Anyway, I chanced upon Tom McClean's website for his bunkhouse at Ardintigh round the coast from Mallaig. Reasonably old and bold types will remember the ex-Para and SAS Tom's adventures in the late 60s to 80s. First man to row single-handedly across the Atlantic, record holder for the smallest boat to be sailed over the Atlantic and living on Rockall in several large boxes for a few months. Younger chaps can read up here:
Tom McClean on wikipedia or Motivational speaker Tom McClean, after dinner speakers, conferences, corporate events
And click the video at the foot of this webpage:
Scottish Highland Adventure Outdoor Centre :: Tom McClean, Ardintigh Bay
Well, I had known about his bunkhouse in the 70s and 80s but had forgotten about it. Indeed I'd bummed a lift off him in the winter of 1976 at Rothiemurchus Lodge. So it was a pleasant surprise to learn he was still running the show. I booked us in for 3 nights at a cost of £200 for the five of us.
There is no road in those parts and so the two means of arrival are on foot or by sea, unless you have a helicopter to hand.
On foot requires a hike of 3 or 4 hours along Loch Morar (the deepest freshwater loch in the UK at 1000' deep and with its own monster,as legend has it) and then over the hills. This a photo of the main path in:
By sea, you can use the regular ferry service from Mallaig to Tarbet (£15 one way per adult and £7.50 per child) and then walk for the best part of an hour or you can hire a RIB to take you straight there or Tom will collect you himself in his fishing smack (at £12 each). Larger military parties often use Tom's boat with a baggage party while the main body hikes over the top from Loch Morar. Fortunately our timings fitted in with Tom's and he met us at Mallaig and off we chugged with all our gear and 3 days worth of food and beer and a bag of charcoal. There were even seals in the harbour.
The trip took about an hour and the children all got a good go at being Captain.
Tom has 5 bunkhouses on site and Jock's Lodge which houses the kitchen, main hall and ablutions. Two of the bunkhouses have 6 beds in (we had one by the name of K2) and the other 3 are sub-divided into 6 x 2 man rooms making 24 beds in total. There is also plenty of room for camping.
Jock's Lodge is the social centre for cooking, eating, drinking, reading, chatting and so on. A small stream provides a reasonable amount of hydro-electric power and bottled gas is used in the kitchen.
Now, the facilities are dry, comfortable and basic. This is a bunkhouse and not glamping and I found myself having flashbacks to youth hostelling trips in the early 70s and weekend training in Nissan huts at places like Leek and Nesscliff. I mean this in a good way! Indeed the Army Catering Corps museum should consider opening a branch in the kitchen.
There were 2 other families there as we arrived who were touring the west coast on 2 RIBs. They left the following morning and we had the place to ourselves for 3 days.
It is a strikingly beautiful and peaceful setting, so for 3 days we did a bit of walking, a bit of spectacularly unsuccessful fishing, a bit of messing about on the beach and in the water and some hill running. The children enjoyed having the freedom to disappear for several hours at a time.
This was an extremely popular place for military adventurous training in the past; photographs show EMUOTC, R Irish (about 120 of them), RCT, RAF etc, but with the Army getting busier and money tighter, this sort of unit activity has dwindled and this is a great shame because a platoon could have a really good time here for a week. It seems Tom's corporate visitors these days tend towards the Scouts and schools.
Young officers may wish to try and jump through all the hoops to jack up a visit. In the meantime, I can thoroughly recommend Tom's bunkhouse to anyone who appreciates peace and quiet in some of the UK's most remote countryside. I'd also like to thank Tom for his hospitality and the assistance provided by his young Australian helper who is there for 6 months or so preparing to join the Army (for some unknown reason he's applying for the Parachute Regiment). We wish him good luck, he is certainly going to be fit enough.
As a final thought, Ardintigh Bay struck me as a superb location for anyone who remains reasonably able-bodied but feels a little frazzled at the edges after recent times. That's a thought I'll just leave hanging there for any interested parties.
Outdoor Adventure Centre Highlands of Scotland : Tom McClean activity holidays
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