Muckdate 7: The Sea, The Sea
Today is a very wild day out on the west coast, with a yellow warning of high winds for the area close to Muck. When you live on an island measuing 2.5 miles by 1.5 miles, the sea is an ever-present companion, challenge, or delight - depending on the weather! My Mum was supposed to arrive this afternoon for a visit but because of the weather the ferry’s not running, so instead of showing her the island I thought I’d share a few of our recent adventures around the coast, and introduce a special sea-themed event that I’ll be doing in a couple of weeks’ time.
Bay at Camus Mor
Muck’s coastline is very varied, with everything from sandy beaches to basalt cliffs, linked by heathery moorland and flat(ish) grassland. Most of the island is made of basalt lava that flowed from nearby volcanoes at what today is Rum and the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Underneath the basalt is ancient limestone, forming a series of ‘pavements’, and the whole island is shot through with dolerite and gabbro dykes - lines of stone that were formed by magma cooling and solidifying underground. You can see these clearly at Camus Mor, on the island’s southern side, where the sea has exposed the different layers. The photos below show (top to bottom): the bay with its basalt cliffs in the background and layers of limestone to the fore; our resident geography lecturer pointing out a raised dyke where the magma had baked the limestone on either side; and finally what looks like a pile of sand but is actually a huge clump of oyster fossils!
Camus Mor is one of six beaches on the island and we are very lucky to have one of them directly on our doorstep. Gallanach (the name comes from the Gaelic Ghallanaich which refers to a type of thick-stemmed broad-leaved plant common here and elsewhere in Scotland) is a sweeping semi-circular bay looking towards Rum and Eigg. The sand is predominantly fine and pale, interspersed with basalt and dolerite fins stretching out to sea. The area is home to a seal colony and lots and lots of birds. We can hear them from the house and I love going to sleep to the sound of oystercatchers peeping and curlews warbling.
Sunset at Gallanach, with the Isle of Rum behind
Around the headland from us is another magical place: Shell Bay. As you can see from the photo below, it is well-named. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a beach so entirely comprised of shells!
My biggest little one absolutely loves going there - rain or shine, wind or snow, it’s always a delight for her. She calls it ‘The Land of Sweets’ and we have spent hours setting up our ‘sweet shop’ with its shelly delights.
Though all these beaches are beautiful, we always find plastic waste of some sort or another on them. We try to take the smaller items home to be recycled, but a lot of the bigger stuff has to stay where it is, waiting to be washed back into the sea at the next high tide. So we are really glad that at the end of the week there is a beach clean planned for Camus Mor. It is part of a wider survey to obtain evidence about the type of marine litter coming ashore on the Scottish Isles, and the results will help provide reliable data sets year-round for use by Marine Scotland to inform policies. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and helping out!
And finally: on 22 February I will be giving an online talk on ‘Knitting and the Sea’, which will explore how the fishing communities of Scotland's west coast influenced knittting traditions across the world. Delivered live from Muck, this hour-long talk will look at how the unique geography, history and culture of the fishing and crofting communities of the Hebrides inspired the creation of iconic knitted garments, as well as a range of knitting techniques. The talk includes samples from museum collections and knitwear archives going back 200 years, along with stories from the communities that developed ganseys, Gairloch stockings, Argyll socks, and more. Afterwards there will be a Q&A and the chance to see historic and replica knitwear in more detail.
All proceeds from the talk will be donated to replace and refit The Little Red Boat, the Isle of Muck's family-run fishing boat which was wrecked in a storm in November 2022. Along with a newer vessel they will need to renew the fishing licence to be able to keep fishing, as well as making sure they have all the safety gear required: Flares, Lifejackets, VHF radio, Fire Extinguishers, and more. The new vessel also needs to comply with new MCA regulations, without months of work and adjustments, and include a GPS, Plotter, AIS system, Fish finder, and more. For more details or to donate directly visit: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/thelittleredboat#start
West Coast communities like those on Muck can be fragile and livelihoods hard-won, but their contribution to knitting history and our broader culture generally is - and always has been - significant and far-reaching, so let's support them where we can. Book your tickets (a very reasonable £6) here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/knitting-and-the-sea-tickets-535899528917 and I’m really looking forward to seeing you (virtually) on 22 February!
