Kerrara

Tuesday 7^th June after visiting Easdale we drove to Oban and parked as near to the Gallanach ferry     ( 3 km south of the town) as we could. After building the bike the ferry would run next at 12.30 and then there would be a break till 2pm. A bill board has a sliding back black signal to summon the ferry which sits on the Kerrara side of the water.

 A young lady turned up who confirmed that the ferry is running. She works with her sisters on a sheep farm on the island and today they would be busy inoculating the lambs. She said that the church building opposite used to be the island’s school and she and her sisters were the only pupils then when her sisters left for senior school in Oban, she was the only one left. After she left the island school closed. At 31 she has lived on Kerrara for all but 6 months of her life and she loves it. She didn’t like being in Oban for 5 days a week for her schooling but the ferries didn’t run in the winter and the times weren’t right for school timetables-it was easier to stay over. The ferry duly comes and it takes less than 5 minutes.

Kerrara is beautiful with lovely views. It is very green and the short bracken gives it a soft texture which makes it look inviting and friendly. It is a steep hill up from the boat. Islanders cars are parked here as the tracks are not suitable, sometimes only little more than a footpath. Some doubt is cast on the practicalities of the tandem but Bob is sure we’ll manage. It is really an island for walks!

A quad bike with our fellow passenger’s sibling and several dogs, transports her to the sheep farm and we see her several times around the island. Around the point where we have to choose a direction there is a farm with squealing infants enjoying the day with animals. After this we hardly see anyone for several miles. Signs tell us that the hills are more gradual if we take the right hand track which we do. We can ride some but we often have to get off for lumpy rocks or deep ruts making progression difficult. Bob gamely pushes.

 We enjoy the wild flowers- wild roses, meadow sweet and honey suckle. This could be a fun track for mountain bikers but our tandem seemed to run best on the grassy bits which were more even. At one point we seemed to go down the path of a stream that could have been a waterfall in rain. Some parts would have been really muddy but today they were mostly parched hard and dry by the  mid- 20 temperatures of the last few days. Today it was a bit cooler and the midges were biting- or maybe it was a horse fly that bit me as my arm reacted with a raised red weal unusually for me!

A fairly remote little cottage had a stall set up with various hand- made soaps for £4 each. There was an honesty box- where were all the people? I bought one made with wild thyme that grows on the island and a rose scented geranium one. Nearby a bloody sheep’s horn lay on the path which puzzled us. Had it been torn off?

It wasn’t so much further to the teashop passing 2 Geology students studying rocks- a fine example of conglomerate. Then a handful were on the beach and we heard hammers so perhaps they were looking for fossils. The island had absorbed most of the group though as we didn’t see any till now. They are completing a survey of the island’s rocks never done before in such detail!

We passed the turreted 16^th century Gylen Castle- castle of the springs- on a rocky hill. The springs under the castle provided fresh water for its inhabitants. The famous brooch of Lorn said to have belonged to Robert Bruce was kept here until looted during the Covenanting Wars in the 17^th century by Campbell of Inverawe. In 1825 the brooch was presented back by a descendant to the MacDougall family who owned the castle.

Ahead of us in a field we see a Bell Tent with a stove chimney poking from its centre. It is on a wooden platform and is connected to the teashop. Anyone can rent it if they wish. The teashop is really just a tea garden. The house is private. It was nice to sit for a drink and a sandwich although it has to be said that we have had fresher.

 In sheds next door the shepherdess and her sister were busy injecting young sheep. There was a lot of bleating going on. The tea garden toilet is labelled” a room with a view” and has a window seaward. There is a barn to sit in if it rains. This is the point where we saw the most people and they had walked the other way along the shore route to get their refreshments- it is less distance this way. All the way back there were advertisements for the teagarden in the shape of ceramic teapots and mugs in bright colours stuck to gateposts.

At Little Horseshoe Bay there was a lovely beach but unfortunately there was a dead sheep laying there. It seems like this is something that happens often and according to the ferry lady it has been there several days. This really surprised us as farmers would usually have to dispose of the bodies. This may be good for the buzzards living here!

We caught the boat back at 3.30. Despite the seemingly callous regard for dead livestock we really liked this island. It was a beautiful 6 or a little more, miles, ride/walk. The path had petered out once and Bob took us across a field in the right direction by using the OS map so having one at hand is useful.