We have lived here for over 20 years but before today we had never been to Kilvickeon beach. It will not be long before we go there again, for it was truly beautiful. For the first time this year, there was real warmth and strength in the sun, so walking from where you leave the car to the beach was an absolute delight.
We had an errand to run, which meant taking off for the day to go and collect some tweed from Ardalanish Farm south of Bunessan. Last winter we bought some of their tweed and had it made into throws for Toechtamhor, and this year we decided to make covers for Shieling and Duill. We had a beautiful drive along the scenic route via Ulva Ferry and Gribun to Pennyghael and on to Bunessan. Farmer was very accommodating, and stopped every now and then so I could take photographs. There were a few stops to chat too.
We arrived in Bunessan in time to have lunch at the Bunessan Bakehouse. It was delicious. Farmer hadn’t been there before and didn’t know what to expect, so he was totally delighted! Our visit to Ardalanish was brief, we picked up the tweed and browsed their lovely shop full of beautiful things, and tried to leave without buying something.. unsuccessfully!
There was always going to have to be time for a beach as the Ross of Mull does very good beaches. We decided to go to Scoor, but when we parked the car we decided to go to Kilvickeon beach instead which we have never been to before. It was a good decision! It is a short walk to the beach, past a path off to the ruined church and graveyard (we save that for another day). There were sheep around but Coco was on her lead. Through a gate, past some impressive stone walls, and down a track to the beach. It did not disappoint.
I was a little anxious because we had Coco with us, when I saw the herd of cows all heading to the beach in front of us. Our cows are calving and it was just possible that these cows would be too, in which case taking a dog through them would not be advisable. Thankfully there was only one cow with a calf and she was quite a distance from us, standing over her new born calf and not going anywhere near the beach. A few of the cows walked straight to the water’s edge and started eating the seaweed.
We didn’t have all day as we had to get back to Dervaig to collect M off the bus, and as we walked back up the hill with the warm sun on our backs, we vowed we would return to Kilvickeon Beach again. Soon. (More photographs on the other blog)
