Do the Strand

Another decent forecast. I started the day with a romp over another nearby MacPhie which turned into another battle with the vegetation. Remind me to bring long trousers or gaiters next time.

Then we drove south to park at the road end overlooking The Strand, a stretch of tidal sand that separates Colonsay from the smaller Oronsay. As we parked up, we noticed a convoy of three vehicles including a lorry making its way across the sand in the distance. We could follow their tracks.

Unfortunately it was easier said than done, and after a mile or so of puddles we reached areas of deeper water. We had no choice but to remove footwear and barefoot it onto Oronsay. Maybe John The Good did that in 1340 or whenever it was he established the Priory on the island.

We followed the track for another mile across the island to within sight of the Priory ruins themselves, but the dreaded C-19 stopped any further access. We headed onto the open hillside and up to the trig on Beinn Oronsay, another MacPhie in the bag.

From our high vantage point we could see all the buildings of the Priory and farm. It looked like an interesting place and we were disappointed not to be able to visit. I spotted the vehicles from the convoy - it was a mobile sheep shearing unit come to do that on the RSPB run farm. Through the binoculars I could see a ewe on its back in the lorry getting the treatment with bags of fleeces being slowly filled. The black bag was equal to the white.

On the return to the Strand, we made a detour to the east coast of the island where we found a lovely wee bothy (private) next to the whitest sand. Barnacle geese, orchids and Common Blue butterflies everywhere.

Just as we reached the Strand, we met three generations of Lord Michael Forsyths and a daschund who had just reached dry land. They looked a little resigned to the fact that the tide was on the turn and all they’d have time to do was turnabout and return to Colonsay. Not like a Tory to make a u-turn is it??