July 28, 2011 - Isle of Mull
On the way to Iona last year my Mum and I missed the bus across the Isle of Mull (due to a bus replacement service between Glasgow and Oban), and so found a local ex-policeman to take us from Craignure to Fionnphort. He told us quite a bit about the island, and we decided that we should come back and spend some time on Mull itself - although I had crossed it several times going to and from Iona I had never spent any time there. My parents and I therefore decided to spend a week on Mull at the beginning of July. We stayed at Staffa House in Fionnphort, which was a lovely bed and breakfast - very welcoming with tasty home-cooked breakfasts.
We were (relatively) lucky with the weather on our visit, with only two days when there was real rain. Most days we were able to go out walking, with Staffa House provided some helpful written guides for local walks which kept us on track. Mull is generally quite rough walking territory (plenty of boggy ground and well marked paths are relatively scarce), however the beauty of the scenery more than makes up for any roughness underfoot. On two days we took the bus into Bunessan and walked from there, the first time also spending some time at the Ross of Mull Historical Centre waiting for the rain to (more or less) pass over before setting out. This was a chance to find out about the history of the settlements on Mull, and it was interesting to see the changing fashion of names in the old school records going back to the 19th century.
We also went across to Iona on two days, and were proud of successfully navigating the way to the Marble Quarry (which is quite well hidden until you are almost on top of it. We discovered on the way back that there is now a post positioned up on the hill above the Quarry; however there is still a challenge to find the route between the post and the main path.) It was also wonderful to revisit some favourite spots on the island.
We spent one wet day on Mull with a local guide who took us out on a wildlife tour in his minibus, also giving us fascinating information on the geology and history of the island. He found for us seals, red deer, sea eagles - a viewpoint for a nest with two juveniles, and the adult female also flew in while we were watching, - raven, golden eagle and otter (no photos of these, I’m afraid - a telescopic lens would have been needed). Added to these, we also saw a mountain hare on a later walk, plus puffins, razorbills, guillemots and shags on Lunga, which we visited on a tour of the Treshnish Isles on our first day. Lunga was great for puffins, we could see them at very close range and they seemed to be quite undisturbed by people - the guide told us they welcomed visitors as we deterred the black-backed gulls and other predators.
We were lucky that our visit coincided with the ‘Mendelssohn on Mull‘ music festival, in which young professional musicians are given the chance to study and perform with leading chamber musicians. We had actually met a couple of the musicians on the train from Glasgow, and they turned out to be in the group that was performing at Creich church, which was less than a mile from Fionnphort. They played a Mozart quartet, and an early Beethoven quartet and quintet. We also enjoyed a concert in Iona abbey, at which all the groups performed a selection of slow movements.
We were impressed by they way that the local eating places catered for our vegetarian / vegan diets. Staffa House had alerted the Keel Row (the one local pub) to our diets; they rose to the challenge admirably with a variety of dishes, and we ate there most evenings. Besides the Keel Row, there is the Ninth Wave. A small island village may not be where you would expect to find an expensive, Michelin guide caliber restaurant, but there it was and it was well worth visiting. This is the style of restaurant which goes for quality rather than quantity, but what quality it was, and a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. It advertises itself as a fish restaurant; however, with advance warning of our diets, they devised a sumptuous menu with a choice of at least three dishes for every course, all of which were mouth-wateringly delicious and beautifully presented. Testament to the quality is that, in spite of the price tag, I took my parents back for a return visit on my Mum’s birthday.
Mull and Iona have a special atmosphere, which is partly in the places themselves - their beauty, their remoteness and the way in which they are bound up with the life of the spirit in celtic Christianity - and partly in the people that live there and the tremendous hospitality they offer.
