You can also find out more about the A-Team here.Around 240 million years ago, the 12-foot-long chirotherium, also known as a reptile, was walking along the beach of what is now Kildonan Village, located on the rugged southern coast of Isle of Arran. Natural dykes of black igneous rock – cooled magma – jut out into the ocean here. The grassy cliffs are a backdrop to the houses along the shore.
We know that this giant proto-crocodile once roamed here because it left behind footprints – which can still be seen today. Malcolm Wilkinson, of Arran GeoparkWe crouch next to the trace. I try to imagine the world of millions of year ago, when Scotland was located just north of the Equator and climates were tropical.
Malcolm says that after they were created, the footprints were covered with layers of silt deposited by wind or water. This protected them from erosion, and also created a mould. Over the next million years, sediment layers accumulated and compacted, cementing the grain and turning the soft mud surrounding the footprint into solid red stone. These footprints were preserved as fossils that were brought to the surface of the earth when the influx of sediment occurred. Atlantic opened Europe and North America split apart 60 million years ago.
The trackway was visible as the younger rocks slowly eroded. Similar prints were first discovered in the Victorian era, and the creature was named chirotherium – “hand-beast” – because the fossils look like giant, human handprints.
Arran is a small island off the coast of Scotland, accessible in just over two hours by car from Glasgow. It has been known for years as a place where students wearing hard hats can go on field trips. It became a national park in April. Scotland’s newest Unesco Global Geopark The world-class geology of this area, which documents tectonic collisions and continent shifting, is a testament to its importance.
I plan to hike 65 miles around Arran to experience 600m years of Earth’s history. Arran Coastal WayThe tour takes six days to circumnavigate the island. Geopark signs along the route provide a wealth of information for those who are not experts.
As the ferry approaches Brodick the serrated mountains of the north come into focus. The sandstone Castle nestled in greenery below, and the mysterious lump that is the “Holy Isle”, draw the eye to the south. The Highland Boundary Fault divides the island, which is a geological fault line formed when tectonic plate collided. It separates Scotland’s rolling lowlands and mountainous highlands.
The first day of my Coastal Way, I climb Goat Fell (874m), Arran’s tallest peak. Witness this: the granite mountain ranges of the north tower over deep glens carved by glaciation. To the south is a soft, green landscape.
The next evening, I stayed at the hotel. Corrie Hotel Follow the leaflet of a Geopark to where a sanddune was struck with lightning 270m ago, and it will be locked in time A few steps from the village center. It’s like looking into another universe when you imagine the desert lightning bolt while staring at “fossilised fullgurite”.
A trackway was also left along the coast in a remote area where Arran’s one coal seam had been exposed. This trackway was left behind by a six-foot long millipede, which lived over 300m ago. Without the small oak Geopark signs, it would have been easily missed. When I get to it, dolphins are swimming by, and they steal the show, jumping around just offshore.
Four miles north sits the most famous geological site on Arran – Hutton’s Unconformity. James Hutton visited the island in the year 1787. He observed the rock contact at Newton Point in Arran’s north, where sandstone gently sloped and older, steeply-dipping schists. This led Hutton to reason that if natural processes had occurred in the past at the same rate observable in his day, this formation, and so the Earth, must be millions and not thousands of years old – as was widely believed by scholars at the time.
A holidaying geologist was on hand to explain it to me. He is, however, “more enthusiastic about the bloody-otter” that he just saw.
I like to eat fish at the local community-owned restaurant Lochranza Country Inn There is a collapse into Lochranza Youth Hostel. The bunk bed is simple, but private. It’s all I need. The next day, I hike a whopping 19 miles along the rugged coastline of Arran and the quiet roads surrounding it. I camp at King’s Cave near the iron age crosses carved into stone.
Sometimes, I give up the hunt for geological treasures altogether. Instead, I watch otters in the water, indulge in whisky and cocoa tastings at the recently opened Lagg DistilleryRelaxing at The Lagg Inn, whose leafy bar garden is hidden next to a stream.
Malcolm is happy to meet me at Kildonan beach, as my walk coincides with the most sunny week Arran has seen since Scotland was at the equator. He points to the shoreline and says, “This is a geologically world-class site.” While we wait for the tide to reveal our “pre-dinosaur” footprint, Malcolm explains the science of the nearby dyke swarms – the black “walls” jutting into the sea. He says that they are a result of magma being forced up vertically from cracks in Earth. They have since been eroded. “This is the record of an era when Europe and North America separated, and then the Atlantic was formed.”
Seals eat their breakfast under the sun, while lying on these internationally significant rocks. Malcolm says, “Arran’s special feature is that its rocks come from almost every geological era of the last half-billion years.” “We’ve got the main part of the history of the Earth here – and it’s so accessible.”
Ailsa Craig has an impressive colony of Gannets and a beautiful lighthouse. Pladda is an island on top of what was once magma.
After watching an otter in the setting sun, I set up camp that evening. My final day is spent carefully observing tide times and skirting along boardwalks, seabed, and Arran’s largest village, Lamlash.
As I swim in a bay, oystercatchers, my constant walking companions, squeak goodbye. Brodick welcomes me with its breathtaking mountain views. As I watch my ferry return to the mainland and gaze at Goat Fell again, the words from the author Nan Shepherd come into mind: “the blind cannot love mountains like the long-sighted”.
It is important to note that the word “you” means “you”. Corrie Hotel has doubles from £115 B&B, Lochranza Youth Hostel has private rooms from £42 or dorm beds from £20, Lagg Inn has doubles from £170. More information can be found at Visit Arran
