Adventures on the Isle of Eigg
This year, with so many plans having to be cancelled or changed, it felt amazing to be able to get away and explore somewhere new. We had two weeks away- part of it staying on the isle of Eigg, and part of it on the isle of Canna- both with views of Rum in between them.
We stayed in a caravan on Laig beach, with this view over to Rum, which disappeared in the rain every now and then! You can’t take vehicles onto Eigg, so once we arrived, we walked over the island on the single-track road, then down a track (where a very friendly dog lived) and then along the path to the beach. After the stress of this year so far, it felt amazing to be somewhere that felt so remote, with no electricity, and no signal or Wi-Fi. We were able to watch gannets diving from our window, listen to the sound of the sea and the wind and rain.
Inspiration in landscape
The Isle of Eigg has such a unique and inspiring landscape, it’s fascinating- enough to make me want to find out more about its geology. One of my highlights from the trip was exploring from Laig Beach to the Singing Sands along the coast rocks. There were so many different formations- ridges of rocks, round raised rocks that made me wonder if they might have been fossilised trees they looked so much like tree stumps, perfectly round holes, and arches among other things. These photos really don’t do it justice!
An Sgurr (below) is the prominent landmark of the island, formed of pitchstone. We walked up it on our second day- it’s actually quite wide at the top, and there is even evidence of a hill fort being there once. The landscape around it was covered in heather in full bloom, and it was only a little bit boggy…
Exploring the north/ northeast end of the island below the cliffs we found seal island, a beach with a whale skeleton, and huge boulders with heather and beautiful lichens growing on them. It always amazes me how the heather can grow in such unlikely seeming places, and cling on . Skye came in and out of view as the weather changed, and I had a chance to wear my new Skye Hat and Barra Scarf (above).
The hillside sloping up to the cliffs was covered in heather at full bloom. There was a lovely steep zig zag path through it to the top, and as we walked through the heather clouds of pollen were kicked up, smelling of honey. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that before! I couldn’t resist taking some knitwear with me as the colours were just so vibrant! Above you can see my Harris Block Scarf , one of my new colourways this year. Below was the view from the top, with Rum on the left and Skye in the distance. For a holiday that involved a lot of high winds and rain, that was a pretty perfect moment!
Eildon Scarf with the cliff and An Sgurr behind me.
View of Rum between cliff tops on Eigg.
I have to admit I’m not great with heights, and cliff tops combined with wind can be a bit scary for me. But the views really made up for that- this little pool reflecting the blue sky, with the purple heather, white sheep and the mainland in the distance were one of those views. From a designers point of view I see blue stripes… !
My Eildon scarf has been very popular so far this year. I had already tried it as a jumper and fallen in love with it- it’s colourful, but there’s a softness to it that makes it really wearable I think, and of course it makes me think of hillsides and sky! Even though it’s felt very daunting placing orders from the mill this year as everything is so uncertain, I decided to go ahead and order some of these jumpers in the unsiex/ mens style, and they’re finally ready! I’m just sorting through photos and they’ll be online on Friday. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Eildon scarf with a heather covered hillside, similar to the one that inspired it!
Laig beach has a washing line on it- it ends up in the sea at high tide. I assume it’s the postman’s (he lives on the Isle of Eigg beach, although I suspect he uses the other one that’s on the edge of the beach for practical reasons). Obviously I wanted to hang up all my scarves, and I had visions of them hanging there nicely with just the tips fluttering slightly in a breeze…. However, the wind was so strong this is the closest photo I have to them hanging down- in most of the photos they’re in line with the washing line or above it. Almost as soon as I’d wrestled them up, it started to rain, and I had to grab them all and make a dash for it! I do love Scottish holidays- never a dull moment!
