2018

NX2533 : Big Scare

taken 5 years ago, near to Big Scare [other Features], Dumfries And Galloway, Great Britain

This is 1 of 8 images, with title Big Scare in this square
Big Scare
Big Scare
The Little Scares are to the left. The name is not inappropriate, as the whole of Luce Bay is a Bombing Range.
Scares Islands

In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Scares Islands as:
‘Scar - Big and Little, 2 rocks, in entrance to Luce Bay, Wigtownshire’.

The Scares or the Scare Rocks are rocky islets in Luce Bay off the coast of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland although the pronunciation of the rocks varies according to which side of Luce Bay you were born on, I’ve heard Scares, Scars and Scarries. I am reliably informed however that the correct way to pronounce this group of rocks is 'Scar Rocks' with a silent 'e'.

Made up of the Little and Big Scares, the largest unsurprisingly is Big Scare which is 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) south west of Port William and a similar distance east of the Mull of Galloway. There is a small outlying rock to the west of Big Scare Link and three companion islets called the Little Scares are about 1 km to the north east. Link

The schooner Annie McLester was wrecked on Big Scare at an unknown date in the 19th century. On 27 January 1849 the 400 ton barque Archibald of Memel, was wrecked on the Little Scares. In September 1860 a small round-sterned four-oared boat, was picked up near to Big Scare. The parent vessel had presumably been lost in the vicinity although no record of this is known.

There is an MOD firing range in the area with brightly coloured floating targets deployed. The southern limit is marked by a yellow buoy 1.75 nmi SSE of The Scares and the buoys DZ1 to DZ6 mark the boundary of the range.

The islands are part of Luce Bay and Sands SAC and are leased to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. They have been described as an "inaccessible bird reserve" and provide nesting sites for more than 2,000 pairs of breeding Northern Gannets, hundreds of Guillemots and smaller numbers of Shags and Kittiwakes. Grey seals can also be seen around both groups of rocks. Depending on the light, the rocks can appear to take the form of a grey or white structure courtesy of sea bird guano.

The only way to get to the Scares is by boat and I am indebted to Murray and the Port William Lifeboat PIRSAC Link who allowed me to join them for a training exercise on Luce Bay which took in a visit to the Scares and a landing on Big Scare to inspect the bird population particularly the Gannet and Guillemot breeding sites.

References
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Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright David Purchase and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Islands Primary Subject: Island
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Little Scares [6] Title Clusters: · Big Scare [8] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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Grid Square
NX2533, 28 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
David Purchase   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 27 October, 2018   (more nearby)
Submitted
Tuesday, 13 November, 2018
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NX 2586 3329 [10m precision]
WGS84: 54:39.8710N 4:42.0939W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NX 1574 3047
View Direction
East-northeast (about 67 degrees)
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Image Type (about): cross grid 
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