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My camp was sheltered from the wind
and most of the night was clear. Everything was still quite wet from
yesterday making packing up less than tidy. I was down at the Kilchoan
ferry jetty before 7am and well before the leaving time of 07:20.
The weather forecast was for good weather but cloud continued and
for a while the rain returned. The ferry came to the loading jetty
and 3 pedestrians and me got on, there were no vehicles. |
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Ferry
crossing to Kilchoan |
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We
set off on time and headed out in windy conditions. The views
cleared up and I managed to get a few shots of moody skies and the
sea. Standing on the front of the ferry was quite entertaining as I
was being throw up and down and side to side. We reached the Kilchoan jetty and got off the ferry. Two vehicles were ready to
reverse on the ferry for the return journey. It was 8am when I set
off for my 7mile ride to Ardnamurchan Point and the lighthouse. |
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The top
of Ardnamurchan Lighthouse |
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The
original Ardnamurchan
Lighthouse fresnel lens |
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The
road was single track and fairly hilly in places. It certainly had
the feel of isolation as I rode along. I think I saw one or two
vehicles on my 6 mile ride. The entrance gate posts had traffic
lights on them but they didn’t seem to be switched on. I rode
through to the visitors centre buildings. They didn’t open till 10am
and it was only 9am. I rode on to the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse but
there was no one around. Back at the visitor centre it was still
sunny and quite warm in the shelter from the wind. Someone opened
the toilet part of the building and I was relieved to see a sink so
I could get water for my camp. |
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My
longitude was -6.22546 deg.
Any further west and I’d have got wet feet.
Arndnamurchan Point and its Lighthouse
should be familiar to anyone listening to
the shipping forecast and inshore
waters forecast.
Mull of Kintyre – Ardnamurchan Point
Ardnamurchan Point – Cape Wrath. |
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They opened at 10 and I bought a £4
concession ticket for a conduced tour of the lighthouse at 11am.
There were about 10 of us who climbed the internal steps to meet our
guide at the top. She told a little bit about the lighthouse and its
operation but didn’t have an in depth knowledge. I asked her when
the fresnel lens was removed and she didn’t know. The exhibition
building below had the original lens and all the information about
it. I’d pitched my tent on the westernmost bit of grass I could
find. It’s also the westernmost bit of grass on the UK mainland
at
-6.22546 deg. |
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Ardnamurchan Lighthouse before sunset |
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Return to
Whittle Wanderer
