Kerrera - Small but perfectly formed

If you've ever taken the ferry from Oban to Mull, you might recall it leaving the harbour by skirting a peninsula of land on the left (or should I say port) side. This bit of land is actually the very top of the island of Kerrera which sits close to the mainland just south of Oban. Despite being only 7km long and just 2km wide, Kerrera boasts a rugged coastline, wild beaches and a ruined castle. So you could say it's small but perfectly formed!  Despite this, I'd not been before but finally made the hop over when I was near Oban on holiday. 

When I say "hop over" I really do mean that. The Sound of Kerrera is only 500m wide and the crossing is made in the smallest Calmac ferry I have ever seen. It was quite a contrast to the huge, sleek ferries that I'd just been watching in Oban that serve Mull and the further away islands. But this little ferry is a key link for the island community as there is no shop or school on Kerrera. So when the first ferry of the day from the island pulled in, it deposited a large rabble of school children. 

Once on the other side, I set out to walk a loop of the island. The tarmac road at the ferry slipway quickly gave way to dirt track which was lined with colourful wild flowers. So many flowers seemed to be in bloom all at once that I wondered if the very cold spring had delayed some of them.

I quickly reached the broad sweep of Horseshoe Bay. It was here that King Alexander II died on 8 July 1249. He was poised with a large fleet in Oban Bay to try to retake Western Scotland from the Norwegians when he fell ill. Just beyond here, and backed by a pretty row of whitewashed cottages, is another bay called Little Horseshoe. It also has an interesting snippet of history attached to it as it was host to a milestone in electrical engineering. In September 1956, Little Horseshoe Bay became the eastern terminus of the world's first submarine, transatlantic telephone cable. The other end of the string stretched to Newfoundland! 

As I continued my walk down the island, a short rise then descent, put me on Kerrera's south coast at a breathtaking spot with a rugged, rocky coastline and a pebble beach washed by incoming waves. Sitting on top of the rocks with a commanding view out to sea, was the ruin of Gylen Castle.

The castle was built around 1582 by Duncan MacDougall of Dunollie to control the trade through the Sound of Kerrera. In the sixteenth century it was one of the busiest shipping lanes in the region, offering easy access to the islands of the Inner Hebrides. The castle was originally a four storey tower with a small courtyard occupying the edge of the cliff.  Although primarily built for defence, Gylen Castle also served as a status symbol and craftsmen were employed to create the Oriel window, much of which is intact today. The MacDougalls still owned the castle when the Wars of Three Kingdoms broke out in the mid-seventeenth century. The clan were supporters of the Royalist cause and in 1647 a detachment of Covenanters besieged the castle. The clansmen eventually surrendered and Gylen was sacked and burnt. It has remained a ruin ever since.

It was wonderful to linger here, taking in the history and natural beauty of the spot, but eventually I continued on my walk, rounding the south of the island and making my way up the west coast. The views from here to the hills of Morvern and Mull were stunning. I was envious of the people who lived in the isolated cottage at Barnabuck which sat in its own wooded bay on the coast with a view over all of this. I was less envious of them as I faced the steep climb from the cottage up and over the spine of the island. 

This track took me back to the ferry slipway via Kerrera's main community at Balliemore. I was grateful I had some change for the honesty box at the craft hut here so I could have ice cream and a cold drink before the ferry back to the mainland. My walk had only been about 4 hours but there was so much variety and beauty packed into this small island.  

Fact File

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Start/finish: Ferry slipway, Kerrera

Public transport: A local bus from Oban connects to some of the ferry times but it's less than 3km to walk there from the centre of town. A nice way to do the walk is over Pulpit Hill in Oban. Walk down from Pulpit Hill along Pulpit Drive and a little way along a footpath to the ferry is signed. It passes through a lovely wooded landscape above the coast.

My route: Turned left off the ferry and followed this main track south to the house at Lower Gylen, ignoring any side tracks on the way. From Lower Gylen, a grassy path heads down to the castle. Returned to the main track and continued west to the house at Ardmore. Here a path ascends to the left of the house and continues north to Barnabuck. Skirt to the front of the house then the track climbs steeply above the cottage and returns to the east coast of the island at the ferry slipway.