SANDWOOD BAY [2010]

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• published: 21 Apr 2015
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Its been a number of years since I was last at Sandwood Bay but the moorland walk with views of Foinavon and that dramatic approach to the dunes and distant surfs is still as spectacular as ever. Sandwood is an active crofting estate on John Muir Trust land and from the car-park area and toilet block at Blairmore, its an approximate 9-mile (perhaps slightly less) return hike to those sands on this natural bay located in the far north-west coast of Scotland. From the car-park at Blairmore, Sandwood is signposted and a moorland path passes numerous sandy bay'd lochs before the views of the haunted Sandwood Cottage lead to those first views of the Bay and in clear weather, the discernible distant lighthouse at the Cape. Once on the beach the view of sea stack Am Buachaille, the Herdsman, becomes evident; Patey made the first ascent of the stack and at least one subsequent party has been caught out by the low tide and had to overnight on top! From the beach though, the first impression of the stack is that it looks like a distant ship sailing around the promontory. The Ghost of a Mariner apparently still frequents Sandwood Cottage on stormy nights and according to local legend he is all that remains of an Armada Galleon that ran aground here complete with, Fifers take note, its treasure that is still believed to be buried in the sand dunes awaiting discovery! Aye right. Another story (this one even more unbelievable) about the cottage comes from Marc Alexander (in his book Enchanted Britain) about 2 hikers "who passed the night there, and awoke to find the ruins shaking, and the sound of a wild horse stamping above them. This sounds remarkably like the description of the Each Uisge, or the Scottish water horse of folklore, a dangerous shape shifting entity often in the form of a horse." Absolute nonsense eh. Of course before the lighthouse was built the beach received the wrecks of many ships that foundered along this treacherous coast, a fact that is acknowledged in the writings of Seton Gordon. "Sandwood is a place of natural beauty, and a place, too of great loneliness such as is akin to Polar lands, rather than Scotland. Lying almost buried in the sand here are the wrecks of many vessels. These wrecks are of great age. These wrecks give the traveller a strange impression he feels that the shore is haunted by the spirits of ships, which lie here, slowly, very slowly, disintegrating". Sandwood is from Sand-vatn Sand-water, a name given it by the Norsemen during their time in this country. Almost linked to Sandwood Bay is Sandwood Loch, where a small river flows a hundred yards from loch to ocean. "It is evident that when the wrecks occurred the sea-level was higher than it is at the present day, and Sandwood loch was a sea loch. It may even be that the vessels were making for the shelter of the sea loch, and were wrecked at the stormy bar. Some of the wrecks lie almost buried in the sand far above the reach of the highest tide. It is evident that the ocean is receding on this part of the coast." Having spent a week on Paterson's infamous Cape Wrath Trail many years ago it would be great to return to Sandwood and do those final 11-miles to the lighthouse at Cape Wrath, M.O.D. red flags permitting and of course avoiding the unexploded shells that are lying around! As the SMC quote "walk with extra care in this area"!! En route just a couple of miles before the Cape is reached is the site of the shipwreck of one of the vessels of the fleet of the Norse King Haco who fought the battle of Largs in 1263. Seton Gordon continues "Cape Wrath takes its name from a Norse name , Hvarf, meaning turning point. In Gaelic the name is written Am Parbh. The lighthouse on Cape Wrath is built at a height of 363ft above the sea, and the light itself is 400ft above sea-level." For hundreds of years the bay has been known as a haunt of mermaids and they have apparently been reported in the area as late as the 19th century. One legend tells of a mermaid spotted on one of the two jutting rocks there a hundred years ago by Alexander Gunn who died in 1944 and who never changed his story maintaining that he had seen a mermaid of ravishing beauty!!! More recently (June 2009) a microlite plane crash landed on the beach; the pilot Keith Brown escaped injury although the plane had to be dismantled and carried the four plus miles back to the road by a team of 14 men. Editor Tom Hall of LONELY PLANET, the influential travel guide, found most people recommended a walk along Scotland's wild coast. "Brits are fast discovering some of the country's lesser-known attractions and Scotland's beaches are, quite rightly, recognised as one of the best." Sandwood Bay, near Cape Wrath, Sutherland, has previously won plaudits for its isolation and unspoiled character. Last words and testament by Seton Gordon "I believe that Sandwood Bay is the most beautiful place on all the west coast of the Scottish mainland".