Morar Sands

Bonnie Prince Charlie is rumoured to have been quite taken with Morar Sands' rock-framed. platinum beaches leading to tranquil, turquoise waters. More recently. the area was used as a film location for both Highlander and Local Hero. The beach lies at the mouth of the Morar estuary. where the shonest river in Britain runs west. just a quarter-of—a-mile. from Loch Morar. Bathers should take care: the waters are deceptively cold and the Current is strong.

Don't miss (or do, probably): Locals believe Loch Morar has its very own Nessie.

I Near Mallaig. Signposted from A830. Nearest train: Mal/aig.

Yellowcraig

Yellowcraig is rumoured to be the inspiration behind Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Its dune- bordered. golden sands are set in a secluded bay which looks Out onto the craggy Fidra island and its lighthouse. The beach is home to some legendary impromptu Summer parties. and the Sunrises are spectaCular.

I East Lothian, three miles west of North Benvick via A 198 to Dir/eton. Nearest train: North Berwick.

West Sands The opening training scenes in Chariots of Fire were

Beachbovs

breasted women eating

| ice-cream with their I husbands beside them i drinking cans of lager, then systematically slapping the kids who're whining because they want to go home; the smell of mussels and chips and vinegar. And there were those dreadful jaggy polyester swimming trunks that everyone had. I remember the brilliant ice-cream shop in Largs that we'd always go to. I particularly remember me and my brother out in the sea somewhere in an inflatable dingy. and

Stephen from Cosmic Rough Riders

We're all working class Glasgow kids and it seems like we all share the same universal beach memories from Aberdeen. Troon, Ayr and Largs: fat. red. big-

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filmed on the sands Of St Andrews Bay. The beach '5; the only Scottish one to be recommended in the Which? Gurde to Seas/d9 Destinations. Another privately-owned beach. it has a multitude of rockpools. is good for watersports. and its dunes provide shelter for the world's most hallowed golf

course.

I St Andrews Bay, File, 40 miles north of Edinburgh Via A915. Nearest train: Lei/chars.

White Strand of the Monks

The tiny island of Iona. which lies off the west coast of Scotland. is credited With introducing Christianity to Britain and mainland Europe. When St Columba landed On its pristine. silver beaChes in 563AD. the Irish monk constructed a cathedral and monastery. which are still the focus of many a pilgrimage. The most spectaCular beaches are found on the west of the island. where turquOise waters. sand dunes. rockpools and otters attract almost as many natural

histOry worshippers.

I Isle of Iona. Accessed by ferry from Oban to Fionnphort, Isle of Mull then on to Iona. Cars are not permitted on Iona. Nearest train: Oban.

Forvie Sands

You want sand? Just a stone‘s throw away from the town of Newburgh lies a stretch of sand three miles

the sea splashing in. which must have been minus-ten or something and wondering why we were there. Happy days.

Ian Rankin

1982 was my Summer of beaches. I‘d Just finished uni and was

hitching around France and Italy with my girlfriend. We'd preCious

little money. and no tent:

lust a big sheet of polythene we COuId sleep under. We kipped on a rocky beach in Sete. were moved oft it at midnight by gendarmes who didn't like all the travellers who were resting there. and eked out the last of our holiday (and Our money/i on some sand dunes near Arcachon, with a natur st beach just below us. After five days. my salt-infested hair looked as if :t had

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