Sunday 16 March 2003 Today I went a different route. Parking in Bridgend village I walked the few metres to the small track marked “cemetery” where the first of the daffodils were appearing through the greenery.

The disconcertingly good weather – the third sunny Sunday in the past four – kept me warm and comfortable on the walk and has resulted in some nice pictures.

The path is shaded between tall banks and the moss is deep and quiet and gives a very somber atmosphere to the short walk to the cemetery. Across the path a strange little aqueduct carries the water from a spring across the track. In the distance the gates to the cemetery can just be made out on the right.

Through the gate, this beautiful small graveyard is a little known jewel, the first picture is from just inside the gate. Lichens and moss cover the stones but the grass is cared for and the stones are intact.

It is a tiny graveyard packed with graves and contrasts, from the intricate stones in the foreground to rough hewn slabs laid in the ground with no discernable markings.

The stone on the right shows the inscription from 1788 is still crisp and clear in its carving.

And in here the ubiquitous daffodils nod the time away as the lichens cover the gravestones with millimetric slowness in this silent world. I have never been in this graveyard before but I will be back in this quiet woodland oasis.

A few hundred yards away through the woods is the octagonal watch tower. It stands on a rise overlooking the loch. Inside all the timber has gone but the sockets for it are still clearly visible and the hatch to the ramparts.

Reported dates for its construction vary from the 1760s to 1776 depending on the source. This date of construction puts it in the time of daniel Campbell (1753 to 1777), the Younger’s Lairdship.

In the grounds there are the barrels of three large, ancient canons. The best and largest has cast in the surface of it is the crest of George III (1760-1820). It certainly is an impressive lump of metal and must once have commanded the head of Lochindaal.

If the tower was indeed built in this time the chances are it is a folly, the Jacobite uprising was past and the paranoia that went with the threat of French invasions during the Napoleonic wars was some time in the future.

The tower looks to be built of the local bluestone and the stonework is in perfect condition. Inside it is clear it could be restored, it would be a good visitor attraction, the view from the top must be fantastic.

A few metres away from the door of the tower is the remains of an ancient carved stone. Crudely repaired some time in the past with steel bolts the carvings can still be made out.

Crossing the busy (for Islay) Port Charlotte road I arrived in the woods behind the Bridgend Stores. Here the road crosses the Sorn again over an attractive painted bridge. The picture is downstream towards the outflow of the river into Lochindaal. You can see that Islay Estates keeps a nice fishing beat along one bank. The river has weirs and there are deep still pools where the trout and salmon lurk.

Walking along the bank of the Sorn I came to this wonderful tree stump, gnarled, twisted and covered in fungus it offered such an attractive subject for a picture. On its rotting surface bracket fungi jut out and slowly consume the old man.

Almost at the ocean there is a final weir before the Sorn disgorges into Lochindaal. Above it and below the river is managed for fish, deep pools and dark water with interesting eddies and corners.

Here you can see that the gorse is blooming too, early in the year for that.

Finally the Sorn that you have seen so much of on these pages empties into the Loch. I was photographing almost into the sun and I have lightened this picture to let you see some details, the original in some ways is more dramatic and is almost black and white. You can see the path that takes you out onto the salt flats at the mouth of the river and you can walk over the sands to Gartmain if you want.

I walked back and continued up the track to the new path besides the main road and walked back to Bridgend. In the picture there is the Hotel, the wall and the new path. This path built in 2002 makes the walk to Bridgend so much safer for the pedestrian.

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