Touching Tobermory - what to do on a wet day 23 May 2024

 

The remains of a winch decorating the marina sea wall.

Tobermory derives its name from the gaelic ‘Tobar Mhoire’ meaning the well of Mary. Mary’s Well and Mary’s Chapel dated back to the Medieval period. The water from the well was said to possess medicinal properties. Both the well and chapel are gone but a monument was erected on the approximate site of the well in commemoration of Edward VII’s coronation - but try as I might, I couldn’t find it.  Following the location map on the Canmore website (National Record of the Historic Environment) it looked to me as though the site of the well is in the back garden of a house built about 30 years ago. So no medicinal help for me.

The only sign of Mary’s Chapel are ruins in the graveyard:

Site of Mary’s Chapel

After coffee in the morning we thought a walk was called for - it is a rather murky dreich day but we needed to get out before cabin fever set in.  We walked along the coast from the marina to Aros Park.  

A woodland walk with hint of Atlantic Coastal Rainforest. Beautiful even in the rain.

Aros Park is an estate now owned by the Forest Service. 

The original house is no longer standing (indeed there is no sign of it at all).  The estate was bought by Bryce Allan, a Liverpool shipping tycoon, for £98,000 on the 15th May 1874.  He didn’t live to enjoy it - he died two months later.  The estate passed to his son Alexander who devoted much of his life to running the estate, and who was considered a thoughtful and generous laird.  It was Alexander who originally opened up the grounds of Aros Park so that everyone could enjoy it.  Financial pressures resulted in the Allan family selling the estate to the Forestry Commission in 1959.


Aros Park has a lovely lake to walk round - not too long a walk - and, in a stroke of genius, the Forestry Commission (or someone) has installed a Disc Golf Course ( operated under the rules of the Professional Disc Golf Association - who knew?!!). We gave it a try, but I suspect we did not come up to the professional standard expected.

Disc Golf.  What a brilliant idea!

We’ve booked a table in the Mishnish Restaurant - the menu looks excellent.  We’ll see what the execution is like…..

And very good it was.  A sample of what we had: Cullen skink, Burrata with tomatoes and Parma ham, scallops, Basque fish stew.  The staff were lovely, and the price fair.  Happy days.

The Robin that joined me just before the start of our coastal walk.

Lazaway at its berth in Tobermory.






























































































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