Tag: Mallaig

Arisaig 2026 18: Odds and Ends

A ‘fill in the gaps’ post to set the stage for a multi-post account of the journey home.

Welcome to the latest instalment in my series about my Scottish holiday (May 30th to June 6th). This post sets the stage for a multi-post account of my return journey.

THE RETURN FROM KNOYDART

The voyage back from Knoydart to Mallaig was uneventful. We did some exploring around Mallaig before returning to the cottage.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE COTTAGE

The cottage was well situated, with some lovely views (I could see the sea from my bedroom window), and I was also impressed by the shower. On the debit side I found it very difficult to get comfortable in my bed, and the kitchen proved to be under-equipped. On the Wednesday night I cooked a version of my signature chicken and coriander dish, and found several problems. There was no way to make the ginger paste – all I could do was chop the ginger as fine as I could manage and add water to it. There was no stewing pot and the largest available pan was not really large enough to be ideal for the purpose, and as I had suspected and made allowances for also proved not to be non-stick, and the lid was not actually quite a match for it. Also there was no lemon squeezer, so I had to juice the lemons by using the thumb and forefinger of my right hand to squeeze. It all worked out well in the end however.

PHOTOGRAPHS

The last of the photos that do no relate to the homeward journey…

The Larven approaching Inverie Quay to take us back to Mallaig.
Malliag from above and the far side of the harbour.
Mallaig Station from the road.

Arisaig 2026 15: The Voyage to Knoydart

Starting my coverage of the Friday of my Scottish holiday with an account of the voyage to Knoydart.

Welcome to the latest instalment in my account of my Scottish holiday (May 30th to June 6th). Today we move on the the Friday, our last full day in Scotland. For this day we decided to visit Knoydart.

GETTING TO KNOYDART

Although Knoydart is part of mainland Scotland it cannot be reached from outside by road. The only ways for a visitor to get there are by boat from Mallaig or by hiking for over 15 miles across very rough terrain. We took the former option, and our voyage was a very enjoyable one.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs from the voyage to Knoydart…

I was much taken with the statue/ monument that can be seen at the summit of this little headland, and took a number of pictures of ti during the voyage.
Approaching Inverie, the only settlement on the Knoydart peninsula

Arisaig 2026 9: Canna General

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at the island of Canna and the return journey to Arisaig.

Yesterday in my series about my Scottish holiday (May 30th to June 6th) I dealt with the grounds of Canna House. Today I conclude my coverage of the Tuesday.

THE ISLAND OF CANNA

Canna is a beautiful little island and we only saw some of it – the grounds of Canna House were as far as we got, meaning that much, including the main church and an important bridge escaped us. We found out not long after landing that the cafe was closed, but the shop, which operates an ‘honesty box’ principle was open, and there were tea and coffee making facilities there. We also saw a very curious little church – it was utterly devoid of any kind of embellishment, and had no altar, just a large pulpit from which the preaching would be done. There was some interesting bird life. The journey back did not feature any go-slows for wildlife, but there were still a few things to see.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here is my gallery for this post…

The outside of the tiny church mentioned in the text.
The gateway to the churchyard
Standing alone in the churchyard, a Celtic cross grave.
Inside the church.
A view of the outside of the church.
The map on a t-shirt I bought from the shop.
Oystercatchers in numbers (several pictures)
A large corvid with a silver patch on its upper back.
The bridge
I could not work out what species these birds were.
I have included six pictures of the Jacobite Express.
These last few pictures feature Morar, the only place of significance between Mallaig and Arisaig.

Arisaig 2026 5: Overlapping with the Jacobite Express

Some pictures of the Jacobite Express as it leaves Mallaig on the return run to Fort William.

On the way back from Mallaig after our return crossing from Canna yesterday we overlapped with the departure from that station of the Jacobite Express making its return run to Fort William. I capture a very short video which is below and a few photographs. For an account of what the actual journey is like start with this post from 2017 and read the next few as well.

Remember that to view photos at larger size you need to click on them.

Arisaig 2026 3: Minke Whale Lights up Canna Cruise

A post dedicated to a Minke Whale sighting during today’s ‘Canna Puffin Cruise’, where I was doubly lucky: 1) to be on it at all and 2) to manage to get photographs of the whale.

Earlier today I had the good fortune to go on today’s “Canna Puffin Cruise” during the course of which a Minke whale appeared above the waves on a few occasions, and I captured the evidence on camera. What follows is a short series of pictures…

The first, less good picture:

In the front of this shot part of the rump of Minke whale can be seen just above the surface of the water. Nearby two tiny puffins look on. This was somewhere between Mallaig and Canna.
Close up extracted from the first picture showing the whale rump and the two puffins looking on.
The mid-portion of a Minke whale including the dorsal fin appears above the sea somewhere between Mallaig and the Isle of Canna. Unedited original.
A closer crop showing the whale and a cliff in the distance.
Edited version of the above picture
A different edit of the same picture
Another crop
An edited version of the second crop
A different edit of the same crop

Another crop

An edited version of the final crop.

An edited version of the final crop.

I will be producing more posts about this day, including a ‘wildlife highlights package’, but just to get things started I have opted to give the Minke whale a post all to itself.

Scotland 2022: Eigg to Acharacle via Mallaig

Finishing the account of the Friday of my Scottish Holiday.

This post continues my series about my holiday in Scotland with an account of the journey back from Eigg to Acharacle which included a diversion north to Mallaig. This is my fourth post about Friday’s activities and the penultimate post in this series.

EIGG TO MALLAIG

The voyage back to the mainland was calm as the outward voyage had been, and we set off along the coast road to Mallaig (there is a quicker main road which we used on the way from Mallaig to Acharacle). This route is very scenic. Mallaig was very busy when we got there but we found a parking space not too far from the centre.

MALLAIG AND BACK TO ACHARACLE

Mallaig well repaid a brief visit – there a few things of interest to be seen there, including a good account of the coming of the railway (late by British standards, early 20th century), and some splendid views. I first passed through Mallaig nearly three decades ago, when I arrived by ferry from the Isle of Skye and travelled on by train to Oban (one change at Crianlarich), and also saw the area immediately around the train station much more recently when I travelled on The Jacobite between Fort William and Mallaig in 2017.

The journey back to Acharacle passed without incident, bringing to an end the active part of a very enjoyable final full day the holiday.

Scotland 2022: An Adventurous Friday

Starting an account of the Friday of my Scottish holiday. There will be several more posts about the day.

I continue my coverage of my Scottish holiday with a multi-part account of Friday’s activities. In this post I set the scene for several more post.

THE PLAN IN OUTLINE

We had arranged to visit the island of Eigg, which involved journeying to Arisaig (home of mainland Britain’s most westerly railway station) to catch the boat. We would explore Eigg, get the boat back and then pay a quick visit to Mallaig before returning to Acharacle. To ensure not missing the boat we were underway by eight AM.

ACHARACLE TO ARISAIG

The journey from Acharacle to Arisaig is exceedingly scenic. Capturing said scenery on camera was rendered slightly challenging due the problems created by being in the back seat of a car with rather small rear windows, but I did get some good pictures. We arrived in Arisaig in good time, and were seated aboard the boat by 9:30, for a 10AM sailing.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs from leaving home to getting on the boat…

Scotland – Thursday – Mallaig to Glenfinnan

The account of the first half of the return journey on The Jacobite.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the next post in my series about my holiday in Scotland. This post commences the coverage of the return journey from Mallaig to Fort William on The Jacobite.

EXPLANATION

Why am I covering the return journey? Because although I was still on the non-ideal side of the train, rge fact that the locomotive runs around the train to be attached to the opposite end did mean that I was facing the direction of travel for the return journey, which meant that I got more and better photos than on the outward run.

MALLAIG TO GLENFINNAN

Although we would not be stopping for long enough for anyone to disembark on this return journey we would have a stop at Glenfinnan to allow a regular service to pass us. Thus, Glenfinnan once again forms a logical break poiny.

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Glenfinnan Viaduct through the window.

 

Scotland – Thursday: Mallaig

The stop in Mallaig.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the next post in my series about my holiday in Scotland. This post covers the hour and a half at Mallaig that The Jacobite allows. 

MALLAIG

Naturally, I commenced proceedings at Mallaig by taking the opportunity to get some photos of the train:

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I had noticed the presence of a Heritage Centre close to the station. Unfortunately such is the extent to which Mallaig has embraced its status as a tourist trap that they were charging for admission, so I got nor further than the gift shop.

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The rain eased sufficiently for me to explore a little further.

Herring GullwagtailSea view

While on the train I had purchased a souvenir route map. In Mallaig I also bought a pictorial map of Skye and Wester Ross:

The Iron Road to the Isles
The route map.

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Two pics of the pictorial map.

Skye and Wester Ross

 

Scotland – Thursday: Glenfinnan to Mallaig

An account of the Glenfinnan-Mallaig section of The Jacobite journey.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to another post in my series about my holiday in Scotland. This post covers the second half of the outward journey on The Jacobite, ending with our arrival at Mallaig. 

HEADING WEST

Although we did not stop between Glenfinnan and Mallaig, two stops before Mallaig on the regular route is Arisaig which has the distinction of being the westernmost mainline railway station on the British mainland. 

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ARISAIG – MALLAIG

The finish of the journey provided few photo opportunities, although travelling back the other way (a journey I had previously made on a regular train in 1993) made up for this.

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The locomotive at Mallaig station – there are more shots of this to come in my next post, this being an aperitif.