On the west coast of Islay, at the end of a minor road that peters out into a sandy car park, is a breathtaking stretch of sand called Machir Beach.
Exposed and windswept, it faces the Atlantic storms head-on. We’ve never been there on a windless day; in fact, I doubt whether the wind ever really drops! But as beaches go, it is one of the very best.
There are often groups of gannets out at sea, wheeling over the waves before stalling and turning to launch themselves like torpedoes beneath the surface. If you’re lucky, a small flock of choughs will tumble over the cliffs and start playing in the updraughts, calling to each other in happy excitement.
Somewhere between the low and high tide marks, half-buried in the sand, is part of a wrecked ship. I believe this might be a relic from the Otranto, an American troop carrier which went down in a storm in October 1918 with the loss of many hundreds of lives. Many men were rescued, however, with the help of local people. There is an interesting article about this and another shipwreck on a website called Islay Info.
You wouldn’t want to go into the sea at Machir Bay – this is wild water, with strong undercurrents. And it is very cold! The beach is scoured clean, pristine and smooth, with little or no debris; the few shells and stones that remain form lovely patterns in relief, miniature islands in a vast ocean of sand.
Flanking the beach are rows of dunes, covered with a thick crop of marram grass; at the south end, a track leads up the cliffs to Dun Chroisprig, an Iron Age hill fort.
Not far from Machir Bay is Islay’s newest distillery: Kilchoman, which opened in 2005, is the first distillery to be built on Islay for 124 years. Just a stone’s throw away is the beautiful Kilchoman Cross, a tall (8’ 4”) free-standing cross, believed to date from the 14th or 15th century. On its lichen-covered disc is a carving of the Crucifixion, together with saints and angels. (You’d think we would have a photograph of the cross, but no – when we last visited Kilchoman the weather was so bad that photography was pretty impossible.)
This is just a selection of our favourite photographs from Machir Bay; all images copyright © Colin & Jo Woolf.
0 Comments
housesandbooks
Simply lovely. Thank you, Jo.
Jo Woolf
🙂 Thank you!
grackleandsun
Beautiful.
Jo Woolf
Thank you – it’s one of our favourite places.
Fergiemoto
These are beautiful!
Jo Woolf
Thank you! Some of our favourite photos are from Machir Bay. It’s just stunning.
Scott Marshall
looks fabulous – my sort of place (no people) I think you have captured the feel for this location and great representative colour – tranquill
Jo Woolf
Islay is wonderful in that way – you can almost guarantee having the beaches to yourself! Thank you for your compliments – much appreciated.
marialla
WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!!
Jo Woolf
It’s stunning, isn’t it? 🙂
marialla
INDEED!!!
Cornel Apostol
I wish we had a beach like this here…
Jo Woolf
That’s a shame – I guess the fact that it is so remote makes it more special. It’s an amazing place for photos, you would love it.
tearoomdelights
Your photos are superb! If there were any way of selling them as postcards on Islay that would be marvellous. You’ve reminded me again that one of these days I really must visit Islay.
Jo Woolf
Thank you, Lorna! We do have some stunning shots of Islay in all weathers. It’s one of those islands that you need to make a special effort to get to – the crossing is quite a long one but it’s well worth it.
dhphotosite
Simply stunning photos!!! Well done!!!
Jo Woolf
Thank you! Machir Bay is stunning and I know that you would love it there – in fact you’d probably never come off the beach!
Prarthana Desai
lovely description! It made me relive the experience just a few months ago! Can’t wait to go back!
Jo Woolf
Thank you! Glad it brought back memories. A very special and beautiful place!