13. Kiloran Bay

I’m a dozen beaches into my project and I’ve set up a Twitter account to post some pictures, expecting to attract a small niche following. At this early stage, I’m thinking maybe I’ll ‘collect’ 50, or maybe 100, beaches, but my ambitions are not loftier than that.

Today, I am pumped for my day trip to the Isle of Colonsay, and especially Kiloran Bay, which stood out in my research as one of Scotland’s finest island beaches. I catch the midday ferry from Port Askaig, giving me around six hours on the island. The crossing is just over an hour, coming in to the tiny port of Scalasaig. I can drive the single track road to Kiloran Bay in the north west of the island, but I prefer to walk ‘the old road’, up over the highest peak (Beinn nan Gudairean) and down through the grounds of Colonsay House. It’s a beautiful warm day, slightly overcast but (largely) midge free. The walk is spectacular, over the peak, through the lush grounds of Colonsay Gardens and via farmland to the real prize of the day. What a stunning beach Kiloran Bay is. The view from the high points all around the bay are breathtaking, but walking on the golden sands and across the bay itself, by the waterline, is truly memorable. My phone photos don’t really capture the splendour of this place, and my GoPro efforts are pathetic, but that’s unimportant. It’s memories that matter, and I leave this amazing beach with plenty of them. As I leave, a farmer in a nearby field is gathering hay to form into bales. Frank Sinatra is blasting from the cabin of the tractor. It’s idyllic and surreal at the same time. I walk along the back of the bay, initially towards remote Balnahard Bay in the far north, but I realise I don’t have enough time and I turn back, vowing to return another day. It’s back thorough Colonsay Gardens again but this time I follow the road all the way to Scalasaig.