Gruinard

IV22 2NG
Sandy beach
Dog friendly
No public toilets
Parking on the A832
Gruinard Island
Pollachar Caves
Gruinard Bay Camp Site
Nearest Shop is Laide Post Office and Stores

Nearest Fuel is Laide Stores

Gruinard is a stunning, secluded beach with delightful views of the surrounding rugged countryside and across Gruinard Bay to the Coigach Hills and to Gruinard Island. Apart from the magnificent scenery, it is known for its crystal clear waters, rock pools, and fine sands. The area is very popular with walkers, and there are plenty of paths along the coast and surrounding hills. The area is also of some interest to geologists with many rare and interesting rock specimens to be found along the coast here.

There is parking opposite the beach along the A832 but it is regularly used by large coaches bringing tourists from the cruise ships in Ulapool, and on scheduled day trips from Inverness. These visitors have often travelled across the world to take a cruise or a trip, so please be considerate when parking here as this is the only beach accessible to coaches in the area.  As you can see from the picture above, they would have great difficulty with their scheduled stop if this was used for wild camping.  To access the beach, visitors must cross the road and descend a fairly steep set of stairs. The area is fairly remote and there are no facilities at the beach, so it's a good idea to bring a picnic. The nearest shop is Laide Post Office run by Debbie and full of goodies! In 2017 my favourite red wine was cheaper than Tesco's so she is very reasonably priced considering the remote location. 

Gruinard Island

Gruinard Island's main claim to fame is that during the Second World War, scientists involved in the development of biological weapons tested deadly anthrax here, wiping out a flock of sheep in the process. After that the island was closed to visitors for 48 years until £500,000 was spent on decontaminating the area. 

Anthrax is one of the best known agents of biological warfare - and possibly one of the most feared.The bacterium occurs naturally, in low levels, in some animals, but when it is inhaled by humans in the form of spores it is deadly. The killing power of anthrax was demonstrated by British scientists during the Second World War when it was released on a tiny Scottish island to wipe out a flock of sheep.

The island, Gruinard, just off the mainland, in Gruinard Bay, half way between Ullapool and Gairloch in the Highlands, was so contaminated that it was deemed out-of-bounds for almost 50 years. The 1942 test was sanctioned amid fears the Germans might attack the UK with biological or chemical weapons. Anthrax can be contracted by skin contact, ingestion or inhalation, but it is through inhalation that it is at its most deadly and proves to be fatal in about 95% of cases, even with medical treatment. Death usually takes around seven days and symptoms include internal bleeding, blood poisoning or even meningitis. 

Initial symptoms after inhalation might include mild fever, malaise, fatigue, coughing and, occasionally a feeling of pressure on the chest.  When scientists experimented with anthrax on Gruinard Island a film was made of their work and it remained classified until 1997. Sheep were taken to an open field, secured in wooden frames, and exposed to a bomb that scattered the spores. The sheep started dying three days later.  The final WW II report on the Gruinard Island tests suggested anthrax could be used to render cities uninhabitable "for generations".

Despite attempts to disinfect Gruinard Island, the spores left by the experiments kept the island in quarantine for 48 years.  In 1986 an English company was paid half a million pounds to decontaminate the 520-acre island by soaking the ground in 280 tonnes of formaldehyde diluted in 2000 tonnes of seawater. Topsoil was also removed in sealed containers. To prove that the clean-up was successful a flock of sheep was allowed to graze the island at the behest of an independent watchdog set up by the Ministry of Defence. On 24 April, 1990, the then junior Defence Minister, Michael Neubert, made the half-mile journey from the mainland to declare Gruinard safe by removing its red warning sign.

At that time the Glasgow Herald newspaper reported that a leading archaeologist was unconvinced by official assurances. Dr Brian Moffat, archaeological director of an excavation of a medieval hospital near Edinburgh, said his team had encountered buried anthrax spores which had survived for hundreds of years. He told the paper: "I would not go walking on Gruinard. If anthrax is still active at Soutra, there is no reason to suppose it has not survived on more recent sites. It is a very resilient and deadly bacterium." 

 

Polachar Caves

There are two caves along this stretch of the A832 road too. Known as the Polachar Caves, have been used in the past as places of refuge and religious worship. In the larger cave, the Free Church of Scotland held services from 1843 until the end of the 19th century. The last christening there took place in 1877 under the Reverend John R. Mackay. 

The smaller cave was used as a place of shelter for the widow Isabella Mackenzie of Gunn from Drumchork who lived there for several years with her daughter or granddaughter. In 1862 a court order was issued to evict Isabella from the cave but in the 1871 census she is still shown as a pauper living at Sand. By the time of the 1881 census she had moved to Achgarve.

Right into the 20th century, society’s underclass had little choice when it came to securing shelter. Cave dwelling was officially prohibited in 1915 by an act of parliament, with the intention of keeping the coastline free from fires during the war, but a 1917 government census shows 55 people as still listed as officially living in caves.

Follow the road from Laide to Gruinard for about a mile, past the Sand House Self Catering Apartments on your right, and on a sharp bend in the road where it passes two houses. Just past this point a rise is topped and the road begins to go down to First Coast. There is a car park on the hill top and another 50 yards further on. Park in either one of these for the path begins between the two of them. A wooden stake with the word "CAVE" on it marks the path.

Gruinard Bay Caravan Park

The Camp Site is set right on the shore line, and above it is the remains of an old chapel, standing within a graveyard that remains in use. Some claim that this chapel was built by St Columba in the late 500s. Others that it was constructed in 1713 by George Mackenzie of Gruinard. The reality seems likely to lie somewhere between the two: that the work in 1713 was a restoration or rebuilding of a chapel that dates back to medieval times.

It remains possible, of course, that St Columba did build a chapel here, which was later replaced by the building whose shell you can see today. The gables of the medieval chapel still stand proud, but the north and south walls are down to the level of the bottom of the windows. Efforts are under way to consolidate and preserve what is left.

It is likely that this chapel remained in use until the early 1800s. What happened between its demise and the appearance of the current church is unclear. It is said that a local cave was used for worship and that the last person to be baptised in the cave was still alive until quite recently.

A surfaced access road within the Park leads to grass and hard standing pitches for touring caravans and motor-homes, the majority of which are on the seafront. The camping areas are separate and each camping pitch has fencing which provides more privacy and shelter. Cars may also be parked adjacent to tents. Please visit their Website to book.

2023 tariff for motorhomes

1 Person   £21.00 per night  

2 Persons £27.00 per night

3 Persons £33.00 per night

4 Persons £39.00 per night

Toilets

Showers

Washing up sinks

Chemical Disposal Point

Electric Hook Ups

Laundry for small charge

Hair Dryers can be borrowed from reception.