I set out last night for a camp at Millstone Point. It was the solstice, the longest night, and the symbolism of a vigil at the site of a proposed salmon farm, on the darkest night of the darkest year, was not lost on me. I wasn’t sure when I planned it, if I would be alone, but in the end it was just me who headed into the rain and the winter darkness. I didn’t mind, I quite like to camp on my own, and although company would have been fun, solitude also gave me something special.
Startled by my bright head torch, deer scattered away from the point as I arrived. Pairs of green eyes watched me from a safe distance as I pitched my tent. I arranged some fairy lights around the tent door, to give my little camp a festive feel. The rain petered out. Brew on, noodles, and some mince pies for pudding. I lay awake for an hour or so watching the stars come out through the open door of my tent. The crescent moon set around 9pm and I was asleep not long after.
I woke up an hour before dawn, after a long sleep worthy of the longest night. An orange glow was playing with the south eastern horizon. I made coffee, packed up the inside of the tent, and then took myself down to the point itself to brew more coffee and watch the sunrise.
The sun rose behind purple clouds, sending darts of flames up behind a small downpour that passed to the south. It barely peeked above the skyline before disappearing behind the headland. I packed away the tent, carried out a brief litter pick along the strand line and headed for home. Pausing for a backward glance, to my astonishment a bright rainbow arched above the point. The lightshow followed me back to my car.
For the last few months, every now and then, small groups of campers, limited to two households maximum, have been making the journey to Millstone Point on Arran’s northeastern coast, to spend the night out amongst the elements and to quietly protest the proposed Salmon Farm development here. Millstone Point is a wild place. Not a wilderness as such, it is over grazed and deforested, and the remains of dwellings are scattered around the hills above the Point. But not since the clearances has there been any permanent human presence here, and the coastline is inhabited by otters, and protected seabirds, as well as harbour and grey seals, porpoises, and minke whales. Its the only place on Arran’s coast where you can really get away from the road.
There is a massive environmental problem with salmon farms, they are cruel, polluting, and deeply problematic for wild fish, but putting all that aside, to build a noisy, ugly salmon farm here, with acoustic deterrants for cetaceans, bright lights and chugging generators, is simply wrong. Thanks to Covid, it’s really hard for Arran people to get together to protest about it, but we can “not get together”, and protest- hence the sporadic camp outs. North Ayrshire Council will give their verdict on the planning application soon, and although the window for formal objections has passed, we can still make our voices heard. Here’s a link to the petition.
It’s easy to get downhearted by the constant assault on nature in our world. It’s easy to get downhearted about a lot of things at the moment. As I headed in to my campsite last night, the world felt very gloomy. Dover is closed, Brexit is looming, A new strain of COVID is rampaging through our population and the planet is on fire. It feels like we have reached the darkest point of our long night. I was grateful to get away from people for a few hours and to enjoy the silence and solitude of nature (it is never silent, and you are never alone!).
This morning I was filled with hope, as the light of the new solar year lifted my spirits. I will never give up trying to protect the wild places that I love, and I will never give up hope that others will want to protect them too. The best way I can do this is by sharing them. During the last few months, people in this country have discovered the power of nature to heal. It isn’t a one way flow, people who spend time in nature want to take care of it. I have real hope that we are at a turning point and that the next few months will see a shift in attitudes and a change in direction. #LoveMillstonePoint
