The day began delightfully with an early morning sail down the Sound of Mull that separates the Inner Hebridean island of Mull from the mainland. With calm seas and a following breeze, it was a good time to be on deck looking for some of the marine life for which these waters are justly celebrated. By sailing to the Mull’s principal ferry terminal at Craignure (the ferry comes from Oban on the mainland) we save some road time in our transit of the island by motor coach. This commenced promptly at 8:30 a.m., as we had the Iona ferry to catch from the most westerly point of the island at Fionnphort. It is a journey of some 60 miles but one that takes an hour and a half along single track roads. The scenery is spectacular, however, with sightings of red deer and, if you are lucky, both golden and white-tailed eagles above the ridge of Beinn Mor as well as seals and otters along the shoreline. There are also views out to sea of Staffa and the Treshnish Isles and finally a glimpse of our destination for the day, Iona, with its prominent abbey bathed in morning sunshine. A short crossing of some 15 minutes duration and we had arrived.
Iona has a notable place in the history of Christianity in northern Europe being the place where the new religion first arrived in Scotland with St Columba in A.D. 563. The remains of his monastic settlement are now only residual bumps in the ground, fascinating ones it must be said, but a more substantial built heritage dating from Norman times provides the rich fare for visitors to engage with ecclesiastical architecture: the pink granite Augustinian nunnery, the former parish church, a Thomas Telford ‘parliamentary’ church dating from 1824 immediately following the clearances on the island, Ronan’s Chapel with its magnificent Romanesque door, and, of course, the restored former Benedictine Abbey itself. Adjacent to the abbey are the famous carved High Crosses, including that of St Martin, in situ since the ninth century. There was time also for some of us to take an invigorating nature walk out to the island’s northern shore before a substantial lunch at the St Columba Hotel.
Returning to the ship in the afternoon we called in at Duart Castle, the ancestral seat of the Clan Maclean, a castle magnificently situated on a headland overlooking the Sound of Mull. Rejoining the ship, we sailed for Oban, our overnight berthing, arriving in time for personal exploration of this delightfully situated town in late evening sunshine.
