Gibson and Trixie on the Beach Path

I have attached my poem 'Gibson and Trixie on the Beach Path', below. It is set above Camusdarach Beach, Lochaber, looking out over to the islands of Skye, Eigg and Rum, and I wrote it because I left my camera in the car and sadly missed taking a photograph of a special snapshot:

Gibson and Trixie on the Beach Path

Side by side on top of the dunes,

tucked into the Marram.

Ears blown back and noses up,

eyes narrowed against the breeze.

Looking over the wide white tide-swept beach

and turquoise sea to the dark silhouettes

of Eigg, Muck and Rhum.

Over on Skye the Cuillins,

just a smudge below fine grey cloud.

I clambered up beside them,

past a thrush's butcher block

of a flat-topped rock littered

with smashed snails' shells.

We'd crossed the narrow track of

the Road to the Isles, bordered by

close-cropped machair

scattered with purple orchids,

to follow the beaches from Traigh

to the sweep of Camusdarach.

They sure-footed among the rock pools,

noses down and high-tailing it

through the bluebells in the oak wood

dripping with soft grey lichen.

The sky almost blue above wisps of cloud.

We Want to Hear From You!

Share your stories and memories of your favourite beaches in the Highlands and Islands

Stories are at the heart of what we do as a project and we are always looking to learn more about what the Highlands and Islands means to people who live, work, and visit here.

The connections between people and beaches, rivers, burns, and streams are timeless. Beaches bear witness to the stories, traces, and scars of historical and contemporary societies as much as the mainland. Inspired by this story we would love to know, what are some of your favourite beaches in the Highlands and Islands? How do you feel they represent the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands? Tell us below, we can't wait to hear from you!

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