Saddell Bay: Solitude, Sea, and Soul in Kintyre
My love for a beautiful beach in Scotland
Sometimes you visit somewhere and fall deeply in love. This happened to me when I first visited Kintyre when I was eleven or twelve. I remember swimming in the sparkly cold sea on a long and light summer evening, when a little grey head popped up a short distance away, it was a grey seal and I’d (rather sadly) never seen anything like that outside of a zoo—it seemed ridiculously exotic.1 That and other memories of my trip to this beautiful part of Scotland stayed with me, and in 2019, I finally visited again. I’ve made sure I’ve visited at least once a year ever since.
I’ve adored everywhere I have visited in Kintyre, but one place that sings to my soul is Saddell Bay. The tiny hamlet of Saddell is situated on the eastern side of the Kintyre Peninsula of Scotland, around eight miles from the peninsula’s only town, Campbeltown.2 You must negotiate the twisty and narrow B842 to reach Saddell, which is challenging in parts (especially when you meet a motorhome or a forestry truck).3 The views along the entire length of this road—especially those across to the Isle of Arran—are stunning.
Saddell is home to a handful of houses, and the ruins of Saddell Abbey. You can reach the bay by walking down the access road to the 16th-century Saddell Castle.4 The woods around here are full of ancient oak, hazel, birch, beech, alder and willow trees teeming with lichen, mosses, ferns and flowers.
The bay forms part of Kilbrannan Sound, which separates the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. On a sunny day you are treated to crystal clear deep blue water, and stunning views of the southern hills of Arran and the magnificently pointy Ailsa Craig. Due to its location, this beautiful shingle-covered beach is never busy. We have visited in the height of summer, on the most gorgeous days, and we have usually had it all to ourselves—on one or two occasions, I’ve seen a handful of people. Bliss.
If you keep walking along the beach, at the end of the bay, tucked neatly out of the way, you will find a small bothy surrounded by gorse and rhododendrons. This is the beautiful Port Na Gael bothy. Roughly translated, Port na Gael means Port of the Gaelic-Speaking People in Scottish Gaelic (please correct me if I'm wrong). I have spent many happy hours sat here listening to the rhythmic sounds of the sea, gazing over to Ailsa Craig, and throwing driftwood sticks for my dog Herbert (I think it is his Happy Place too).
My favourite thing to do at Saddell Bay is to sit and enjoy the feeling of the sun on my face and the salty wind rustling through my hair. I love watching the sparkles created by the suns rays reflecting off the waves, dragging my hands through the shingle, examining the pebbles, and checking out the rockpools. I love isolated places, and one of the reasons that I love Saddell Bay so much is that you hear virtually nothing apart from the crashing waves, the bees buzzing through the sea thrift (Armeria maritime), and the birds flying across the open skies.
I like to sit down by the rocks in front of the bothy. Here, you can find rockpools containing many seaweeds and sea creatures. The rockpools are also home to what I think are beadlet anenome’s (Actinia equina), which cling to the rocks in a rather unappealing slug-like fashion. The red ‘blobs’ undergo an amazing transformation when the tide comes in. These beautiful anenome are common on the coast of the UK and although they look relatively innocent and delicate, they are nothing of the sort. They are highly territorial and are one of the most aggressive anemones, however they don’t pose a threat to humans.
Back at the other end of the bay, up past the castle you may notice a figure looking out to sea. This is Grip, a cast-iron sculpture by the British artist Antony Gormley. In 2015, The Landmark Trust (who own Saddell Castle, Port na Gael Bothy and several other properties on the Saddell Estate) commissioned Gormley to make five sculptures to celebrate 50 years of the Landmark Trust. The idea was that the sculptures would be at their posts, in various parts of the UK, for just one year. However, an anonymous donor bought the Saddell Bay sculpture, and donated it to The Landmark Trust, securing its future at the bay. Grip has been silently staring out to sea ever since.
"There is an excitement about making a sculpture that can live out here amongst the waves and the wind, the rain and snow, in night and day. The sculpture is like a standing stone, a marker in space and time, linking with a specific place and its history but also looking out towards the horizon, having a conversation with a future that hasn't yet happened."
Antony Gormley in an interview with The Landmark Trust
If you think that Saddell Bay looks inexplicably familiar, it may be because a music video was filmed here in the late 1970s. Saddell Bay and the Port na Gael bothy featured in the video for ‘Mull of Kintrye’ by Wings, featuring Paul McCartney and the Campbeltown Pipe Band. I’d like to point out here that Saddell Bay and the Mull of Kintyre are not the same place—the Mull of Kintyre is propably an hour or so’s drive away, the last section of the drive being a single track road that I am too scared to drive down. Anyway, the single was Wings' biggest hit in Britain. It was released on the 11th of November 1977, and stayed at the top of the UK charts for nine weeks, making the song an unlikely Christmas Number One. To this day, it remains one of the UK’s best selling singles of all time.5 Possibly even more surprising, is that in the UK it has sold more copies (physical and digital) than any single released by The Beatles. Not a bad achievement for a song that Paul McCartney thought had no chance of commercial success.
Kintyre means a lot to me. If you love wildlife, you will adore it. I’ve seen seals and dolphins in the water, deers and rabbits on the land, and birds of prey scouring the skies.6 I listen to the owls in the darkest of nights, where the only visible light comes from the moon and the stars (which is exactly how it should be). I particularly love the solitude of the east coast. Sheltered by Arran, this side of the peninsula is a world away from the west side and its rough and tumbling white horse Atlantic waves. Over the last six years it has been a place of refuge, restoration, and happiness. It has given me cherished moments with my family. It has been the perfect place to sit quietly with my dog, enjoying the sights and sounds of nature, while feeling very lucky to experience such peace, even if it is only for a fleeting moment.
Scottish author, poet and women’s rights activist Naomi Mitchison7 lived at Carradale, just up the road from Saddell Bay, for most of her life. On more than one occasion, she described her relationship with this beautiful part of the world as a love affair. I feel the same way.
If you enjoyed reading about my love of Saddell Bay, I recommend you visit Sarah’s Moorcroft’s Substack, which is all about this beautiful part of the world.
Have you been to Saddell Bay? Please let me know! If you’d like to support my work, please click the like button and/or leave a comment. Consider subscribing and/or sharing, or buy me a coffee. Lindsay x
I was eleven in 1987. I hadn’t seen much of the UK, and nothing outside of it at this point in my life. Hence, everything that wasn’t a dog, cat, sheep, or cow seemed exotic to me then.
Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain [Scottish Gaelic], meaning head of the loch by the kirk (church) of Ciarán.
If you are thinking of travelling north from Campbeltown on the B842 please be aware that this road is very guilty of lulling you into a false sense of security. The stretch from Cambeltown to Saddell is ok (there is a steep and super-twisty drop down into Saddell though). However if you venture further and continue northwards of Carradale, the road transforms into a single-track version of its former self, which gets even more challenging in the section between Grogport and Claonaig. This is not fun if you happen to time your drive with the arrival of the ferry from Arran, which has dispatched ten motorhomes eager to get on with the Kintyre 66.
Saddell Castle and five other properties on the Saddell Estate are owned by The Landmark Trust, which rents them out as holiday accommodation. I have been tempted to stay in one of these, however I always stay up the road at the amazing Torrisdale Castle, which I like to think is my second home (no chance).
Mull of Kintyre is at number four on the UK's Official Charts best-selling songs of all time. Elton John is number one. She Loves You by the Beatles is at number ten.
One summer, I was lucky enough to see two Golden Eagles flying above Torrisdale Castle. A breeding pair of these amazing birds is known to live somewhere on Beinn an Tuirc (Hill of the Wild Boar in Scottish Gaelic), the highest point on the Kintyre peninsula.
What a gorgeous, special spot! I love your images of the bay--and will add Saddell to my "hope I can visit Scotland" list!
Herbert looks especially handsome sitting on that beach. Excellent post 🙂