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Ballimartin to Airigh Mairi Thormaid, Islay

By Becky Williamson

I think it was on the walk before I discovered Geograph that I first saw Màiri Thormaid's shieling. I was more interested at that time in getting to the top of Beinn Bhreac to acquire another Islay trigpoint than I was in remote Islay ruins. Then I discovered Geograph and began to be interested in these old, remote ruins. They are so evocative of a time gone by, of a different way of life and of previous inhabitants of this beautiful island.

So I set off on a glorious, almost cloud-free day to cover about 11 miles of bog, bog and more bog. Delightful! After all, a walk is not a proper walk unless you've traversed a bog and a river!

I started just north of Ballimartin Farm, where I'd started a walk a few weeks before. This time I wanted to visit the ruin of Duisker, so I immediately came upon some bog ('Good', I thought optimistically to myself, 'If I don't find any more bog, at least I've satisfied my criteria for a proper walk right at the beginning'. I needn't have worried!) There is an old stone bridge along this 'footpath', a reminder of a time when the track was used much more frequently than it is now. NR3666 : Bridge near Duisker, Islay by Becky Williamson.

Duisker ruin stands prominently a little above the surrounding countryside and looks quite ghostly. NR3666 : Duisker, Islay by Becky Williamson From here I followed a muddy track to Baile Tharbhach. I was anxious to visit the Standing Stone which we'd missed on our previous visit here. NR3667 : Standing Stone north-east of Baile Tharbhach, Islay by Becky Williamson Nearby there were some sort of ruins but I couldn't find out anything more about them. NR3667 : Ruin near Baile Tharbhach Standing Stone, Islay by Becky Williamson

I always get a sense of excitement when entering 'new territory' and this was the case as I approached Pairc Mhor (Big enclosed field), even though it looked just like a vast expanse of marsh on the map - and in fact that's just what it was. I had to squirm through a deer fence before entering this area of bog. NR3668 : Pairc Mhòr, Islay by Becky Williamson In order to avoid the worst of the bog, I ended up wandering further east than I intended across pretty featureless terrain. I crossed a tiny burn, the outlet from Loch a' Chaorainn (Loch of the third or bottom row of peats)NR3669 : Burn from Loch a' Chaorainn, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR3669 : Burn from Loch a' Chaorainn, Islay by Becky Williamson before noticing some old ruins beneath Tais Bheinn (moist or damp mountain). They provided a point of interest for a photo. NR3669 : Airigh an t-Sagairt, Islay by Becky Williamson

My bog-avoidance techniques meant I'd now got to climb Tais Bheinn to get to the next grid square on my list (NR3570). I was supposed to have skirted the southern flanks of this massif! Doing this, however, meant I was rewarded by yet more old buildings. This time possibly an old sheep fank. I've not been able to discover the purpose of this building yet. NR3669 : Airigh an t-Sluic, Islay by Becky Williamson From here I could see the west coast of Islay through the valley. The sun was shining brightly on Nave Island, creating an idyllic vista which today was for my eyes only. How wonderful!

I wanted to dip into NR3570 to bag this green square and waited until I was definitely in it to photograph the little Lochan Broach NR3570 : Lochan Broach, Islay by Becky Williamson which nestles beneath Beinn a' Chuirn (Mountain of the cairns). I then came across the first of a few old boundary lines NR3570 : Old Boundary near Beinn na Heraibh, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR3570 : Old Boundary near Beinn na Heraibh, Islay by Becky Williamson. Looking north I could see the valley which would lead to my destination. NR3571 : Màiri Thormaid's Valley, Islay by Becky Williamson Although the valley itself is not named, the burn which runs through it is named after Màiri Thormaid - she must have been some woman! Now all I had to do was follow the burn to the ruin. NR3671 : Allt Màiri Thormaid, Islay by Becky Williamson

What a delightful place to eat my sandwiches as Màiri Thormaid must have done many times before me. NR3671 : Airigh Màiri Thormaid, Islay by Becky Williamson I spent some time here, taking photos and musing on times gone by. But I was still only half way on my walk - and I wanted to take in another gridsquare before heading south. I decided against climbing Beinn Ghibheach (Rough mountain) - tempting though it looked, especially with the Red Deer staring down at me from the summit. I just didn't have time. I'd have to make do with another boundary line for a phto NR3672 : Old Boundary south-east of Beinn Ghibheach, Islay by Becky Williamson.

Now for Airigh nan Sidhean with its appealing name - Shieling of the Fairies. Again I'd drawn a blank in trying to find out anything more about the origins of this name. NR3671 : Airigh nan Sidhean, Islay by Becky Williamson It is a delightful spot, slightly elevated with crags and an amazing view. I saw an early Peacock butterfly here, sheltering in a hollow.

From here I headed south-east across peat moorland to another craggy outcrop - Carn Meadhonach (Cenmtral cairn) and determined to climb it. NR3771 : Carn Meadhonach, Islay by Becky Williamson The view was worth the gratuitous climb, NR3771 : View NNE from Carn Meadhonach, Islay by Becky Williamson - north to Giùr-bheinn (Fennel Mountain), a mountain which looks deceptively innocuous from the east, but much more craggy and daunting from the west. Southwards I could see another landmark for my walk, Loch Carn nan Gall (Loch of the cairn of the rock or stone) NR3770 : Loch Carn nan Gall, Islay by Becky Williamson. It looked a long way away, but didn't take long to reach. It is quite a long loch and I rested here before starting out on the last stretch of the walk. There is a bit of a dam/sluice at the southern end of the Loch NR3770 : Southern end of Loch Carn nan Gall, Islay by Becky Williamson.

My next landmark was Loch a' Chaorainn NR3769 : Loch a' Chaorainn, Islay by Becky Williamson which I'd seen from the west earlier in the day. I was now viewing it from the north and walked to its southern end. Soon I came to another old boundary line NR3668 : Old Boundary north of Ballachlaven, Islay by Becky Williamson and I knew I was on the homeward stretch. By the time I reached the final boundary line - a deer fence very much still in existence - I was too tired to work out whether the gate opened or not, so slithered my way through the top two slats. (Good thing I've been keeping trim through all this walking!) NR3768 : Deer Fence north of Ballachlaven, Islay by Becky Williamson

Now I was on a veritable path and Ballachlaven Farm soon came into view. NR3767 : Ballachlaven Farm, Islay by Becky Williamson Walking through the farmyard I was followed by a friendly collie, hoping for a walk. 'I've had my walk dog,' I reasoned. 'Go home!' which seemed to translate as 'Round up the Sheep!' for that's what the dog proceeded to do! It then followed me along the dusty track NR3766 : Road to Ballachlaven Farm, Islay by Becky Williamson until we reached the cattle grid and then it was defeated! NR3666 : Cattle Grid at Ballachlaven Farm, Islay by Becky Williamson

This had been one of my favourite walks to date - absolutely stunning views, most of them not posted on Geograph for copyright reasons. Visit my flickr site for more photos!LinkExternal link

The circular walk itself involved quite a bit of climbing, bog walking and was about 11 miles in total.


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Marker only shows grid square

When
Fri, 30 Mar 2012 at 16:45
Grid Square
geotagged! NR3671

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