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The Small Isles: Rum

On one day in July 1826, 350 inhabitants of the island of Rum, off the west coast of Scotland, woke to find their world changed forever. A crofting community, their industry could not produce enough wealth to pay off the debts of their landlord. The landlords solution? Force them all onto a boat to take them to Nova Scotia and replace them with 8000 sheep. Eventually the debt-ridden landlord was forced to sell the island and it became the private playground of a rich industrialist - closed to outsiders except for high society guests. It became known as the Forbidden Island. For the moment we are in Arisaig, a small village on the west coast of Scotland. With a heritage of fishing, the natural harbour has diversified into other areas and one of these is Arisaig Marine Ltd. Skippered by Ronnie Dyer, the MV Sheerwater provides services between the mainland and the Small Isles. Arisaig is reached by following the road from Fort William to Mallaig and the last time I was along this road was for the summer solstice on trip with friends from Inspiring Photography Forums. The plan had been to photograph the setting sun and the rising sun a few hours later. However, rain sweeping north arrived just after a rather muted sunset and the plans were abandoned. This time the weather was perfect, hot and sunny, beautifully quiet. Watching the sun set over Eigg and Rum was an experience to rival anything to be found in supposedly more exotic climes. Waking to a perfect morning, the MV Sheerwater carried us across calms seas and under blue skies towards Eigg.

As we arrived an enterprising lady with bagpipes and a donations box greated our arrival. Although the final destination was Rum, there was enough time to hop off the boat and explore the harbour area. Although only the second largest (it is about 5 miles by 3 miles) of the Small Isles, it is the most populous (around 90 inhabitants) and even has a bus service. Eigg is owned by the Eigg Heritage Trust following a buy-out of the latest in a line of absentee landowners and is thriving.

Continuing on our way round the south of the island, through the sound of Eigg, a great cry went up as a fin was spotted. The boat quickly wheeled around and we spent the next 20 minutes in a close encounter with not one but two basking sharks. These sharks are the largest of the 35 or so shark species to be found in British waters. In fact they are the second largest fish in the world growing up to 10 metres in length and up to seven tonnes in weight. Their great gaping white mouths are designed to filter out plankton and are completely harmless to humans. Continuing on we see plenty of the Manx shearwater that the boat gets it name from and the truly spectacular peaks and ridges of the Rum Cuillin, the names of which (Askival, Hallival, Trollaval, Orval) tell of the Norse history of the island. A couple of hours after leaving Arisaig the Sheerwater arrives at the old jetty at Kinloch on Rum.



Now owned by SNH the island has a chequered history suffering at the hands of various landowners. The most obvious remnants are right here - Kinloch Castle was built between 1897 and 1900 following the death of John Bullough by his 21 year old son, George Bullough. Despite the fact that this would have cost roughly the equivalent of £15 million in today's money, Sir George only spent a few weeks a year on the island. Some years ago the castle was run as a luxury hotel, but this didn't succeed (possibly due to the dire midges on the island). It is still possible to stay in the castle as SNH run a hostel in part of the castle. The "Common Room" is good for a pre-dinner drink in front of the fire and the food is very good for the money.

As mentioned a moment ago, the midges on Rum are probably the worst anywhere in Scotland and when there is no wind a head-net and repellent are essential. There is a very basic camp site on the foreshore with a stand pipe and toilets and a very friendly robin. Wild camping is also permitted, but the reserve manager should be contacted in advance. Although it is the largest of the Small Isles, it only has around 26 inhabitants, all of whom are either employed by SNH or are family of SNH employees. There are no tarmac roads on the island and so road tax is not payable with the result that number plates can be a bit inventive. Just a short way past Kinloch Castle is the community centre, which includes the shop, post office and tearooms. These are run by members of the community on a voluntary basis and add to the unique atmosphere of the island.



The island has two other (now abandoned) settlements - Harris on the south of the island and Kilmory on the north of the island. Harris was Sir George Bullough's favourite part of the island and had originally planned to have the castle built there. However, there was no suitable anchorage for the boats needed to bring the red sandstone from Annan along with other building materials. Following his father's death, Sir George had the Bullough family mausoleum was built here and had his father's remain interred there. It remains the only part of the island not in SNH ownership. The imposing Greek Temple design was a replacement for the original mausoleum in Italian mosaic. One of Sir George's guests is reputed to have made a derogatory comment about it and it was subsequently blown up. A small amount of the mosaics is still visible and, despite what the rude guest might have said, the completed tomb must have been an impressive sight.



Having dumped kit along the route to Harris, we backtracked to pick this up and head on to Kilmory where we would be camping for the night. Kilmory is where much of the deer research is done on the island and is also where BBC's Autumnwatch film the red deer stag rut. It is worth pointing out that if you don't know what wild camping is and how to "leave no trace" then you shouldn't be considering camping up in places like this. Despite the fact that Kilmory is a good 5 or 6 miles from Kinloch Castle with only rough track linking the two, Sir George Bullough had all his laundry sent to Kilmory for washing. It seems he did not like the idea of having his washing hanging out anywhere near the castle for guests to see! The view from Kilmory is simply stunning - with the perfect weather holding out, the view of the Black Cuillin on Skye was unsurpassed. It was possible to identify places like Glenbrittle, Coire Laggan, Sgurr Alasdair and the rest of the ridge right round to where Loch Coriusk would be. Off to the west, the Western Isles could be seen in the setting sun. Sometimes it is worth forgetting about the camera and just enjoying the beauty of the moment - this was one of those moments.

The next morning continued where the previous day had laid off and the Black Cuillin once again showed its majesty as we packed up carefully and left no trace of having been there. The walk back to Kinloch was an easy stroll compared to the previous day's 15 or so miles. On the way we met an American lady who was out walking on her own. It is refreshing to meet people who are comfortable walking on their own and being able to just enjoy what is in front of them.

Someone who was perhaps too prone to (hedonistically) enjoying what was in-front of him was the young George Bullough who was given the 221 foot yacht "Rhouma" by his father John Bullough and then sent off round the world (which explains the large number of Japanese objects in the castle).



The thing that precipitated this was George's rather too fond disposition towards his step mother. Following his father's death and the building of Kinloch Castle it appears that Sir George and his wife, Lady Monica, had what could be described as an open, accommodating marriage. Perhaps at the time it would have been described as a marriage of convenience. However, the opulent castle, when it was actually in use by Sir George was the scene of much debauchery. The small ballroom had an orchestral balcony with curtains and high windows to ensure that proceedings could occur with complete privacy. Furthermore, the orchestra could be dispensed with completely with a mechanical piano. The complete secrecy was topped off with a service hatch through which the butler could provide refreshments. This was no ordinary hatch though, the butler would place the refreshments through a door on one side of the wall and only once his side was closed would the revellers open the door on their side to retrieve the drinks. A tour of the castle is well worth the time just to see the orchestrion, but there is much more besides.



The return trip on the MV Sheerwater was significantly longer than the advertised journey time … but for all the right reasons. Just as we were leaving the jetty we saw another basking shark … and then another! We hadn't gone much past Eigg when another cry went up - another fin had been spotted, not a basking shark though. This time we had a minke whale for company and we must have spent the best part of an hour trying to follow this (or others) minke whale punctuated by the odd porpoise. Arriving back at Arisaig in glorious sunshine we find out that the rest of the country is drowning under heavy rain and flash floods … the sunset that night was superb.

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