There are two types of woodland on Arran: the "managed" stuff which is all Sitka spruce (not a native species and so very barren), which is currently being "harvested", and the native mixed, mostly deciduous stuff of which there is much less. I much prefer the latter, and it is similar to what I've shown here.


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And finally we took a look at a couple of beaches, first at the appropriately named Sand:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...84570f3b8b.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...df1c791ab6.jpg
and then at Applecross itself:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...bd07148f0f.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...fd98758657.jpg

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Interesting to see such lush vegetation when the surrounding landscape is so harsh looking.

Must be on Torridonian sandstone and not loessian gneiss.

Yes, I think so. Looking at the rock face where they've blasted the "new" road round the coast. There's an interesting view/spot which I hope to get round to photographing tomorrow.
By the way, all photos are taken with my trusty Samsung S5 phone and not doctored in any way.


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I saw some pictures recently where they were cutting a new multilane highway through the mountains, Appalachians I think. Anyway the pictures showed the different types and colors of the freshly cut rocks and soils like a layer cake and explained how and when each layer was added over billions of years. Also what gave each layer it's color and why some layers were twisted. Cool stuff.

That phone gives great quality pictures, Mr Limey using the same?

Nope. He uses an iPhone 6 Plus. Photos also au naturel from his phone.


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Toscaig, Applecross peninsula, NW Scotland
 

Well. That was a thread killer wasn't it?
The Applecross peninsula is about fifteen miles north to south and eight or nine east to west. There are around a hundred (permanent) households, some with just one inhabitant. I'm not sure how many holiday homes/letting cottages there are.
There is a primary school (for ages four to eleven) but at age eleven the kids have to go to secondary school in Plockton. This would be a relatively short sea journey from Toscaig pier that I photographed a while back, but there is no ferry service. It is a one hour forty minute drive each way so just about all of the Applecross kids therefore board there through the week in a school hostel.
There is a reasonably well-stocked general store on the peninsula, but the nearest town with a supermarket of any size is Dingwall or Inverness - a round trip of 165 miles or so. Tesco (a UK supermarket) has just begun delivering to Applecross, a development which the local shop is watching with trepidation.
There is a doctor resident on the peninsula. She is on call 24/7 by default. Mobile phone coverage is atrocious, so you may not be able to reach her first go if she is out. The nearest hospital is on Skye. Two and a half hours away. There is a small fire station not far from our holiday cottage. If it is like Arran, the fireman are all volunteers.
I didn't ask how many policemen there are :)


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Only two photos today, of a place where they had to blast through the sandstone to make the "new" coast road:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...de0a75db61.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10...1857fe3a56.jpg
We went for a drive over all of that loessian gneiss landscape today because the man on the boat trip said many people thought it was as good a drive as the Bealach na Ba. They're not wrong. We did our own sort of dash cam thing with Mr Limey holding up his phone as we drove back but you're going to have to wait to see that until we get home as the upload would take a week at least :D
Tomorrow we're off to Skye over the bridge ...

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Beautiful patterns and colors in that stone. I can see shapes in it like when I look at clouds.

Thanks for posting those pictures, limey.

It makes me realise both how much of this small island I haven't visited, and how overcrowded we are down here in the bottom right hand corner.

That is a great series of shots.

Lovely pictures, delightful and informative text. A+