Isle of Jura – 2

This is a sight to behold, between the east coast of Jura and the uninhabited island of Scarba. It’s not just a whirlpool, it’s a tidal race too where the waters of the Atlantic get forced into a steep-sided channel with its very own underwater pinnacle called The Hag, that creates the vortex you see on the surface. The Royal Navy does class this area as unsailable, although fast speed boats do skim across most of the waves, allowing visitors wearing life jackets the opportunity to look at the swirling waters from close at hand. It goes without saying that canoeing and kayaking are probably not a good idea in this stretch of water at any time. There is a story that George Orwell almost came a cropper here, his boat sinking and he and his son just managing to scramble to a nearby rock where they were eventually rescued. 

Walking for around fourteen miles up and down the east coast is not the best preparation for walking up The Paps of Jura. That’s my excuse anyway. The Paps are three mountains on the western side of the island. Their highest point is 2,575 feet, and although that doesn’t seem very high, these are steep-sided quartzite hills. Their conical shapes resemble breasts and the Vikings thought so too, as the word pap is an ancient word of Old Norse origin for the breast. I made it to the top of the lowest of the three Paps called Beinn a’ Chaolais. As there was cloud all around, I decided that was enough. The descent took a lot longer than the ascent, as the scree is loose and I had to zig-zag down at a slow pace. You might just need a stick for the descent. 

There has been a recent increase in the craze of classifying hills / mountains in the UK, so that almost any hill will fit into a classification. This started with Munros and Corbetts, but has spread to lower and lower peaks. Beinn a’ Chaolais is classed as a Fiona as is the second highest peak Beinn Shiantaidh, whereas the highest of the three, Beinn an Oir, is classed as a Corbett. 

A Corbett is a peak between 2,500 and 3,000 feet high. Originally just used in Scotland, it is now sometimes used in other parts of the UK. It is named after John Rooke Corbett (1876–1949), who compiled a list of these peaks in 1952. A Fiona is a hill in Scotland that is between 2,000 and 2,499 feet (610 and 761 meters) tall, with a drop of at least 150 meters on all sides. The hills are also known as Grahams, and are named after the late hillwalker Fiona Torbet (née Graham).