Day 48: Ford to Kingshouse, Highlands

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

21st February 2021: 113.01km walked today taking the total to 5024.39/8868km. 10% of 151 entries submitting 1130.11km.

Today we walk round the west end of Loch Awe, walk through Glen Nant to Taynuilt and Bonawe before we return to Loch Awe. From Loch Awe we walk through Glen Orchy before approaching Glencoe.

Route 15: Oban to Fort William

Continuing along the road, we pass St Mary’s Loch to reach the village of Ford, where there are several prehistoric remains. In the centre of the village is a burial mound, there are several standing stones nearby, and a crannog can be seen on Loch Ederline to the south. The village of Ford originated as a stopping point on the droving route to Inveraray. Later, day trippers from Glasgow would take the train to Loch Awe Station, catch a steamer along Loch Awe to Ford, then would be taken to Ardrishaig to get the steamer back to Glasgow. The last steamer on Loch Awe operated during the 1950s.

At Ford, we turn north and pass the southernmost part of Loch Awe, a lagoon called An Lodan. On this side of the loch, we follow Cycle Route 78 and soon pass Dun Toiseach, ‘Fort of the Chief’, which stands on an isolated hill overlooking An Lodan.

After about 10 kilometres, we take the right fork down a track near Kilmaha, which takes us close to the shore of Loch Awe. There is a walk off to the left, signed MacKenzie’s Grove, where there are huge Douglas Firs and a waterfall where the stream flows through a small gorge. Returning to the path alongside Loch Awe, we soon see a crannog just off the shore, although it just looks like a few bushes sticking out of the water. This is just one of many crannogs near the shore of Loch Awe.

Soon after this we reach the village of Dalavich which was developed by the Forestry Commission in the 1950s to help remove timber from the Inverliever Forest, which was one of the first ‘state’ forests. It has a small, oblong church dating from the 1770s, which was built on the site of an earlier church and is thought to be the oldest ecclesiastical site in Argyll. Nearby a monk called St Mochoe of Nendrum was supposed to have lived as a hermit, and where he lived can still be seen near the church.

Just past Dalavich, we will walk to see the waterfalls of the River Avich. This takes us through woodlands of mostly oak and birch to see where the river cascades down from Loch Avich to Loch Awe. At the River Avich, the people of Dalavich have recently developed a hydro-electric scheme on the site of an old Victorian Hydro Scheme that was installed to supply electricity to Barnaline Lodge. Dalavich Improvement Group set up Awesome Energy (Dalriada) Ltd to develop and operate the scheme with all profits going to support local projects.

At Loch Avich, another fine fishing loch located above Loch Awe, there is a castle on an island, Innis Luana, called Caisteal na Nighinn Ruaidhe, which translated means the ‘Castle of the Red-Haired Maid’. It was built in the 13th century and not much of it is left. According to legend, the lord of the castle had a beautiful daughter with red hair, who was rescued by a neighbouring chieftain after she was kidnapped by marauders. She fell in love with her rescuer and was going to elope with him when her father found out; to prevent this happening, he threw her from the battlements. Her lover saw it happen and stabbed her father to death, and after that, the castle fell into ruin.

After leaving the Avich Falls we continue along Cycle Route 78 past Inverinan, where there are walks in the mixed conifer and Atlantic oakwood in Inverinan Glen, before we head the 6 kilometres to Annat. This is where we head away from Loch Awe for the moment to walk 6 kilometres along the B845, past Barachander with great views across to Ben Cruachan, before we reach the River Nant and Glen Nant. It is thought that the name, Nant, comes from an old Gaelic word for nettles.

Glen Nant is a National Nature Reserve due to the oak, birch, ash, willow, and hazel that grow here and where non-native trees have been removed. In the18th century the woodlands of Glen Nant were a hive of activity, employing up to 600 people, who produced charcoal from the hardwood trees for use in the Bonawe Iron Furnace, which we will see later. In addition, the bark from the oak trees was essential for the tanning industry. Glen Nant is now a great place to walk and for wildlife watching, particularly wood ants as well as butterflies and moths, deer, pine marten, and red squirrels.

The ruins of Larac a’Chrotail (the lichen house) is where a tailor used to live. Villagers brought their cloths here to be dyed using lichen. The same tailor is reported to have had an illicit whisky still, and the nearby ‘Tailor’s Leap’ is where he jumped across the River Nant to escape the excise men.

Continuing down the road we reach Taynuilt at Loch Etive. Taynuilt’s name comes from the Gaelic, ‘Tigh-an-Uilt’, meaning ‘house of the stream’, and used to be a resting place for travellers before the railway arrived in 1879. After walking down to the jetty, where a ferry used to run between Taynuilt on the south side of Loch Etive and Bonawe on the north side, we visit the Bonawe Historic Iron Furnace. It was founded in 1753 by Cumbrian iron masters, who were attracted by the nearby woodlands which were required to produce the charcoal used to heat the furnace. At its height, the furnace produced up to 700 tons of pig iron from Cumbrian ore annually, which was cast into items such as cannonballs. We are still able to see the huge charcoal sheds and the almost complete furnace.

From the ironworks, we head to the River Awe and cross at a suspension bridge which was apparently built to allow schoolchildren from Inverawe to get to school in Taynuilt! Here we reach the Inverawe Smokehouse which uses the traditional way of wood smoking to preserve foods such as salmon. We then follow the River Awe until we reach the main A85 which we follow south-eastwards, through the Pass of Brander, until we reach Cruachan, the Hollow Mountain Visitor Centre. Just before we reach the visitor centre, we walk on a viaduct built to overhang the loch, the road supported by a series of concrete piers set into the loch bed. The viaduct curves around the cliff and extends along the loch for approximately 400 metres.

Cruachan Hydroelectric Power Station was one of the first reversible pumped-storage systems, where the same turbines are used as both pumps and generators. During periods of low energy, water is pumped back to the top reservoir and then this water is released when there is high demand. It is very responsive and can be generating at its full load within 30 seconds and can run for 20 hours continuously. Construction started in 1959 and, during the 6 years it took to construct, there was a large workforce of 1300 men, who were known as the Tunnel Tigers. It was opened by the Queen on the 15th of October 1965. At the visitor centre it is possible to take a trip 1 kilometre into the mountain itself to see the huge turbine hall, the size of a football pitch and why Ben Cruachan’s nickname is the ‘Hollow Mountain’.

A walk up the Munros, Ben Cruachan and its neighbour, Stob Daimh, give fantastic views, particularly to the west, as they are the highest summits in this area.

Further along Loch Awe we reach Innis Chonain island, linked to the mainland by a causeway. This island was purchased by Walter Douglas Campbell, brother of the 1st Baron Blythswood, and he built himself, his sister, and mother, a mansion house on the island. His mother found that it was too far to travel to church in Dalmally, so he decided to build her a church nearby, St Conan’s Kirk. He built a small church first which was completed by 1886 but then he decided to build a much larger, more ornate building which he started in 1907. When he died in 1914, his sister continued the build and then, when she died in 1927, their trustees completed the work: it was finally consecrated in 1930. St Conan’s Kirk is unique as it has an example of almost every style of church architecture found in Scotland, including a Norman doorway, Gothic flying buttresses, a Celtic cross, Arts and Crafts carvings, a Saxon tower, and even a stone circle. In the church is the Bruce Chapel, which contains a carved wood and alabaster statue of Robert the Bruce. It is said that it was on the hillside, above the kirk, that King Robert the Bruce despatched the column of soldiers under the Earl of Douglas, which helped to win the battle in the Pass of Brander against John of Lorne and his clansmen. Campbell also built St Conan’s Tower nearby which was to be a winter home for the family. All 3 of his designs were built with granite from Ben Cruachan.

Continuing along Loch Awe we pass Loch Awe railway station, which opened in 1880, before we reach the eastern end of Loch Awe. Here we walk out to Kilchurn Castle which sits on a promontory jutting out into the loch. It was originally built on an island; however, it is now connected to the mainland after the water level of Loch Awe was reduced. The castle was built in the mid-1400s by Sir Colin Campbell, 1st Lord of Glenorchy, and remained in the hands of the Campbells of Glenorchy for 150 years. It was originally built as a fortress, then in 1689 was converted to a garrison stronghold by Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, 1st Earl of Breadalbane, when he moved to his ancestral seat in Perthshire. He built a barrack block in the castle to house 200 men which remains relatively complete and is the oldest surviving barracks on the British mainland. The garrison was little used, other than during the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745, and the castle was abandoned later in the 18th century.

We continue to follow the A85 which runs alongside the River Orchy, towards Dalmally. There is a monument on the top of the hill to the south. This is a monument dedicated to Duncan Ban MacIntyre, one of the most renowned Scottish Gaelic poets. Dalmally was started as a settlement serving Kilchurn Castle, but is now a tourist destination as it sits on the Glasgow to Oban train line and is surrounded by mountains, lochs, and rivers. In the centre of Dalmally is Glenorchy parish church, an example of an octagonal church, which sits on an island where the River Orchy and Orchy Bheag join. Twenty-six clan chiefs of the MacGregors are buried under the entrance to the church. Opposite the church, to the south, is the Gallow Hill of Glenorchy, reputed to be where the MacGregors executed people. Also nearby is St Conan’s Well, a holy well.

Leaving Dalmally, we continue along the A85 before turning left at Inverlochy, along the B8074 which follows the River Orchy, about 20 kilometres, all the way through Glen Orchy until we reach Bridge of Orchy. About halfway to Bridge of Orchy we reach the River Orchy waterfalls which are popular with kayakers. There are 3 major falls: Eas Urchaidh (the Falls of Orchy), Eas a' Chathaidh and Easan Dubha (Black Falls). From the lower falls, Eas Urchaidh, we walk into a remnant of the Old Caledonian pine forest at Allt Broighleachan, quite different to the Sitka plantations nearby. Retracing our steps, we then take a forest road which runs eastwards, north of the River Orchy, to reach Bridge of Orchy.

At Bridge of Orchy, instead of taking the West Highland Way, which we took before, we walk along the A82 main route north towards Glencoe. This skirts the east end of Loch Tulla before going past Achallader Castle, a small, ruined tower built by Sir Duncan Campbell in about 1600, now surrounded by farm buildings. We soon reach Rannoch Moor, a vast area of land comprising blanket bog, lochans, rivers and rocky outcrops. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, ‘Kidnapped’, he said of Rannoch Moor: ‘A wearier looking desert a man never saw’. Other people though, see beauty in its wildness, with its landscape of heather and lochan surrounded by distant mountains. Although it looks desolate, it is home to wildlife such as curlews, grouse, roe, and red deer.

Reaching Loch Ba, we walk across to a viewpoint to get a great view over the loch and the moor before continuing along the A82 past the Glencoe Ski Centre, then passing Kingshouse and the River Etive, before approaching Glencoe itself.