Sandwood Bay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sandwood Bay |
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| Bàgh Shanabhait (Scottish Gaelic) | |
Sandwood Bay – north view
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 Location in Scotland
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| Location | Scotland |
| Coordinates | 58°32′23″N 5°03′44″W / 58.5396°N 5.0623°W |
Sandwood Bay is a beautiful natural bay located in Sutherland, on the far northwest coast of mainland Scotland. It is famous for its remote, one-mile-long beach and a tall rock formation called Am Buachaille, which is a sea stack. The bay is about 5 miles south of Cape Wrath. Behind the bay's large sand dunes, you'll find the freshwater Sandwood Loch.
Even though it's far away and has no roads leading to it, you can reach the bay by walking a 4-mile path. This path starts from a gravel car park at the small village of Blairmore. Sandwood Bay is part of the Sandwood Estate, which is looked after by the John Muir Trust. Many people think its beach is one of the cleanest and most natural beaches in all of mainland Britain.
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What's the Story Behind Sandwood Bay?
The name Sandwood Bay likely comes from the Viking word 'Sandvatn', meaning "sand water". It's thought that Viking longboats were once pulled across the sands into Sandwood Loch. There are also signs that ancient Pictish people lived in this area long ago.
Life in the Past
The area around Sandwood Bay has been mostly empty since 1847. This was when people were moved out to make space for sheep farming, a time known as the Highland Clearances. A few shepherd huts remained and were sometimes used until around 1940.
Plane Crash on the Beach
On September 30, 1941, during World War II, a pilot named Sergeant Michael Kilburn was flying a Spitfire plane. His engine stopped working while he was flying near Cape Wrath. He managed to land the plane safely on the beach at Sandwood Bay and was not hurt. Over time, the sea washed away most of the plane. However, its engine, a Rolls Royce Merlin, is still mostly in one piece. It sometimes appears when the tides and weather are just right.
Another small plane, a microlight, also crash-landed on the beach in June 2009. The pilot, Keith Brown, was not injured. A team of 14 men had to take the plane apart and carry it 4 miles to the nearest road.
The Hermit's Home
The old farmstead of Strathchailleach is about 1 mile east of the bay. It was built in the mid-1800s. From 1962 to 1994, a hermit named James MacRory-Smith, also known as Sandy, lived there. Both Strathchailleach and another similar cottage at Strathan, 3 miles southeast of the bay, are now used as bothies. Bothies are simple shelters that hikers can use for free. They are managed by the Mountain Bothies Association.
Mysteries and Legends of Sandwood Bay
Because Sandwood Bay is so isolated, many exciting stories and legends have grown up around it.
The Mermaid Sighting
One famous legend tells of a mermaid seen on one of the bay's rocks over a hundred years ago. A local farmer named Alexander Gunn was looking for a lost sheep on the beach. His dog suddenly got scared and found something amazing. A man named MacDonald Robertson met Mr. Gunn in 1939 and shared his story.
Mr. Gunn said that on January 5, 1900, his dog started howling and hid in fear. On a rock ledge above the water, there was a figure lying down. At first, he thought it was a seal. Then he saw it had reddish-yellow hair, greenish-blue eyes, and a yellowish body about 7 feet long. Until the day he died in 1944, Alexander Gunn always stuck to his story. He truly believed he had seen a mermaid of incredible beauty.
Ghosts and Shipwrecks
Another legend talks about the ghost of a sailor. This ghost would supposedly knock on the windows of the old cottage (now a bothy) on stormy nights. People believed he was a victim of a shipwreck that happened there. Before the Cape Wrath lighthouse was built in 1828, many ships are said to have been lost in the bay. Their wrecks are still believed to be buried under the sand.
In the 1920s, author Seton Gordon saw many sunken wrecks in the sand while walking on the beach. In his 1935 book, "Highways & Byways in the West Highlands," he wrote about how surprised he was by the number of wrecks. He noted that they were all old tragedies, as no ships had been lost there since the lighthouse was built. He also wondered if Viking longboats might be buried there, as the Vikings used Sandwood Bay as a stopping point a thousand years ago.
In 2017, the mysterious stories of Sandwood Bay were shown in an episode of the STV TV series "Beyond Explanation." This show was presented by Scottish actor Brian Cox.
Images for kids
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Sandwood Bay – north view
