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Fionnphort and surrounding area

fingals rock on fionnphort beach

Fingal's rock on Fionnphort beach

The village of Fionnphort which means 'Port of the White Sands', and pronounced 'fin-ny-firt' is on the south west peninsula of Mull, known as the Ross of Mull. The name Fionnphort refers to the splendid, white, sandy bay which is overlooked by Seaview providing a wonderful foreground to the Isle of Iona and its many stunning sunsets. Many of our guests comment on the views we have from Seaview and they often tell us that by staying with us they have the best of both worlds – not least our very welcoming hospitality but also the amazing views they have of the Sound of Iona and the Abbey, whilst enjoying breakfast and dinner. We agree with them – as inviting as Iona is, the view from Iona isn’t quite the same!

Fionnphort today

Fionnphort is a small thriving community and is more than just a passing through point for the ferry across to Iona and the boat trips out to the Treshnish Isles – it is also the home and workplace to approximately 100 people. With only 35 homes in the village, Fionnphort and her residents support an astonishing number of visitors from around the world who travel through Glen More from Craignure to the Ross of Mull, whatever the weather, 365 days a year. The land and coastal waters around the Ross of Mull, (including other villages and communities) supports the traditional farming, crofting, fishing and forestry industries as well as the diversification of tourism, hospitality, service and retail. Further information about the fishing industry, click here.

21st century Fionnphort

fionnphort from top of tor more isle of mull For such a tiny hamlet, Fionnphort is pretty cosmopolitan in its own unique and hardy way. Visitors staying at Seaview come from around the world and despite its island location, our guests have always been delighted at the diverse range of services we personally offer along with the facilities and services offered in and around the village. Fionnphort isn’t chic, trendy or fashionable in a ‘slick city’ kind of way but it has a lot more to offer than one might expect. Long term plans for this small, vibrant and bustling Hebridean community include a harbour as well as forming the epicentre of the UK’s first National Marine Park.

One renowned tourist information guide published a rather short sighted comment that Fionnphort was ‘merely for passing through……after all what was there to stop for?’ Had the writer stopped to find out, he or she would have discovered for themselves…………………………..

Recent guests of ours commented that the tourist information book referred to above, that she was reading had got it all wrong – and that in fact Fionnphort was a gem of a place and well worth stopping for; not just to observe a real Hebridean community at work and at play but a rare opportunity to join in with the island life and sample the warm and friendly hospitality on offer and a unique and memorable experience to take home with them. One can’t receive a better accolade than that.

Fionnphort Community Life

ferry shop fionnphort isle of mullOur local grocery store The Ferry Shop is owned and run by Jane & Sandy Brunton along with their staff and sells an amazing array of goods from fresh produce right through to fresh bread every morning. A supermarket it isn’t but it offers a diverse range of food items including freshly baked bread & croissants, takeaway coffee, delicatessen products, local cheeses and fresh fish. All this, as well as serving the community as the local post office, newsagent, art, craft & gift shop. With an impressive range of local history & interest books on offer as well, plus internet, email and fax facilities there isn’t much that can’t be bought here.
 

keel ro pub fionnphort on  mullThe Keel Row Pub & Restaurant is a traditional Hebridean pub owned and run by Marilyn & Brendan and offers a warm and inviting welcome to everyone; built from a converted stone cottage The Keel Row offers a comprehensive menu and caters for most tastes – food is plentiful and outdoor seating offers the opportunity to watch some spectacular sunsets whilst enjoying a wee dram or two.

There are other places where you can dine including Martyr’s Bay Restaurant on Iona, and The Reef at Bunessan. For further information click here.

 

columba centre fionnhort isle of mullThe Columba Centre is owned by Historic Scotland (turn left coming into Fionnphort signposted for Fidden) and houses an exhibition dedicated to St. Columba - displaying the legacy of the beautiful carved stones and crosses which still remain on Iona. This is a worthwhile place to visit for those of you interested in the history of St. Columba, Iona Abbey and Celtic Heritage as well as the influence early Christianity had in Scotland and Europe.

There is no charge for admission and there is plenty of parking outside.

 

coastguard fionnphort isle of mull HM Coastguard provides an important role in the community – the building can be found on the left on the way down to the pier. Coastguard callouts for search & rescue teams and medivac operations are all facilitated by local men who volunteer their services even though they have full time employment. The team at Fionnphort are called out several times a year to assist in a number of emergency callouts in all weather and at all times.



RNLI bookshop fionnphort isle of mullThe RNLI are equally important and is a charity well supported by the village through fund raising events and a very popular book stall located in the garage of Trevor, one of the local posties. (You can find it on the left on your way up to the Columba Centre).
Other buildings in the village include the Calmac ticket office for the ferry across to Iona, and a tea room with public toilet facilities.

Wild Fionnphort

Along with the many white sandy beaches, coves and bays offering visitors hours of beachcombing and discovery, the surrounding area has bird life galore, flora and fauna, walks for the uninitiated and the more experienced, and stunning views and scenery waiting to capture your heart and hopefully some amazing photographs too. The folks back home just won’t believe the beauty of the place.

Marine life is also abundant – Sammy the seal can often be seen in the bay especially when the fishing boats are in and landing their catch of lobsters, crabs and fish. Hand fed by the fisherman, Sammy is easily recognized because he has massive scar tissue around his body possibly caused by either a propeller or by becoming entangled in rope or net. Sammy sometimes appears with another seal but we don’t know if he’s a pal or a girlfriend. We are still waiting for a baby Sammy.

Dolphins, porpoise and basking sharks have all been seen in the waters around Fionnphort swimming up and down the Sound of Iona; line fishing for crab and mackerel are enjoyed by youngsters (old and young) on the pier – freshly caught mackerel BBQ’d is something else.

Here at Seaview we work on ‘Mull’ time – the pace of life is a lot slower and much more relaxed. When we are asked what time it is – we often say with tongue in cheek ‘light o’clock’, ‘dark o’clock’, ‘eat o’clock’ or ‘sleep o’clock’– time isn’t really that important to us and we try to enjoy each moment each day. If we are asked what day it is, we say “We don’t know but it ends in the letter ‘y’”. We aren’t being cheeky when we say this, we just believe that there are other choices to how one can live their life and we choose to prioritise ‘differently’ to some other folk. It may sound quirky but it suits us and our guests appreciate our approach as it helps them to relax, unwind and enjoy their time on the island – and very often when checking out, guests discover they have ‘lost’ a day or two!

Fionnphort Granite

Fionnphort is the home of the world famous Red Granite.  From this robust and decorative material many important civil engineering works were constructed and across the Sound of Iona is a lasting monument and tribute to this material…………..Iona Abbey.

Half a mile north across the moor land heather is the Tor Mor Quarry which once produced the unique red granite building blocks. Our home, Seaview is constructed of this granite and the superb workmanship of past local stonemasons can be seen on the front face of the house. The stone was popular because it was free of flaws and grain and would take intricate carving as well as a good polish – an excellent example of this can be found on the Seaview nameplate on the pillar at the front gate.

Other more auspicious building works that have used Fionnphort Granite include Blackfriars Bridge, Holburn Viaduct and the Albert Memorial in London, along with buildings in New York and Liverpool docks, Manchester City Hall and many others. 

Near to the quarry on the Mull side of the Sound of Iona is the small island of Eilean nam Ban or ‘Island of the Women’. Legend has it that when St. Columba founded Iona he banished the women to this island – little did he realize what good swimmers the men were!


Click on the images to enlarge

summer garden seaview fionnphort mull

Summer garden at Seaview

ross of mull pink granite fionnphort bay

Pink granite Fionnphort bay

calmac ferry fionnphort pier

Ferry at Fionnphort pier


fresh fish at fionnphort

Daily catch at Fionnphort

keel row pub hebridean pub fionnphort

The Keel Row pub



Iona ferry at Fionnphort

Ferry to Iona



wild fionnphort

Wild Fionnphort



iona ferry & pier

Iona ferry & pier



cheeky tup fionnphort isle of mull
cheeky tup
nibbling our hedge




man at work
Mull time!


iona abbey looking through granite source rock

Iona Abbey through
granite rock

KINTRA

A tiny picturesque village situated round a small enclosed bay on the north west tip of the Ross of Mull. Founded by the 5th Duke of Argyll who tried to provide an income for himself and his tenants through fishing. 12 crofts were inhabited but the distance from mainland markets led to the scheme’s downfall.

However, the nearby granite quarries of Tormor and Dearghport provided some employment for the village people. When the quarries closed, some families emigrated and some were evicted. The village became depopulated until, in the 1920’s, there were only two people left. The village is now coming back to life albeit half of the houses are now holiday homes, with 4 or 5 families living and working full time in the area.

OS Grid reference: 315 254     1:25,000 OS Explorer Series.

MAP OS EXPLORER 375 WEST MULL

About one and a half miles outside Fionnphort from the main Fionnphort-Bunessan road. A849 turn north at the sign for Kintra and follow the road to the end, here lies Kintra.
 

kintra croft house
Ruins of croft house at Kintra



kintra village cottages
Kintra village today

 

Tormore Granite Quarry

The most dominant feature of the lower end of the Ross of Mull is its red and pink, rounded granite landscape.  The area starts just to the west of Bunessan and finishes out at sea as the Torran rocks. 

The attractive colouring of the rock and its tough qualities have been recognised by man since early times and its exploitation as a decorative, durable building material, was inevitable. 

On the Ross of Mull several economic factors came together to make commercial quarrying a reality.   Firstly, the rock is extensive and of a particularly high, attractive quality.  Secondly, it was in close proximity to several large civil engineering projects like the lighthouses, and in earlier times Iona Abbey and its monastery.  Finally, the most important economic factor of all was its close proximity to the sea and transport.  Tormore Quarry fulfils all the factors required for economic extraction and was used for many years to decorate and construct many famous buildings. 

The description and basic qualities of the finished stone is as follows: (taken from the publicity material produced by "Scottish Natural Stones".) 

Type: Biotite Microcline Granite,

Colour and texture: Warm Pink/Red with pale Grey/Brown felspars - medium texture.

Crushing Strength: 200 MN/m.sq (29,000lbf/in.sq)

Weight: 2,819Kg/cubic meter(179lbs/cubic foot)

 

view from tormore granite quarry looking towards iona

Views from Tor More quarry
 


quarry houses at tormore looking towards iona
Tormore quarry houses overlooking Iona
 

To go into the full history of Tormore Quarry would be too extensive to reproduce on an introductory webpage, and, so I would strongly recommend that if you wish to read more about this subject that you buy the definitive book by Joan Faithfull entitled "The Ross of Mull Granite Quarries" published by The New Iona Press  ISBN 0 9516283 6 4   This book is available for purchase in the book section of The Ferry Shop next to Seaview. The author has a cottage in the Tormore quarry and resides there for part of the Summer. 

Anyway, a quick history in brief.  Opened in 1831 for commercial extraction and quarrying ceased in 1910.  Reopened by "Scottish Natural Stones" in 1985.  Stone is only rarely extracted now. 1990 was the last really busy period when I used to see lorry load after lorry load of large unshaped Granite blocks leaving the island on the back of articulated wagons.  Cranes and quarry equipment lies derelict in the working area today (2007). 

The stone that was produced was shipped to many places in the world, particularly America.  Its use for monumental construction has meant that pieces of Ross of Mull Granite have turned up as far away as China, and in graveyards throughout the world.  The list of some of the more well known structures is shown below.  It has been compiled from Joan Faithfull's book and "Scottish monumental stone's" catalogue.  Some of the structures were made from Granite from other local quarries in combination.

Iona Abbey; Columns for the  Glasgow General post office and University; Dunrobin Castle, Golspie; Manchester Town Hall; St.George's Hall, Liverpool; Argyll car factory in Alexandria and more recently the Halifax Building Society in  Kilmarnock; Compaq Computer Facility in Erskine; Sun Alliance Offices in Edinburgh and the High Commissioner's House in Wellington, New Zealand (foyer and lift area).  The Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens; Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore, London; Eric Liddell Memorial in China; the Skerryvore, Ardnamurchan, Dhu Hartach and Hyskeir Lighthouses; Blackfriars, Westminster, and Holburn Viaduct bridges in London; Jamaica and Kirklee bridges in Glasgow; New York, Liverpool, Birkenhead, Barrow, docks and numerous piers. 

For the complete list then have a look at Joan Faithfull's book - it really is worthwhile.

a sample of the granite mined at tormore

A sample of the granite rock mined at Tormore quarry

The albert memorial in london

The Albert Memorial in London

Last amended 15/02/2009
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