A collection of images taken in each month of 2022 that portray the varying landscape of this unspoilt part of the north-west coast of Scotland
Read the story behind them in my blog titled “A Year of Recovery”
Read the story behind them in my blog titled “A Year of Recovery”
Inquisitors
Mingarry, Moidart
Mingarry, Moidart
I took this image on a morning when I was driving back from Glenuig and spotted a group of deer on the making their way across the moss at Mingarry. I pulled over to watch them and as I got out of the van, they all stopped, raised their heads and looked in my direction as if to question my presence. It was too good a scene not to capture, especially with the golden morning light being diffused by the thick mist that blanketed the landscape.
High Meandering I
Kentra Bay, Gobshealach, Ardnamurchan
Kentra Bay, Gobshealach, Ardnamurchan
The salt marsh on the western side of Kentra Bay is home to a myriad of pools and streams that I can spend hours exploring. I’m particularly drawn to this area around Gobshealach because its character changes quite significantly as the tide rises and falls. On a low tide, you can walk for miles out onto the sand to photograph the shapes and ripples left by the falling tide, while at high tide a drone allows you to photograph and make a feature of this meandering stream that becomes filled with seawater.
Old Ways
Achnagavin Bridge, Claggan, Morvern
Achnagavin Bridge, Claggan, Morvern
Just off the A884 road to Lochaline at Claggan, you will find the Achnagavin Bridge which spans the River Aline. Going by its datestone, this “old way” of crossing the river was built in 1821 and looking at it had me thinking about how many people must have passed over it before it was replaced by the current bridge at some point in the 1960s. While exploring parts of the old road that lead from it, I was taken by how the trees around the bridge were catching the late afternoon light. This created such a beautifully painterly autumn scene, so I just had to stop and capture it.
Lilac Dawn
Loch a' Choire, Kingairloch, Ardgour
Loch a' Choire, Kingairloch, Ardgour
There must be no better way to start the day than to sit by a calm sea loch and watch the sunrise and this is precisely what I was doing on the day when I captured this scene from the shore of Loch a’ Choire. I didn’t get the warm and rich colours that I had envisaged because both morning haze and cloud over the hills of Appin subdued the sunrise. However, this did create a lovely lilac hue that filled the sky and painted the surface of Loch a' Choire.
Permanence
South Corrie, Kingairloch, Ardgour
South Corrie, Kingairloch, Ardgour
At South Corrie on Kingairloch Estate, a series of dry-stone walls criss-cross the flat ground at the head of Loch a’ Choire. Made up of such large round boulders they certainly seem to have been built to last and their extensive covering of moss stands testament to how long they have been there. Now a seemingly permanent feature of the landscape, this particular section of wall leads the eye the pyramid shaped Beinn Mheadhoin, which itself dominates the landscape in that part of the Estate.
The Alphabet Trail
Lochan na Dunaich, Sunart
Lochan na Dunaich, Sunart
The Alphabet Trail near Salen, is a short woodland walk that winds its way through the trees and then around the dark still waters of Lochan na Dunaich. It’s a regular walk for me and the dog as it’s not far from my house and on one of these walks, I took the opportunity to fly the drone above it to pick out the path and the lochan from a different perspective. Although this image shows the woodland just as the autumn colours were emerging, I do like this place in summer because there is an abundance of dragonflies there at that time of the year.