Adventurer takes to island life
Source: BBC News ()
By James Shaw
BBC Scotland News website
Andy Strangeway has just finished a tour of the Scottish islands and is about to bring out the first volume of his adventures.
One of his favourite islands is Naiomh in the Inner Hebrides.
Andy Strangeway’s favourite island is Naiomh, south of Mull
In pictures: Island of Naiomh
Earlier this year he completed a marathon tour of all 162 Scottish islands over 40 hectares, a mission which took him four years to complete.
It required an unbending determination to overcome all the obstacles in his path, such as the notoriously changeable Scottish weather, and the suspicions of some islanders about a self-employed painter and decorator from Yorkshire.
Naiomh, just south of the Isle of Mull, is one of the most inaccessible of all the islands he visited.
Bad weather and the lack of a beach mean trying to land is often all but impossible.
It’s only a mile and half long but extraordinarily beautiful, from the ruined religious settlement on one side to the jagged rocks and Atlantic breakers on the other.
Christian era
Celtic monks from Ireland are said to have arrived on Naiomh 21 years before St Columba reached Iona just to the north in 563AD, the date usually considered to mark the start of the Christian era in Scotland.
A simple headstone overlooking the rocky ruins on Naiomh is believed to be the grave of St Columba’s mother, St Eithne.
This site is thought to be the final resting place of St Eithne
And down by the eastern shoreline are the beehive cells which sheltered these early Christians from the worst of Atlantic storms.
An automated lighthouse on the southern tip is the only substantial piece of modernity …