Benches

Increasingly, as I age, I appreciate a well-positioned bench. The trouble with most benches is that they are placed close to the start of a walk - for obvious logistical reasons, and also perhaps because most people don't walk very far - but this one is half a mile along the ancient trackway that runs from Golspie towards Dunrobin Castle. Since we often walk that way we make good use of the bench, particularly as the beach below it harbours some interesting wildlife - this was, for example, where I spotted a big dog otter hunting for his lunch.

So I made use of it today, but there was very little to see: a curlew, three oystercatchers, a dozen or so cormorants out on the rocks, some gulls, which included a large black-backed gull, and a few crows.

This is the best bench I've ever sat on. It stands at the end of the Ormsaigbeg road, almost at the western end of Ardnamurchan, and it was purchased for the community and its visitors by the Community Council. In a rash moment, I offered to maintain it; almost the first thing it did was to disappear down the hill in a gale, and it persisted in doing this until I had it very firmly anchored down.

It has a wonderful view which includes Ben Hiant (centre), the mainland of Morvern, and Tobermory on Mull. It also has a constant procession of vessels of all sorts passing up and down the Sound of Mull, and the wildlife visible from it includes cetaceans, basking sharks and eagles.

Both of these benches have given me pleasure just from sitting on them and watching the view, but they have also been wonderful places to pause and think, to clear my mind, and to contemplate life.