AS I write, a few weeks down the line from our first meeting, I can still seen him in my mind's eye. Staring out across the Kilbrannan Sound to the west coast of Arran. His grip firm upon the rock which has been his own promontory plinth for two years.

Yes, he's getting rusty, but it's part of his charm. He's the strong, silent type. Enigmatic. A man for all seasons. A prince of tides.

GRIP is the name of my new art crush. His maker is Turner Prize-winning artist Sir Antony Gormley, best known as creator of the towering figure that is the Angel of the North in Gateshead in the north east of England.

The human figure has long fascinated Gormley. He often uses his body as a cast. As he says himself, it's the only bit of the material world that he inhabits completely. Gormley is also the artist behind the Fourth Plinth project which saw the vacant fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in London occupied for 100 consecutive days in 2009, 24 hours a day, by members of the public who volunteered to stand on it for an hour at a time.

In 2015, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Landmark Trust, an organisation which rescues and restores notable buildings that would otherwise be lost, Gormley was asked to design five sculptures across Britain. These life-size standing sculptures were placed at Landmark properties, all of which are available to rent, including Sadell Bay on the east side of Kintyre, Clavell Tower at Kimmeridge Bay in Dorset, and Lengthsman's Cottage, Lowonsford, in Warwickshire.

They were only ever meant to be temporary and so, in 2016, the four around England were duly removed and sold to private collectors. GRIP at Saddell Bay got as far as being piped off the foreshore by lone piper Niall Gemmill. According to Cy Neil, property manager with the Landmark Trust, a farewell party was held in his honour at Saddell House for staff, friends and visitors to wave GRIP goodbye.

But just as he was collecting the public art equivalent of his P45, a mystery donor stepped into the breach to ensure GRIP would remain on his perch at Saddell Bay for future visitors to make his acquaintance.

"He's become part of the landscape here," says Neil. "It's fantastic for the area and already he's been bringing new visitors to the Mull of Kintyre."

My family – husband and two teenage children – were among the legions of new visitors. We travelled for nearly five hours from our home near Glasgow to meet the Gormley's man on the shore at Saddell Bay and spend the weekend staying at Saddell Lodge, one of six Landmark properties on the estate.

Prior to setting out, Neil emailed to say: "I promise you will fall in love with Saddell Bay. Walking along the beach where Paul McCartney's Mull of Kintyre video was filmed is so beautiful and the weather forecast is good for the weekend."

She also warned me that there was a no wifi and no TV policy at all of the 200+ Landmark properties in Britain, Italy, France and Belgium. There was no 4G coverage either on the Mull of Kintyre. The teens were horrified when informed of this on the morning of our departure.

We rooted out the Mull of Kintyre video on YouTube before leaving home and the teens looked on aghast. Is that how people dressed in the 1970s, they asked?

McCartney sits strumming on a fence in front of a fisherman's cottage before being joined by wife Linda and other band members for a stroll along a white sandy beach where they were joined by the massed pipes and drums of Campbeltown Pipe Band – in full Highland regalia.

The video ends with a Wicker Man-style bonfire on the beach as night falls at which the family is joined by what seems like the entire population of this small corner of the Kintyre peninsula.

I bask in a warm glow of nostalgia as I remember my 13-year-old self having my first ever slow dance at a Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme disco in Kilmarnock to these very strains. The teens frantically Snapchat their pals to tell them they'll be out of reach for a whole three days.

There's no doubt that the Mull of Kintyre, a headland which lies just 15 miles from the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland as the seagull flies, enjoyed a revival of fortunes thanks to Paul McCartney and Wings. The1977 track was an ear-worm of a hit and was the first single to sell more than two million copies worldwide.

The McCartney family's one-time home, High Park Farm, lies about 20 miles north of the Mull of Kintyre, the most south-westerly point of the Kintyre peninsula, which he immortalised in song.

Saddell Bay, with its small collection of properties – including the picnic cottage, Port na Gael, which played centre stage in the video – feels like it has always been there. Once you step onto the estate, there's a genuine feeling of the cares of the world falling away from your shoulders.

When we meet at the estate, Neil tells us that Antony Gormley stayed at Saddell House (which sleeps 13) many years ago with friends. When asked to make work for the Landmark Trust, Gormley knew exactly where he would place his sculpture as he had been thinking about it since that time.

One of the first things we do when we arrive at Saddell Lodge after our long drive (it's a half hour car-ride from Campbeltown) is to take a walk down to the beach. The first of many over the course of three days.

The ruins of the ancient Cistercian monastery, Saddell Abbey lie nearby. My husband and I took a dander as the children lay around in the house, reading books. (That's what happens when there's no wifi).

There isn't much left of the abbey, which was built by the great warrior King Somerled in 1207 but it gives a feel for the ancient history of this seemingly far-flung part of Scotland, which at one point was a thriving place of pilgrimage for Christian brothers. A form of Celtic stone carving flourished at Saddell and recent fundraising has helped to preserve these carved stones on site.

Saddell Castle, which sleeps up to eight people and has fine views across to Arran, was built in 1508 at the behest of the Bishop of Argyll and some of the stones from the abbey were taken to build the outbuildings.

The whole of Saddell Bay with its long white strand and rocky point now belongs to Landmark, including the castle, a later mansion and four cottages. Each building stands alone and a stay in them offers the freedom of the whole bay in all its wild and untamed beauty.

The bay is a great spot to explore the surrounding area, with its network of waymarked trails and cycle routes. A haven for wildlife, including golden eagles, otters, three different species of deer, wild goats and seals off the mile-long sandy beach, it pays to pack the binoculars. We forgot…

All Landmark Trust properties have well-stocked libraries and on both our wifi free evenings, after dinner, I settled down to read a biography of one of Carradale's most famous former residents, Naomi Mitchison.

The Nine Lives of Naomi Mitchison by Jenni Calder, tells the life story of this free-spirited doyenne of Scottish literature, who bought Carradale House in 1939 with her husband, Labour politician Dick Mitchison. This campaigning feminist, Fabian and land reformer found everything she needed to keep her constantly inspired on this seemingly remote outcrop of the British Isles. She died aged 101 in 1999 and her ashes were scattered on the shore at Carradale.

I like to think Naomi would have enjoyed the spectacle of Gormley's single figure standing on the shore of Saddell Bay. Looking outward every day.

The Landmark Trust has six properties of varying sizes on the Saddell Estate. Saddell Castle accommodates eight people, two of the houses (including the lodge) accommodate four people, Ferryman's Cottage sleeps five, while Shore Cottage houses up to six people. Saddell House sleeps up to 13. Dogs welcome. Prices at Saddell Lodge; four nights from £205.

www.landmarktrust.org.uk