued straight on down Physgill Glen where the water soon came into view. Despite it being summer the weather was cool, the water was gunmetal grey rather than Mediterranean blue but this is Scotland.

Colourful flora such as this Campion all around the path as we walked down

Evidence of geological upheaval 

A true shingle beach to cross to wards the cave seen ahead. Not much different to what the 8th century pilgrims would have seen

How smooth are these?

A recent podcast suggested that rocks with this quartz strata lining had a good chance of containing a fossil. Same podcast examined rocks from Nairn area and found some minerals had only be found in rocks in Estonia. Considering they started being formed sub equator they have travelled a long way.

Just reflect on the exact spot and cave entrance, those early travellers all stood here. The interior has collapsed so only the entrance is clear, although danger of rockfall signs around.

Not quite sure she is a pilgrim!

Free Sea Kale for your foraging diet

Rock Pipit

Trail back that away

The season is coming to an end

So an excellent short ramble. For those a lot more adventurous the walk can be comfortable extended by doing a circuit from Whithorn or including some of the way marked coastal paths.

Time to relax, some mead would be appropriate.

In search of Otters.....Sandaig Bay

Walk: Sandaig Bay

When planning our trip itinerary I wanted to explore an area that we had never visited before so there was an ideal opportunity was to visit Sandaig Bay.

The drive from Sheil bridge to Glenelg has many opportunities to stop and take in some magnificent views. 

There is also lots of very narrow single track road with blind spots, beware in the tourist season. 

Our arrival at the shore front village of Glenelg had the real wow factor. What a beautiful vista. We stopped at the amazingly sculptured War Memorial which is as fine a carving for any memorial I have ever seen. Throw in its outstanding location and it is quite a spot. As we stood there were no sounds whatsoever, quite breathtaking and emotional reading the script.

After that we drove on even narrower single track to the start of the walk. Luckily I had the start location in my Sat Nav as there was no sign which surprised me as this walk has history.

The good lady’s favourite animal is an otter and this is the location where Gavin Maxwell carried out his controversial Otter studies as described in his book ‘Ring of Bright Water’.

My map and route description described a winding woodland descent down to the shore. It was still winding but the area has been heavily deforested and replanted which in some aspects helped as it opened out the views.

Just after the start we spooked a pair of buzzards and a grey heron at Loch Drabhaig. Then better still we spotted an eagle, lazily circling above us. I could see it was big but it was not until I got the binos on it that I could not confirm as a White Tailed, delighted. It showed well for about 5 minutes before gliding over towards Skye.

A bit later we stopped as there was the obvious sound of frogs in the ditches either side of the track, it is that time of the year, mating season. They were everywhere, in one pool it was a writhing mass of turbulent water, no idea how many but another splendid sight of the natural world.

Further on the islands of Sandaig were now visible below us. Luckily she had not caught on until I explained where we were and how at certain light the water between the islands was the ring of bright water. Now she was interested and her eyes rarely left the water.

At full zoom hence not sharp but Great Northern Diver (f)

I spotted some movement but it was a diver not an otter, a fine enough spot but not what she wanted. Looking across the water you felt you could reach out and touch Skye.

We dropped onto the beach where we attempted to get across to the far side but a water channel was too much of a barrier.

Instead we had fun exploring the beach and the cottage area where Maxwell lived. On the spot where the original cottage was there is a memorial marker where his ashes were buried. He lived a turbulent life. It is said that he went awry with the fame and fortune from his book and died relatively young, some believe suicide.

The stones on the beach are fascinating, all shapes and colours with so many lined with the crushed layers of the evolution of earth. How I wished a geologist was with us to explain exactly what we were looking at, it would have been fascinating. 

Carcass was in poor condition so just showed the teeth

Sadly we found the corpse of a porpoise lying among the stones, a fine set of small sharp teeth.

We thought we would have it to ourselves but an American appeared also in search of Maxwell's historical place. He moved on quickly and it did not interrupt our explorations. Such a beautiful spot. It is a very long time since I read the book so another addition to my to do list.

The usual gulls and a few geese were annoyed by our presence but in the main it was perfect, unspoiled wilderness, the sound of silence dominated.

Returned via the same route, delighted to see a flash of white in the trees confirmed by its angry calling, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, not hammering but calling, was it a female?

A delightful walk only tainted by the good lady not seeing an otter but that spectacle was to come to pass for her in a few days time.

Ascent: 131m

Distance: 6.4km

Time: 2.11

Wildlife: Buzzard; Grey Heron: Common frog; White Tailed eagle; Great Spotted Woodpecker; Porpoise; Blue Tit; Great Tit; Canada Geese;