February / March 2023 £4.95 SCOTTISH ISLANDS Steam railways on Skye Lighthouses of Shetland Touching down on Foula Artist’s work in Hebrides Walking on Islay Fields of 771476 Lismore 646047 9 02> 23rd year of publication A passport to real community EXPLORER The only magazine devoted to exploring the islands of Scotland Vol. 24 no. 139

February / March 2023 Scottish Islands Explorer 3 CONTENTS Editor Fred Silver [email protected] 01851 705743 Deputy Editor Melissa Silver [email protected] Website www.scottishislandsexplorer.co.uk Publisher Intermedia Services (Stornoway) Ltd www.intermediaservicesstornoway.co.uk Subscriber services Chris Wigg Select Publisher Services subscription services P.O. Box 6337 Bournemouth, Dorset BH1 9EH United Kingdom 01202 087632 [email protected] Gaelic Consultant Alasdair MacEachen Circulation Manager Steve Tiernan www.magazineworkshop.co.uk Administration Intermedia Services (Stornoway) Ltd Stornoway Media Centre Church House 16 James Street Stornoway, HS1 2QN (00 44) 1851 705743 VAT reg no 735 2917 24 Scottish Company number 409413 Printers Printed by Buxton Press Ltd Palace Road, Buxton, SK17 5AE 01298 212000 ISSN: 1476-6469 Advertising Contact Publicity Advertising Sales Consultants 01412 042042 [email protected] Distribution Warners Group Publications Plc The Maltings, West Street, Bourne. Lincolnshire, PE10 9PH 01778 391000 Front cover photograph: Father and son Jarl Squad members Stuart and David Nicolson at Up Helly-aa in January 2019 (Picture from N-graved) SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER FEBRUARY / MARCH 2023 VOL. 24 NO. 139 5 Getting away from empty beaches A passport to real community By Annie Delin 12 The Lighthouses of Shetland By James Hendrie 14 On Islay…needing both sunglasses and a padded jacket By Alastair Jackson 16 The myths and mysteries of King’s Cave, Arran By Richard Holland 18 Deadly entanglements By Michael Steciuk 19 Reader’s photos 21 Prior interest in the island of Inchmahome By Barbara Kilpatrick 24 Machinery and its links to past work in Lismore’s fields By Rosemary Barry 26 Muck: A circuit of the island in one energetic day Roger Butler enjoys a coastal walk 29 Hope’s artistic work sprang from Hebrides photographs By Katie Macleod 35 Touching down on Foula… remote from where? By Richard Clubley 38 The Lordship of the Isles recalled By Richard Clubley 41 Echoes of the Railway Age on Skye By Fred Silver 47 The beauty of Berneray By Barbara Sellars 50 Crossword 62 By Tom Johnson And now it’s your turn! We want to see your - the readers’ - photos of the Scottish islands! We want to see wee spots that maybe we’ve never seen before; beautiful lighting; a charismatic creature; whatever captures the Scottish islands for you, we want to see it! [email protected] READERS’ PHOTOS PAGE 19 A rare photograph of a steam locomotive in working operation in the Hebrides in the age of steam. But where was this taken? OUR WEE QUIZ ANSWER ON PAGE 41

12 Scottish Islands Explorer February / March 2023 For many people the lighthouse at Bressay is the first that they see when they visit Shetland as it sits, at Kirkabister Ness, overlooking Bressay Sound, and the daily ferry from Aberdeen passes it. For my wife and I arriving on Shetland by aircraft, our first sight of a lighthouse was that at Sumburgh Head. It was also the first we visited, after having collected our hire car at Sumburgh Airport. Sumburgh Head Lighthouse is the oldest on Shetland and was built by Robert Stevenson in 1821. It is a bit of a trek up to the lighthouse from the car park but you are rewarded by stunning views and the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the many different varieties of birdlife on the bird reserve that surrounds the lighthouse. The area around it was designated a Royal Society Prevention of Birds Nature Reserve (RSPB) in 1994 and the RSPB have an office at the lighthouse complex. The light was converted to automatic in 1991 making the keeper’s accommodation surplus to requirements. These buildings were purchased by the Shetland Amenity Trust in 2002 and converted to holiday lets. The complex also includes a small shop, café and the Stevenson Centre visitor attraction, which houses displays many of which are interactive. The foghorn, which is still there, operated from 1906 to 1987 and now it is a reminder of the past. The light and tower remain in the ownership of the Northern Lighthouse Board. The tower walls were constructed with double thickness to keep the dampness out because of the exposed location on Sumburgh Head. During both World Wars, Sumburgh Head played an important role on the extreme northern defences of the United Kingdom. In fact, in the Second World War the radar station based there warned of a large air attack on Scapa Flow. The Lighthouses of Shetland By James Hendrie Bressay lighthouse viewed from the Ness of Sound coastal gun battery at Lerwick

February / March 2023 Scottish Islands Explorer 13 Bressay Lighthouse was one of four that were built on Shetland by the Stevenson brothers David and Thomas between 1854 to 1858. This lighthouse station also had a foghorn but the horn there was removed in the 1980’s after it stopped being used. Once again, this light was automated in 1989 and an LED warning light in 2012 replaced it. Again, the Shetland Amenity Trust purchased the redundant lighthouse buildings for short-term and long-term lets. This lighthouse, because of its location, is probably one that has been photographed many times by passengers from the sea. It is also possible to capture, perhaps more distant but good shots of it from Lerwick from the Knab and surrounding area. The Knab is a short walk from the town centre and is popular with locals and visitors alike. There are information boards, which explain about the history of the area, and there are old gun emplacements that date back to World War I. Moving further north to the Northmavine peninsula, the Esha Ness lighthouse can be found. David Alan Stevenson built this lighthouse between 1925 and 1929, and, interestingly, because of the lack of suitable stone from the surrounding area, it was built of concrete. The light was automated in 1974, and, again, its buildings became holiday accommodation under the ownership of the Trust. This lighthouse is of square tapering design and stands at just under 40ft high on the top of a 200ft sea cliff in a wild and exposed location. The location had a temporary light as far back as 1915 and it was put in place to warn shipping of the Ve Skerries, a group of low rocky islands in St Magnus Bay. The light was a simple iron tower and was built in two months but dismantled at the end of World War I. This was replaced by the current Stevenson lighthouse, the last manned site for the Northern Lighthouse Board designed by a member of the Stevenson family. The initial light flashed out a warning to shipping every 12 seconds and the power of the light was increased in 1974. This changed the range of the light to 25 miles. Unusually, there was only one lighthouse keeper on this site. Despite its construction, the reason being to protect shipping from wrecking on the Ve Skerries, a trawler was lost shortly after it was built. The increased oil tanker traffic heading in and out of the Sullom Voe oil terminal in the late 1970’s saw another light being located at the Ve Skerries themselves. The Esha Ness lighthouse was used as a base to allow the actual construction of the light to be carried there. The MFV Elinor Viking was the Aberdeen-based trawler that was wrecked on the east side of Reaverack, Ve Skerries, in December 1977, in extreme weather conditions. Thankfully, the eight-man crew were rescued by helicopter and survived. While there had been a lighted buoy to help protect shipping, it was thought necessary to upgrade this to a lighthouse, which was constructed on the west side of Ormal. This lighthouse, which was first lit in September 1979, took only four months to construct, with the aid of helicopters, given its remote location. The Ve Skerries lighthouse was the first to be built in Scotland using the post-tensioning technique. The tower is anchored with 18 steel bars, which are secured into the skerry below it under heavy tension. It is a 42ft high, pre cast, and reinforced concrete structure. Point of Fethaland lighthouse is another light that was put in place to help guide traffic to Sullom Voe. The Isle of Fethaland, which in fact is actually a peninsula, is located at the northern part of Shetland Mainland and is its most northerly point. Other island lighthouses on Shetland include Muckle Holm, which is a lighthouse located on this island in Yell Sound and Hoo Stack, which is a small island off Nestling. Muckle Flugga Lighthouse is yet another built on a small island just offshore from Unst, making it the most northerly lighthouse in the United Kingdom. This is yet another lighthouse, which owes its existence to the Stevenson family. This one was designed and built by Thomas and David Stevenson in 1854. This lighthouse was originally put there to help protect ships during the time of the Crimean War. It is now a Category A listed building and stands at 64ft high and has over 100 steps leading up to the top of it. It was first lit in 1858 and was automated in 1995. This lighthouse was originally called North Unst but its named was changed to Muckle Flugga in 1964. This lighthouse is one of the few that had the accommodation for its keepers located on the shore and not with the light itself. Fair Isle has two lighthouses, Skadden (south) and Skroo (north). David A Stevenson and Charles Stevenson were the engineers responsible for these two lights. Both lighthouses are almost identical other than the fact that the South one is higher by over 20ft. They were first lit in 1892. Both suffered attacks from the Luftwaffe during World War II. The north light was automated in 1983 and the south light in 1998 making it the last Scottish manned lighthouse to be automated. Because of the long coastlines and the fact that Shetland comprises of around 100 islands, there are these lighthouses and some others but also smaller lighthouses or light towers. There are around 40 in number, the maintenance of which is the responsibility of the Northern Lighthouse Board. The light and tower at Sumburgh Head remain under the ownership of the Northern Lighthouse Board

16 Scottish Islands Explorer February / March 2023 The year is 1306, and ‘King’ Robert the Bruce sits alone in a dank and desolate cave. His fighting spirit has been sapped by continuous defeats at the hands of the English, and his dreams of capturing the Scottish crown have been shattered. Deep in morose thought, he sees a small spider valiantly trying to spin a web on the cave wall. Time and again the icy winds blowing into the cave knock the little creature off the wall, and time and again it restarts its web. Eventually, the exhausted spider completes its task, and rests to wait for the rewards of its endeavours. Bruce sees his own plight in the actions of the plucky creature and resolves to “try, try and try again.” This renewed vigour will eventually lead him to historic victory at Bannockburn. Sadly, despite the efforts of many Isle of Arran guidebooks, this inspirational vignette did not happen at King’s Cave on the island. Moreover, it did not happen to Robert the Bruce, and, bluntly, probably never actually happened at all. Despite this, King’s Cave on Arran’s quieter west coast still has a long, fascinating, and sometimes true, history of habitation. King’s Cave is the largest of 15 distinct Permian sandstone caves eroded by the sea in the early post-glacial period. Its impressive dimensions of 100 feet deep by 55 feet high are bisected by an elegant central column, giving the interior a Gothic cathedral feel. The caves can be reached along well-marked paths from the north, east and south, but the southerly approach is easily the most fun. This route from Blackwaterfoot passes below high basalt columns of The Doon, and picking the path across the base of this always has a touch of the Indiana Jones about it. For the majority of King’s Cave’s human history, it would have been approached by sea from the west across Kilbrannan The myths and mysteries of King’s Cave, Arran By Richard Holland Series of caves around Kings Cave

February / March 2023 Scottish Islands Explorer 17 Sound and from the cave there are uninterrupted views right down the east coast of the Kintyre peninsula. Inside the cave, the central column contains carvings which attest to the cave’s use in early Christian times. The carved cross and the figure of a man with arms raised in a surrender position are both believed to be from this period. Circular interlaced carvings further within the cave are evidence of Norse habitation around the 8th Century, and carvings of human figures, entwined snakes and ogham inscriptions probably date back to the early medieval period. Portrayals of deer, swords and hunters are presented as evidence for a pre-Bruce myth surrounding the cave. They allegedly attest to the hunting prowess of the Irish giant Fionn or Fingal. Around 1695, the explorer Martin Martin quotes, “the natives” of Arran, as believing Fin MacCoul (Fingal) used the cave during his journey to Ireland to support his allies in battle. There are a number of small holes around the cave entrance and Martin hypothesised that these acted as sockets for timber bars from which cauldrons were hung for boiling beef and venison. A very precise description of Fingal’s diet. While in residence, Fingal supposedly fathered a son, who’s two-foot-long footprint can still be seen etched into the cave floor. Extrapolating that dimension, led a Rev. Headrick to calculate Fingal’s height as 70/80 feet, making the cave a rather cramped resting place. As late as 1772 there is written evidence of the cave being known as Fingal’s Cave, so its rebranding as King’s Cave was probably a Victorian affectation. The cave certainly has strong religious connections and may have been used as a chapel as early as the 5th century and for Kirk Session meetings in the 18th century. There is evidence that the cave was inhabited in the Mesolithic period, as below the current cave floor lies a “shellmound” layer of discarded whelk and limpet shells. And we still complain about discarded takeaway packaging today! The unrestricted access to King’s Cave has meant that the soft sandstone has been covered with decades of graffiti. This makes disentangling the historical carvings from the vandalism something of a challenge. Although who is to say that the original carvings were not once viewed as graffiti or that the new carvings will not have historical interest in 500 years’ time? From the 19th century, visitors to the cave have mainly been sightseers who have left their mark not just with graffiti but by chipping away at a rock-cut seat which is now practically undiscernible in the sandstone at the entrance. Attempts have been made to protect the cave and the carvings, originally with a low wall and railings across the entrance and with now a complex ironwork structure of fencing, gates and a recessed viewing area. A number of guidebooks refer to the need to obtain the gate key from the Tourist Office in Brodick, on the other side of the island. However, on my last two (pre-pandemic) visits, the gate has been unlocked and the cave open to explore. Both these visits were made in bright, sunny conditions, and fingers of sunlight stretched deep inside the cave. However, the mobile phone’s torch facility was very handy for illuminating the darker recesses of the twin passageways and in deciphering the carvings. Entering the damp, echoey cave it is hard to imagine the space being used as a home or meeting place. Our priorities now are for well-lit, centrally heated accommodation but centuries ago the need for safety and a good look-out position were far more important. On my last visit to King’s Cave, the entrance was guarded by a large black toy spider looking like it had spun the metal fencing across the opening. If Robert the Bruce had encountered a spider that large, he might not have hung around to see it “try, try and try again.” Returning to the Bruce myth and “the celebrated moralising spider,” as Scott-Moncrieff put it, the story may have been written about Bruce’s close ally, Sir James Douglas. Sir James was better known as “The Black Douglas” by the English, both for his black hair and his terrifying battlecraft. It is believed that Sir Walter Scott was the first to amalgamate the spider story with the history of Robert the Bruce, some 500 years after Bruce’s death. Bruce may have visited Arran during his periods of hiding but he is far more likely to have resided in caves on Rathlin Island off the Antrim coast of Ireland. Bruce certainly wintered on Rathlin in 1306 after his escape from Scotland and Bruce’s Cave on the island is named accordingly. At least five locations, including King’s Cave, lay claim to the myth, seemingly more as tourist inducements than with any basis in fact. Whether King’s Cave, formerly Fingal’s Cave, will ever be renamed again, only time will tell. But perhaps those wishing to entice future tourists could take the advice of American comedian W.C. Fields, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.” Carvings on central column