Neil Murray's trip to Mull in 1997

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Neil Murray went to Mull
where IKWIG was filmed,
in 1997

These shots were taken on a trip to Mull in 1997, partly to look at IKWIG locations. Coincidentally, I had had a family holiday on Mull in 1963, staying not far from Carsaig, which we must have visited, though I didn't see IKWIG until the 1980s. This time I spent one night in the Western Isles Hotel Hotel - I hope Torquil and Joan were served dinner quicker than I was! With limited time, I didn't go inside Torosay Castle [Achnacroish], just looked round the Italianate gardens. Duart Castle [Castle of Sorne] is to be seen from Torosay Castle only a couple of miles away on a rocky headland.

View from the jetty at Carsaig Bay

The phonebox at Carsaig

The road leading to the House of Carsaig
[Erraig]

View from gardens of Torosay Castle
[Achnacroish]

Front entrance of Torosay Castle

Waterfall by phonebox at Carsaig

Extracts from Scotland Island Hopping (Polygon):

After the ferry trip from Oban with its romantic views of Duart Castle, Craignure, the first settlement you reach on Mull, can seem disappointingly functional. For entertainment you can take the Miniature Railway from near the Old Pier to Torosay Castle and Gardens, a twenty-minute journey on a steam or diesel hauled train. The railway shop is a steam-buff's home-from-home with railway books, postcards, train memorabilia and guards' whistles.
South (1.5 miles) of Craignure, Torosay Castle and Gardens was designed by two of Scotland's most eminent architects, David Bryce (1803-76), who planned the house, and Sir Robert Lorimer (1864- 1929), who laid out the eleven-acre gardens, now complemented with statues by Antonio Bonazza and extended with a Japanese garden, Eucalypt walk and shrubbery. The Castle is a bizarre mix of Scottish baronial - endless stags' heads and Edwardian furniture - and intimate family history, punctuated by the wonderful humour of its current owner, Christopher James. and his father the late David Guthrie-James, notorious as the heroic wartime escapee and an adventurer par excellence. Witty, handwritten captions to everything you see, photographs of David Guthrie-James' expeditions, his school reports and the original Red Book from his This is Your Life appearance make this a fascinating place to spend a wet afternoon. The Castle is family-run - Christopher James may be seen chasing cattle on the 10,000 acre estate, while his mother Jacquetta Guthrie-James is likely to take your money in the ticket office - and extremely welcoming.
A bumpy lane from the A849 leads to Duart Castle, the dramatic 13th-century clifftop castle seen from the Oban ferry, and the current seat of Clan Maclean. A small, well set-out exhibition gives a taste of life in the castle over the last 400 years. In 1681 the castle was forfeited to the Crown, returning to the family earlier this century, making much of the exhibition patchy and preoccupied with recent family photographs. In the Main Hall, partially hidden by display cases, is a touching record of the heights of the last Chief's children (now adults), with mum and dad's chest sizes alongside. The last Chief was the No 1 Scout for many years and the castle's top-floor is given over to an exhibition of world scouting. In an outbuilding the cafe serves generous portions of delicious home-baking. Of interest particularly to Maclean family historians (Macleans are asked to sign a special family guest book) Duart Castle is well worth a visit if only for its impressive situation.
[Near the village of Lochbuie] the 15th-century Maclaine stronghold, Moy Castle, famed for its bottleneck dungeon and a well which reputedly never runs dry, is well-preserved but now too dangerous for public access. Just beyond Pennyghael on the road to Iona, a turn off to the [south] takes you on a winding road over high moorland, which suddenly plunges 150 metres down through thick forest to a tiny stone pier, where wild salmon, lobsters and crabs are occasionally on sale from the stone boat shed nearby. Carsaig pier is the starting point for a tough but beautiful walk to the Carsaig Arches, two of the most spectacular natural rock formations on Mull. Originally sea caves, they have been eroded into giant tunnels, the largest of which is 50 metres from one end to the other. The eight mile round trip takes in the Nun's Cave, where a group of nuns took refuge after being driven from Iona (look out for the carved early medieval crosses on the walls) and from where the greenish sandstone was quarried for Iona Abbey, magnificent and gigantic cliffs, and views across to Islay, Jura and Colonsay [Kiloran].

Other P&P trips