Wild on Arran: Arran Mountain Festival

Saturday, 16 May 2015

Arran Mountain festival: Holy Isle Visit

It's traditional for the day of the Goatfell Hill Race to be fairly wild and woolly.... which didn't bode well for the Arran Mountain Festival's annual visit to Holy Isle- which this year is on the same day as the race. Luckily, Russell and Elspeth from Ocean breeze Ribtours were on hand to replace the Holy Isle Ferry with their Rigid Inflateable Boat, giving us an fun and speedier than usual journey across the 1.3 miles of choppy sea. They are also both members of Arran COAST, and so were able to give our group of hardy walkers an insight in to work ongoing to protect Lamlash Bay and the South Arran MPA.

It's not possible to tell from this picture just how windy it was....

A happy if windswept group of island wanderers!

We were joined by a team from NCAS who took meaurements on the summit

Great views to the Goatfell Range in the north.

Monday, 20 May 2013

Arran Mountain Festival: Holy Isle

Yesterday I was on the lovely island of Holy Isle, volunteering for the Arran Mountain Festival, and working alongside Andrew Binnie from the Comunity of Arran Seabed Trust. We were there to enjoy a walk over the top of the island, and along the shore, enjoying the wildlife and learning more about COAST's ambitions project for marine conservation and a South Arran Marine Protected Area.
The day dawned damp and misty, but we crossed Lamlash bay on the Holy Isle Ferry in a flat calm. The climb to the summit of Mullach Mor (314m) is a fairly steep one but is thankfully over pretty quickly. Following this is a steep rocky descent to the south end of the island and a leisurely stroll back along the shore to the slipway. Wildlife highlights included lots of coastal wildlife including oystercatchers and common gulls nesting close to the path (please take care), as well as kestrel and peregrine falcons tousling together in the sky above.