Applecross

Ardban wild remote beaches 

Shell beach at Coillegillie, Raasay in distance

Coilliegillie

Thrift

Ardban from Colliegillie

Weathered Wood 

Loch Carron at sunset

The May heatwave had arrived and coincided perfectly with our four day trip to the north-west staying at my brother's house near Stromeferry. There is no better place to be on days like this with all day sunshine, soaring temperatures and landscapes displaying all the colours, smells and sounds of late spring. We thought the drive up had been spectacular but the days just got better. We decided to visit Applecross, a place we had not been since we camped with the children about twenty years ago. We had received a wedding anniversary card with a picture of Ardban, a place that I had to find on a map - it was in the far forgotten corner of Applecross.

The drive over Bealach na Ba is one of the highest public roads in Britain reaching 626metres with some devilishly steep gradients on some of the bends.. It was only 150 metres below the nearby Corbett, which I bravely resisted and the compensation was a beer in the excellent Applecross Inn.  The street is lined by cottages, most of which look like holiday retreats but the views across to the island of Raasay were stunning, and behind Raasay, birthplace of Sorley MacLean, stood Skye which he described as "o great island, island of my love"

We drove on to Ardban, there is a track of a mile or so to a couple of 'coral' beaches which looked to me more like shell beaches but white and inviting nevertheless. We had the remote beach to ourselves and waded out to the rock shelf, enjoyed a picnic and whiled away a couple of hours looking over to Raasay and to Skye .

I sauntered down to the old settlement which must have been close to where Monty Hall made his programme about Applecross a couple of years ago. There were a number of old crofts facing west and situated to enjoy sunsets over Raasay and Skye. The track there was not designed for vehicles and even the European Regional Development Fund, which has funded some marginal projects in this part of the world, would have struggled to pass audit on a road to somewhere this remote. By mid afternoon we had had our fill of sun and returned over the bealach. We should probably have gone on the coast road and visited Shieldaig for an ice cream because we were held up for 45 minutes whilst the single track road by the seafood bar at Kishorn was re-surfaced by the imperturtable Highland Council road men.

Later on after a meal at the Carron restaurant we made a visit to Loch Carron beyond Ardmore at sunset.  I was admonished for endlessly skimming stones on the glass like sea when everyone else was ready to return home. A day like this needed a whisky to complete it and one arrived by magic.