Northern Mull
Calgary Beach, North Mull
North-west of Tobermory, the Glengorm Castle estate sits at the head of the only public road into the far north of the island. Within the estate are the Glengorm standing stones and the medieval remains of Dun Ara castle. Heading south-west from Tobermory, the road runs through moors and alongside the three interconnected Mishnish Lochs. Continuing west is Loch Frisa – Mull’s largest body of freshwater – and Loch Torr, with a wildlife hide overlooking its southern shores. Over a snaking pass of tight corners and far-reaching views is the village of Dervaig, sitting at the head of Loch a’Chumhainn – meaning good inlet in Old Norse. Nearby standing stones and the remains of an ancient fort suggest settlement here pre-dates the Vikings, but the planned village we see today was built in 1799. Dervaig’s Kilmore Church was rebuilt in 1904/05 and features a distinctive pencil-shaped tower and a number of exceptional stained glass windows.
Around 8 kilometres further west is Calgary Bay – from the Gaelic Cala ghearraidh, meaning beach of the meadow. The meadow in question is machair, extremely rare shell-rich grasslands supporting carpet blooms of small flowers over spring and summer. Calgary is Mull’s largest and most popular beach – a broad expanse of white sand that on a sunny day looks out over turquoise waters to the islands of Coll and Tiree. Inland from the machair is the Calgary Art in Nature sculpture trail.
South of Calgary is the Treshnish Peninsula with views out to the Treshnish Isles. Tucked away down a steep path is the Whisky Cave, formerly one of the island’s most productive illegal distilleries.
South-west of Dervaig, a small road winds its way over an expanse of gnarly high moorland to Torloisk. Rejoining the coast road, the nearby Eas Fors Waterfall tumbles down to Loch Tuath. The name is reiterative – eas and fors being Gaelic and Norse for waterfall. The final of the three falls drops over 30 metres and, even for the sure footed, is best viewed from the beach below.