Scottish anchorages

This is a really grand and dramatic spot with towering volcanic cliffs surrounding a fertile limestone glen. If you anchor behind the island, there are a lot of seals, but I prefer the grandeur of the bay myself.

Ashore there is nothing special to see but there is a delightful circular walk, maybe a bit over an hour. On the way you can check out some of the scenes from the marvellous 1945 romantic film "I know where I am going" which were filmed here, particularly on the pier with crashing waves preventing the heroine getting to the Island of Kiloran (aka Colonsay) to be married - with Wendy Hiller and Richard Livesey (who actually never left London), and a very young Petula Clark.

Obviously you can start the walk anywhere along the beach (check out the goats and the swing). Head for the pier which has crumbled a lot since the film was made. It was built in 1850 for the British Fisheries Commission. Take a look at the armorial panel (Virtue mine honour) on one of the two Fishermen's stores - it was brought here from Inniemore Lodge (but why?). Head up through deciduous and pine woods along the road to the left. Great views of your pride and joy lying at anchor. Pass Inniemore Lodge (dull late Victorian), then by a surprisingly placed telephone box and a dramatic waterfall (again used for a scene in "I know where I am going" and possibly in the 1999 movie Entrapment with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery), turn downhill, skirt Carsaig House (rather nice circa 1800, a posh place to rent with 6 bedrooms) and farm, and follow a track along the burn to the shore.

The view from the pier across the rocks at low tide is great, a panorama from Scarba to Jura to Islay to Colonsay.

If you want to be really energetic (which I have not yet managed), one of the great walks in Scotland is under the cliffs to the west to the Carsaig Arches, but it takes about five hours there and back (however you can sort of "do" the arches from the sea anyway if you sail in close enough).