Season: winter
This beach is a regular candidate in the “Best beaches…” polls, a point you’ll have plenty of time to consider during your four mile walk to get there. The path is maintained by The John Muir Trust. The walk is scenic and an enjoyable part of any visit to Sandwood Bay. You approach the beach from above, allowing you to savour the outstanding beauty from a distance. In the bay stands the sea stack Am Buachaille (the shepherd). The sand is powder fine and the sea is invariably azure blue. The area holds protected status, as part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This is a beach that resonates in your mind long after you’ve returned from your visit.
What the beach means to Arun.
The beach, seen from the high dunes.
By the water at Sandwood Bay.
As a child of the 50’s I holidayed every year at the hamlet of Blairmore on the family croft.The croft house is situated at the beginning of the peat road which leads to Sandwood Bay.
The walk in the summer evenings with some of the neighbouring children to collect the cows for milking would be full of trepidation. Would we see the ghost of Sandwood Bay ,the Bearded Sailor purported to walk the beaches and surrounding area or a mermaid combing her hair and singing while sitting on the rocks looking out to sea? Such were some of the many tales told around the peat fire by the old folk. The smell of bog myrtle ,gorse and heather and the sound of the sea crashing and booming on a stormy day sighing and hissing on a calm are etched on my heart.
The walk itself is very uplifting and has the essence of a spiritual nature.4.1 miles of mood improving steps.