Cancer research scientist puts Scotland’s 150 best beaches under the microscope
THE small, sandy beach of Traigh Ban Nam Monach gently hugs the shoreline on the Isle of Iona, offering anyone lucky enough to stand by the water’s edge delightful views towards Mull and the tidal island of Erraid.
Nearby, rare corncrakes hide in beds of wild blue iris, sometimes heard but rarely seen. On the shore, a gently sloping sandy shelf means the clear water is shallow enough for children to paddle.
Close to the village of Baile Mòr and the ferry pier, the beach’s calm beauty, however, has a dark, disturbing past: its name translates as Martyr’s Bay, after the killing of 68 monks inAD806 by marauding Vikings.
These days it is tourists who seek it out, one of hundreds of Scottish beaches that, if not for the bitter wind and constant threat of rain, could have fallen from the pages of a Caribbean holiday brochure.
At the start of her mission to track down Scotland’s most beautiful beaches for a new travel guide, outdoors writer Stacey McGowan Holloway noted Martyr’s
Bay on her list of those which merited inclusion.
By the time she had finished her list of Scottish beaches worthy of being included, it had stretched to well over 400.
Some were remote and rarely visited. Others, like Portobello near Edinburgh, were a stone’s throw from large towns and cities. Many boasted stunning rocks and sweeping bays, the promise of spectacular sunsets and mesmerising views of neighbouring islands.
Others had gripping historic stories to tell, or offered a unique chance to be close to wildlife.
150 ‘best’
EVENTUALLY, her list was whittled down to just over 150 “best” beaches, stretching from the Northern Isles to Dumfries and Galloway, down the east coast and right across the Hebrides.
Some were well known “Instagram” beaches – it would be hard not to include Traigh Shiar on Vatersay, with its wide stretch of machair and wooden gate that opens on to dazzling white sand and blue water.
Others are even further off the beaten track. Visiting them would involve her spending weekends travelling hundreds of miles by bicycle and car, noting down their features and detailing just what makes them so special.
The 150-plus beaches have now been included in The Beaches Of Scotland, which details how to find the nation’s most beautiful beaches, their potential for a dip, paddleboarding, kitesurfing, kayaking and other sports, and how easy – or tricky – they are to get to.
However, some of Scotland’s most precious beaches have been left out, deemed too good to include for fear of opening them up to too many visitors.
“The hardest thing has been choosing which beaches to include and which to leave out,” says Ms McGowan Holloway, who splits her time between working as a cancer research scientist and outdoor writing. She is also a member of Oban Mountain Rescue Team and founder of the Tyndrum 24 ultrarunning race. “There are so many wonderful beaches, and some were too good to not include. “What can make a place special is that it’s hard to find and too hard to get to.
“I do drop hints that there might be a beach nearby that could be worth visiting, but I prefer to leave it to the readers to work out where.”
Easy to reach
INSTEAD, the book focuses on beaches which are reasonably easy to reach – even if some, such as Kearvaig Bay in Sutherland, require a strenuous 12km hike – that can sustain tourists and which offer something more than a stretch of sand and some chilly water.
Take Blackwaterfoot, on the island of Arran, where the long beach of sand and rocks gives way to a coastal walk passing impressive Drumadoon Point, a breeding area for fulmar, jackaw and kestrel, and where divers and black guillemot can be seen. On the Ardnamurchan peninsular in Lochaber, Camas nan Geall – bay of strangers – has mesmerising views over Loch Sunart, the remains of a Neolithic chambered cairn at its head, and the ghosts of crofters cleared from the land following the Jacobite uprising in 1745.
Meanwhile, remote Scoor Beach (Traigh Bhan Na Sgurra ) on the southern coast of Mull has large, white sandy beaches with crashing waves, awe-inspiring views and caves to explore.
Some of the beaches featured may be very familiar: Dornoch beach with its sweeping sands and nearby caravan parks bustling with holidaymakers; Aberdeen beach near the city centre with its category B-listed, Art Deco Beach Ballroom; and Brodick and Lamlash on the Isle of Arran, wide, east-facing and when the sun shines in summer, packed with visitors.
However, the author says the best Scottish beaches don’t need blistering sun, which is probably just as well.
“One of my personal favourites was Blanakeil Bay, right on the north coast, in Sutherland,” she says. “I arrived in April, it was freezing and the sun was very low.
“I was by myself, it was sunset and I’d be travelling three days in the car and camping at night.
“There was no-one around, and it was like standing at the end of the Earth.
“There’s something about being by the water that is really ‘freeing’, all the background noise seems to disappear.”
The hardest thing has been choosing which ones to include and which to leave out. There are so many wonderful beaches