View source for Calve Island

{{short description|Uninhabited island on the west coast of Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Scottish island
|location_map=Scotland Argyll and Bute
|Image=Calve Island.jpg
|ImageCaption=Calve Island viewed from [[Tobermory, Mull|Tobermory]] Golf Course
|caption=Calve Island shown in Argyll and Bute
|coordinates = {{coord|56.62|-6.04|display=inline}}
|GridReference=NM521546
|celtic name=
|norse name=
|meaning of name= 
|area= {{cvt|72|ha}}
|area rank= 171= 
|highest elevation= {{cvt|20|m}}
|Population=0
|population rank=  
|main settlement=
|island group=[[Isle of Mull|Mull]]
|local authority=[[Argyll and Bute]]
|references=<ref>{{GRO10}}</ref><ref name=Smith>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 79</ref><ref name=OS>{{cite map| url=http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/getamap/| title=Get-a-map| publisher=[[Ordnance Survey]]}}</ref>
}}
'''Calve Island''' is an uninhabited low-lying island off the east coast of the [[Isle of Mull]] in [[Argyll and Bute]] on the west coast of [[Scotland]]. A whitewashed farmhouse with substantial outbuildings stands on the western shore, used as a summer residence.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p.91</ref> The island is {{convert|1+1/4|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} in length, and {{convert|1/2|mi|m|abbr=off}} wide at its widest point.<ref>[https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Calve+Island/@56.6186451,-6.0469501,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x488bf1bf9fcc2c59:0xbb62ed598329d52!8m2!3d56.6161014!4d-6.0355799 Google Maps]</ref> Calve is owned by the Cotton family who make use of it in the summer months.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 91</ref>

{{OSM Location map
|   coord = {{coord|56.62|-6.05}}
|    zoom = 13|float=left
|   width = 320
|  height = 240
| caption = Calve Island stands to the south-east of Tobermory Bay, off the eastern shore of the Isle of Mull.
| scalemark = 196

|      label1 = C A L V E| labela1= I S L A N D
| mark-coord1 = {{coord|56.6197|-6.039}}
|  label-pos1 = bottom | label-color1=hard grey| mark-size1=0|label-size1=10
| mark-title1 = Calve Island
| mark-image1 = Calve Island, Mull - geograph.org.uk - 1322187.jpg

|      label2 = TOBERMORY | labela2=BAY
| mark-coord2 = {{coord|56.6175|-6.0555}}
|  label-pos2 = top| mark-size2=0| label-size2=9| label-color2=soft blue
| mark-title2 = none

|      label3 = Eilean na Beithe
| mark-coord3 = {{coord|56.62099|-6.04961}}
|  label-pos3 = top| mark-size3=0| label-size3=9
| mark-title3 = Eilein na Beithe
| mark-image3 =

|      label4 = House
| mark-coord4 = {{coord|56.61571|-6.04158}}
|  label-pos4 = right| mark-size4=3| label-size4=9| label-color4=soft grey
| mark-title4 = House

|     label5 = Cairn (19m)
| mark-coord5 = {{coord|56.6240|-6.0436}}
|  label-pos5 = right| mark-size5=3| label-size5=9| label-color5=soft grey
| mark-title5 = none

|      label6 = Cnap a' | labela6= Chailbhe
| mark-coord6 = {{coord|56.6115|-6.0321}}
|  label-pos6 = right| mark-size6=0| label-size6=9
| mark-title6 = Cnap a' Chailbhe

|      label7 = Afon | labela7= Park
| mark-coord7 = {{coord|56.6110|-6.0482}}
|  label-pos7 = bottom| mark-size7=0| label-size7=9| label-color7=soft green
| mark-title7 = Afon Park

|  arc-textA= Dòirlinn a' Chailbhe
| arc-text-sizeA = 9
| arc-text-colorA=soft blue
| arc-coordA={{coord|56.6160|-6.0461}}
| arc-angleA=-126
| arc-gapA=-1.45
| arc-radiusA=0.5

| arc-textB= SOUND OF MULL
| arc-text-sizeB = 9
| arc-text-colorB=soft blue
| arc-coordB={{coord|56.629|-6.040}}
| arc-angleB=28
| arc-gapB=3
| arc-radiusB=0.7
}}
[[File:Calve Island, Mull - geograph.org.uk - 1322187.jpg|thumb|left|326px|Calve Island, viewed from Afon Park, Mull]]

==Tidal offshore islands==
Calve is classed as a separate island from Mull, although at its south-western point there are extreme low tides that would allow land access to it, via the small tidal island of Cnap a' Chailbhe.<ref>{{cite web|title=Calve Island, Mull| website=scotilands.com| date=2 January 2019|url=https://scotislands.com/calve-island-mull/| access-date=10 May 2020}}</ref> Between Mull and Calve runs the channel known as Dòirlinn a' Chailbhe. Calve provides some shelter for [[Tobermory, Mull|Tobermory Bay]], helping to make it a safer anchorage.<ref name=Smith/> At the north-west of Calve is another small tidal island called Eilean na Beithe.

==Diving==
The waters around Calve provide various popular [[underwater diving|diving]] sites, both on the rocky walls and reefs and at the wreck of the ''Pelican''.<ref>[http://www.divesitedirectory.com/dive_site_uk_scotland_oban_reef_calve_island.html dive site directory]</ref> The sheer wall of submerged rock, over 44 metres in depth, at the north-eastern point of the island, was named 4th in a top ten of Scotland's 'Wall dives'. It was given top marks for depth, marine life, visibility and the rock wall itself. It was only the absence of dangerous tidal currents that kept it off top spot.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mike Clark|title=Scotlands Top Ten Wall Dives|website=divernet.com|url=http://archive.divernet.com/uk-diving-general/p301270-scotlands-top-ten-wall-dives.html|access-date=10 May 2020|archive-date=23 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223001616/http://archive.divernet.com/uk-diving-general/p301270-scotlands-top-ten-wall-dives.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Wrecks==
There are three wreck sites close to the coast of Calve, all of them between Calve and Mull. The oldest and most substantial is the ''Pelican'', a steel-built paddle steamer built in Cork in 1850 and used by [[Caledonian MacBrayne]] as a passenger ferry/liner. By 1895 she was in use as a [[Hulk (ship type)|Coal Hulk]] in Tobermory Harbour. In a storm in December 1895 she broke her moorings and was driven across Tobermory Bay and onto rocks on Calve. When the tide fell, she slipped off the rocks and sank in 20 metres of water.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/event/102415| website=Canmore: Scottish National Record of the Historic Environment| title=Pelican wreck, ID 102415}}</ref> At the south end of Dòirlinn a' Chailbhe lies the wreck of the ''Strathbeg'', a motor fishing vessel which sank at mooring during a gale in May 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/event/937568| website=Canmore: Scottish National Record of the Historic Environment| title=Strathbeg wreck, ID 937568}}</ref> A third wreck, a single-masted [[Smack (ship)|smack]] called ''Anna Bhan'' has been identified by divers, but there is no date or details of loss.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/event/102561| website=Canmore: Scottish National Record of the Historic Environment| title=Anna Bhan wreck, ID 102561}}</ref>

In May 2009 the speedboat ([[Rigid inflatable boat|RIB]]) ''Sooty'' ran aground on the northern tip of Calve at 23:30, having left Tobermory shortly before, after an evening of drinking by its crew at a local pub. It is thought that the boat was travelling at around {{convert|20|kn|km/h|spell=in|-1}} at the point of impact, driving it a further 11 metres onto the rocky shore. Of the four men on board, one was thrown out of the boat onto the rocks and died of his injuries. It is thought that reckless speeds, insufficient attention to the GPS device, an absence of lookout and failure to prepare a passage plan all resulted from and were exacerbated by the influence of alcohol.<ref>{{cite report|title=Report on the investigation of the grounding at high speed of the RIB Sooty: Calve Island, Isle of Mull, 18 May 2009| author=Marine Accident Investigation Branch, Southampton| year=2009|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/547c6fd240f0b60244000043/SootyReport.pdf| access-date=10 May 2020}}</ref>

==Symbol of depopulation==
In 1934 a pioneering kayak expedition was made by [[Alastair Dunnett]] and Seamus Adam around the [[Inner Hebrides]], sending back their expedition reports to the [[Daily Record (Scotland)|Daily Record]] and [[Glasgow Evening News|Evening News]]. Amidst the depopulation and poverty of the islanders they found that Calve Island was farmed by a single extended family, and stayed to help with the harvest, meeting two sisters, Margaret and Janet McDonald, who were locally renowned as competitive rowers. Alistair Dunnett (who went on to become editor of [[The Scotsman]]) wrote of how Calve showed the Scottish island not as a beautiful barren waste. "It was on the contrary, a rich land, if neglected; fertile in all but faith".<ref>Alistair Dunnett, 1934, quoted in {{cite book|author=David Gange|title=The Frayed Atlantic Edge| year=2019| publisher=William Collins| isbn=978-0-00-822511-7| page=196}}. A book on the 1934 expedition was republished as: {{cite book | last=Dunnett | first=Alastair | title=The Canoe Boys: from the Clyde past the Cuillins | publisher= Neil Wilson | location=Glasgow | year=1995 | isbn= 1-897784-42-2}}</ref> Undertaking another such kayak expedition in 2018, the historian David Gange was disappointed to find that, unlike the signs of revival across so much of the Hebrides, Calve has no population and minimal agricultural activity. It stood for him as symbol of the fragility and lack of resilience in the current re-population of the Scottish Islands compared to the situation before the [[Highland Clearances|Clearances]] of the previous two centuries.<ref>{{cite book|author=David Gange|title=The Frayed Atlantic Edge| year=2019| publisher=William Collins| isbn=978-0-00-822511-7| page=197}}</ref>

==Stamps==
Local stamps were issued for Calve Island in 1984 bearing the image of a [[Basset Hound]]. The nearest GPO post box is at [[Tobermory, Mull|Tobermory]], on mainland Mull.<ref name="catalog">{{cite news
  | title = Modern British Local Posts CD Catalogue, 2009 Edition
  | publisher = Phillips
  | year = 2003
  | url = http://www.seahorsepublishers.com/phillipscatalogues.htm
  | access-date = 2008-12-08
  | url-status=dead
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080905071803/http://www.seahorsepublishers.com/phillipscatalogues.htm
  | archive-date = 2008-09-05
  }}</ref><ref>[http://www.animalstamps.com/basset.htm "Basset Hound Stamps] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207021631/http://www.animalstamps.com/basset.htm# |date=2008-12-07 }} animalstamps.com. Retrieved 3 January 2009.</ref>
{{clear left}}

==References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography==
* {{Haswell-Smith}}

{{Mull}}
{{Hebrides (uninhabited)}}
{{Recreational dive sites|reereg}}
{{coord|56|37|5|N|6|2|26|W|display=title|type:isle_region:GB}}

[[Category:Tidal islands of Scotland]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Argyll and Bute]]
[[Category:Underwater diving sites in Scotland]]