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Sunderland hinterland, Islay

By Becky Williamson

At last the sun was out again and after several ramblings with other very patient people, I decided the time had come to venture out on my own again. There's only so many times that the words 'OK folks we're in a new square', can remain exciting to anyone other than a dedicated Geographer!

I worked out a route from Burnside, Bruichladdich, northwards to Gleann na h-Uamha and hopefully reaching the intriguing Dun na h-Uamha, north-eastwards to Loch Treunaidh and south again to join a track to Conisby - which I'd learnt from past experience, may or may not have been still in existence (many a marked track on the Islay map has proved to be no longer extant).

Starting in suburban Burnside estate it wasn't long before I had left civilisation far behind as I walked towards Gartacharra farm NR2661 : Track to Gartacharra Farm, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR2561 : Gartacharra Farm, Islay by Becky Williamson. The sky was cloudless and I rued the fact I'd forgotten my sunhat and wondered if it had been worth bringing my polariser after all. From behind the farm a wonderful view is afforded of Loch Indaal and Islay's eastern hills. NR2561 : Gartacharra Farm, Islay by Becky Williamson Then there is the impressive standing stone - the first time I'd seen it (I'm not sure if it is visible from the road; I like to think not!) NR2561 : Gartacharra Standing Stone, Islay by Becky Williamson.

The track gradually comes to a halt. I was glad of the severe frost as it meant the ground was hard enough to walk across; it would have been terribly muddy normally. So I departed from the track and had to make my own paths, which turned out to be quite circuitous as there are no distinguishing features over the next few gridsquares. I ended up going further west than I needed to (my initial destination being Dun na h-Uamha). After watching some deer negotiate a fence I wisely decided to follow them and limboed underneath my first fence of the day into tussocky, heather-clad moorland NR2461 : Moorland west of Gartacharra, Islay by Becky Williamson. I glanced behind me at a sun soaked Conisby and Loch Indaal NR2461 : Moorland behind Conisby, Islay by Becky Williamson and then I looked despondently across to Cnoc na h-Uamha NR2461 : A daunting prospect by Becky Williamson, took a deep breath and went for it, looking anxiously at the many black lines on the map which indicated boundaries of some sort. Fortunately some of these turned out to be old boundary lines, for which I have rather a fondness NR2461 : Old boundary near Gartacharra, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR2461 : Old boundary near Gartacharra, Islay by Becky Williamson. Unfortunately, not all of them are old and I had to clamber over two barbed wire fences on this walk - my first one here at Cnoc na h-Uamha NR2361 : Fence near Cnoc na h-Uamha, Islay by Becky Williamson afforded uninterrupted views north-eastwards towards the Paps of Jura across an autumnal scene of rich browns NR2361 : View north-east from fence at Cnoc na  h-Uamha, Islay by Becky Williamson.

I told myself I would only stop once I'd reached Dun na h-Uamha but I just couldn't get my bearings here. It was difficult reading the landscape whilst labouring through thick heather and bog and reading the map and GPS. Hence my ascending a gratuitous hill, getting rather despondent that I couldn't find my dun and then, lo and behold the most glorious vista met my eyes quite unexpectedly. Who would have thought there'd be a house out here on top of a hill and one that for the life of me I hadn't seen marked on the map which I'd been scrutinising for the past couple of hours? Joy of joys! This would be my coffee stop. Forget stupid old duns! NR2362 : Ruined croft above Gleann na h-Uamha, Islay by Becky Williamson I sat blissfully for some time, soaking up sunshine, singing away and recovering from my gruelling walk so far - and, of course, looking at the map to see what further treasures lay before me. Whoever used to live here had a fantastic view NR2362 : Fantastic expanses of moorland, Gleann na h-Uamha, Islay by Becky Williamson.

Leaving the ruin behind I descended into Gleann na h-Uamha,NR2462 : Gleann na h-Uamha, Islay by Becky Williamson still half looking for the dun, but the steep sides of the valley are covered in scrubby woodland,NR2462 : Scrubby woodland in Gleann na h-Uamha, Islay by Becky Williamson, making the descent even more difficult and I could hear running water in the bottom of the valley so knew there was some body of water to cross. I disturbed some deer as I finally reached the soggy valley bottom. I was closer than I thought to the dun NR2462 : Possibly Dun na h-Uamha, Islay by Becky Williamson but didn't realise it at the time.

From here I headed north as directly as I could, having to retrace my steps several times in order to find the line of least resistance across the water strewn valley bottom. I crossed one barbed wire fence NR2462 : Fence and moorland near Gleann Osamail, Islay by Becky Williamson and one old boundary line NR2462 : Old boundary near Sunderland Hill, Islay by Becky Williamson and walked through large areas of burnt heather NR2462 : Burnt heather behind Sunderland Hill, Islay by Becky Williamson, sadly the result of a deliberate or negligent fire last year. Then I had to jump across a narrow burn - Allt Ban (Pale Burn) NR2462 : Allt Ban, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR2462 : Allt Ban, Islay by Becky Williamson. Here was my second surprise of the day - another unlikely ruin. Yes, it was marked on the map and again I had failed to spot it, but these surprises really make the day more memorable. NR2462 : Ruin in boggy moorland behind Sunderland Hill, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR2462 : Ruins in boggy moorland, Islay by Becky Williamson.

Sunderland Hill NR2463 : Sunderland Hill, Islay by Becky Williamson is now clearly visible, interrupted only by a vast expanse of marshland NR2463 : Looking towards Sunderland Hill from the south, Islay by Becky Williamson. A slight climb across more burnt heather NR2463 : Burnt heather behind Sunderland hill, Islay by Becky Williamson revealed a beautiful dry stone wall NR2463 : Beautiful dry stone dyke behind Sunderland Hill, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR2463 : Beautiful dry stone dyke behind Sunderland Hill, Islay by Becky Williamson which remained in view throughout the rest of the walk. I was heading now to Loch Treunaidh across bog and marsh, interrupted by the occasional elevated (and welcome) knoll of rock and heather NR2563 : Moorland near Loch Treunaidh, Islay by Becky Williamson, NR2563 : Moorland near Loch Treunaidh, Islay by Becky Williamson, NR2563 : Wall and moorland near Sunderland hill, Islay by Becky Williamson and NR2563 : Moorland near Loch Treunaidh, Islay by Becky Williamson. A rocky knoll with a view of what remains of Loch Treunaidh was my lunch spot NR2563 : Loch Treunaidh, Islay by Becky Williamson. I admit to being a little disappointed by the loch. It consisted largely of a medium-sized reedbed.

After lunch I crossed the wall NR2563 : Wall near Loch Treunaidh, Islay by Becky Williamson and obtained glorious views towards both Loch Indaal NR2563 : Looking across to Loch Indaal and the Paps of Jura by Becky Williamson and Loch Gruinart NR2563 : Moorland south-west of Loch Treunaidh, Islay by Becky Williamson. I was now hoping to join the track which led towards Conisby and lo and behold it was there, by some moorland pools NR2562 : Moorland pool near Conisby, Islay by Becky Williamson, faint at first, NR2562 : Faint track beneath Cnoc Breac, Islay by Becky Williamson, but becoming more distinct NR2562 : At last, a track! by Becky Williamson until I reached the first of two gates NR2562 : Gate at Conisby, Islay by Becky Williamson, then the final stretch of track NR2562 : Track to Conisby, Islay by Becky Williamson, a second gate NR2661 : Gate at Conisby, Islay by Becky Williamson into Conisby itself and thus to the end of my walk.


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Thu, 28 Feb 2013 at 07:54
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