Oban Bay from Pulpit Hill, Oban, Argyll & Bute, Scotland

This is one photo that really takes me back to the evening when it was made. On my return to Oban after spending a few hours on the island of Kerrera, I took right of way whose course was to return me to tarmac near Pulpit Hill where I enjoyed panoramic views on a wonderful late May evening. While I may have been wondering if I had been making the best use of unexpectedly pleasant weather, the tranquillity of my surroundings lives on with me.

Below me, a ferry was setting off for Mull with the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour in alluring mode. Above, the boat is passing the northern end of Kerrera with Maiden Island behind it. The Corran Esplanade is partially hidden by luscious springtime growth as it catches the evening sun. The tower of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Columba, built in the 1920's by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (who also was responsible for the Battersea Power Station in London) to replace an earlier more primitive structure, is at the extreme right of the image. You need to look harder to find the ruins of Dunollie Castle, but they sit proud of the surrounding greenery much further west along the same coastline as that of the cathedral. This was a former MacDougall stronghold was successfully defended during the 1715 rebellion but was abandoned after 1745.

The idyllic conditions were to see me do more exploring before the sun went down. The trying out various rights of way was to land me at Ganavan Bay from where I walked back along the road that passes straight under Dunollie Castle and eventually down the Corran Esplanade that passes right by the front door of the cathedral. Young folk were out and about also, messing about with cars with the police scurrying around to keep an eye on them. Quite whether they caught up with those whose were pushing a broken down vehicle right through the heart of Oban and holding up the rest of the traffic is a moot point. Maybe the car was rolling downhill due to the force of gravity, as if to give the impression that it was moving under its own power, when the police were about. Seeing folk pushing the thing again when the police were gone was a very odd sight. Nevertheless, it was nothing that spoiled the serenity of the evening and I didn't do anything that disturbed it either.