Visit Scotland - Mull of Kintyre
Rugged West Coast of Scotland. Paul McArtney Lived Here
Feb 18, 2007
The rugged west coast of Scotland looks as though some prehistoric giant dropped his jigsaw puzzle into the ocean. Some of the pieces stuck to the mainland, other floated away and became the Hebrides, Skye, Jura and Isla and many others. One which managed to hang onto the mainland, held by a mere snippet of land, just one mile long, is the Kintyre Peninsula.
Scotland - Mull of Kintyre
In 1970 the king of Pop, Paul McCartney, wrote the phenomenally successful ‘Mull of Kintyre’. Nine hundred years earlier a king of another sort, Magnus Barefoot of Norway, was also taken with the beauty of the peninsula and claimed it as his own. It seems McCartney felt the same. He bought a house which became a tranquil retreat for him and his family.
Hire a car and take the A83 which wanders by Loch Fyne. Cross the isthmus at Tarbertwhere the long finger of the Kintyre Peninsula stretches for forty miles to the sea. In spite of what you may have heard about Scottish weather the climate in this part of the country is mild and balmy for most of the time, with a low rainfall (less than half of the rest of the west of Scotland). The air is heated by the Gulf Stream, the warm current that flows across the Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico- palm trees grow happily here.
Tarbert is a pretty little fishing port of around 2000 inhabitants. Its attractive harbour, plentiful accommodation and restaurants make it a good spot for a couple of days stopover. Ferries leave from here for a number of the surrounding islands.
Yes, in case you were wondering, the mist really does roll in from the sea. Even so, it was easy to see why Paul McCartney fell for it. Its isolation is its attraction
Scotland - Mull of Kintyre - Getting there
To get there take a single track road which branches off from the B842 - the Mull of Kintyre Road. Tuirn off where the sign said “Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse” The road was built especially for the lighthouse and at the end of it is a small parking area. From here a narrow path winds around the hills down to the lighthouse which was built in 1788.
This bleak, storm-ridden landscape is the tip of the Kintyre Peninsula. Across the water lies Ireland. There’s nothing to do other than to just be here. The plaintive calls of gulls and the occasional gold eagle, coupled with the whisper of the wind and the smell of the sea make this a place where one can really be alone. A good feeling now and again.
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