South Shore of Loch Fleet

We took the opportunity of today's still, sunny, November morning to explore the south shore of Loch Fleet, leaving the A9 to drive along the single-track road which runs between Skelbo Castle and the loch shore until we were on the opposite....

....shore of Loch Fleet to Balblair Woods. From this road a farm track runs north towards the mouth of the loch. Along it, we noticed what appeared to be an old wall which ran out into the muddy shallows of the loch. While it was very like the fish-trap walls we saw on Ardnamurchan's coast the area it enclosed, into which the fish would have been driven, seemed far too limited, so its purpose remains a mystery.

We passed a bench. Benches like this located in remote spots are not uncommon around here and one does wonder who is responsible for them. As souls who are getting on in our years, they are a welcome and generous thought.

Opposite the small settlement of Littleferry there are the remains of the wooden jetty to which the ferry crossed. The equivalent jetty on the Littleferry side is a much more substantial structure made of stone.

From the narrows at the entrance to Loch Fleet the shore becomes sandy, the most recent high tide mark picked out by masses of mussel shells. The marram dune area behind the beach is called Coul Links, an area to explore on a future visit.

At one point the beach is cut by a small embayment, and a very limited area of this shows these tracks. We think they may be crab tracks, but they must have been made after the tide fell, suggesting they may be hermit crabs, of which there are several species in British waters. Sadly, we didn't see one scuttling around.

From the entrance to Loch Fleet the beach turns southwards, and we followed it until we saw, against the bright sun, the silhouettes of the houses and caravans that make up the little village of Embo.