Moray travel writer Ron Smith takes a break from his sojourns to the Continent to visit closer to home – and found Iona to be very special for a whole host of reasons. Christianity has its roots here, the light and colours inspired the Scottish Colourists school of painting, and the rock that juts out bare and grey everywhere is so old that it does not contain fossils. Read on . . .
To get to Iona from my home town of Keith is not easy. Going by train would involve heading for Aberdeen, then down to Glasgow and up to Oban, taking just about all day. To go by bus is possible – how to find out is another problem. So, the car was the only viable option.
Allowing plenty of time we went via Aviemore, Kingussie, Spean Bridge, Fort William and on to Oban where there is a one-way system that scoots you through to the ferry terminal. We parked the car and had time to explore. It is typical of the UK today that the railway station is right next to the ferry terminal, but ferry times and train times are not connected. We went to photograph the train (it was on platform 3; there is only two platforms, bizarrely numbered 3 and 4) and got a row from the railwayman who was attaching seat reservation tickets to nearly every seat on the little train – it was going to be crowded trip down to Glasgow!
The ‘Isle of Mull’ ferry came in, docked, swiftly unloaded cars and vans, and we were as swiftly ushered aboard to set off. Despite a very strong wind there was no appreciable movement on board as we went up to the cafeteria, which was packed with people keen to get a meal. The crew worked very hard. It must be odd coping with periodic bursts of frenzy and quickly clearing up before the next crowd descend on you. At Craignure, we were off in no time and on our way along to the Isle of Mull Railway, a 15in gauge line, with steam and diesel engines and little carriages. A wonderful way to travel along to Torrosay castle. We did the trip, and then carried on across Mull to Finnphort. The twisting single-track road was very busy, only 30 odd miles but the journey takes an hour. The scenery is stunning, but you have to watch out for sheep on the road and tourists stopping at odd places to take photographs.
Iona can be seen just across the water from the small village of Finnphort, from where the ferry leaves. The local shop
post office/café/tourist centre/grocers/clothing, and everything else, does a busy trade. By the ferry terminal is a large car park, but you have to pay; just up the village is the Columba car park, which is free. Only if you are a resident, or if you have a special permit, can you take a car onto Iona.The wee ferry ‘Loch Buie’ could be seen setting off from Martyrs Bay on Iona. It soon arrives, down goes the ramp, the few cars drive off and the foot passengers and then we are on it, paying the man with a bus conductor style ticket machine round his neck. After plenty of great photographs, we landed on Iona.
We booked in at the B&B by the ferry ramp and set off to explore. The famous Abbey dominates the island, and Celtic crosses are sited along the way up to the top tip of land. Here there are beaches of the pure white sand for which the island is famous. The sea is a green translucent colour, so clear it’s unbelievable, and the sun light glitters off the waves. No wonder the Scottish Colourists Peploe, Cadell, Ferguson and Hunter found this peaceful, wonderful place their inspiration to produce paintings that glow with light and colour. The cattle and sheep just ignored us as we wandered over the common grazing lands and on to the west coast. Another wonderful, unspoilt beach and rough machair took us down that side of the island, and we decided to climb to the top of the mountain, Dun I. A signpost said that it was 600 metres; it didn’t look that high. In no time we were at the top. It is actually 101 metres high, 332 feet – the 600 metres was how far it was from the sign to the summit. Up here there is the well of age, if you bathe your face three times in the water as the sun rises you will never get old – we didn’t try it. The view is wonderful, you can see just about all the island and countless other islands all around, including Staffa with its famous Fingal’s Cave. Boat trips run to it every day from Iona.
By now it was evening, and we went down past the Abbey and had our evening meal in the excellent restaurant by the pier. Afterwards, we strolled along the road. The last ferry had gone, the day trippers had gone, the wind had dropped, the waves slackened off to a gentle slap, the birds had winged their way slowly to their nests, the light softened to a delicate golden tinge, and darkness slipped over the adjacent islands. It was simply magical. The whole world was quietening down for the night.
In the morning, after an early breakfast, we set off to walk round the southern half of Iona. The sea side on the western side is rougher, but there are plenty of trails in the heather. We visited the beach where Saint Columba is reputed to have landed in AD563 and created the community that subsequently brought Christianity to Scotland. Saint Machar came round the top of Scotland to finally land in Aberdeen and establish his church where the Don makes a curve on the shape of his Bishop’s staff. On the grass above the beach, generations of visitors have left behind many crosses and even a maze, made out of the colourful pebbles that abound here. Then we set off back up the eastern side to come to cultivated fields, cattle, and more beaches with the white sand and small cowrie shells. Back at the pier, we visited the Iona Community shop and centre, the ruined Nunnery, the Catholic Centre and the Parish Church. There is also a medical centre, a school with its playing field across the road, and a shop that serves the resident population of about 125 people.
We wished that we had another few days but we had to go, and headed for the ferry. A local came off it pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with bags of compost. We sailed off, marvelling at how far down you could see through the green water. At Fionnphort, a huge line of people was waiting to go to Iona. Seven coaches were parked up, all their passengers on a day trip to Iona. It must have been fun on the single track from Craignure with that convoy of buses all coming off the same ferry from Oban.
Iona is an experience not to be missed – go there!
More information is available at www.isle-of-iona.com. Ferry details are on www.calmac.co.uk
Moray travel writer Ron Smith takes a break from his sojourns to the Continent to visit closer to home – and found Iona to be very special for a whole host of reasons. Christianity has its roots here, the light and colours inspired the Scottish Colourists school of painting, and the rock that juts out bare and grey everywhere is so old that it does not contain fossils. Read on . . .
