Day 49: Glencoe to Glenborrodale, HIghlands
Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021
22nd February 2021: 85.96km walked today taking the total to 5109.35/8868km. 11.5% of 105 entries submitting 747.46km.
We walk through and learn about the history of Glencoe today before catching the Corran ferry to explore some of the West Highland Peninsulas.
We pass Buachaille Etive Mor, which we passed when we walked the West Highland Way but, at Atlnafeadh, we start to follow an old military road through Glencoe rather than follow the West Highland Way up the Devil’s Staircase. This old military road was constructed in about 1780 and is a much quieter route to follow than the A82!
Glencoe is probably Scotland’s most famous and scenic glen where the mountains were formed by volcanic eruptions and then sculpted by huge glaciers. There are lots of fantastic walks and 8 Munros to climb such as Buachaille Etive Mor and Bidean nam Bian. There is also a fantastic ridge walk, the Aonach Eagach Ridge, which stretches for 10 kilometres from the Devil’s Staircase in the east to the Pap of Glencoe and includes 2 Munros. It is not for the faint hearted though as it is a Grade 2 scramble, is very exposed and there are sheer drops on either side.
Continuing along the old military road we pass near the Glencoe Waterfall before, at Allt-na-Ruigh, we re-join the A82 which was constructed over the old military road. We then take a path south to go up to Coire Gabhail, the Lost (or Hidden) Valley. It was here that the MacDonalds of Glencoe are said to have hidden their stolen cattle, and to where some of the MacDonald’s fled (and perished) during the Massacre of Glencoe. (More of this story later). After crossing the footbridge over the River Coe, the path climbs steeply between Beinn Fhada and Gearr Aonach, the left 2 of the Three Sisters of Glencoe, before we emerge into a large valley where there are fallen rocks the size of houses. The grassy valley stretches out a long way in front of us towards the buttresses of Bidean nam Bian. After a rest we must go down the same way to re-join the military road to continue our way down Glencoe.
There have been many films and television series that used Glencoe as a location. These include Outlaw King, Harry Potter, Braveheart, Rob Roy, and Outlander. As well as the grandeur of the local scenery and the unspoilt nature of the land, it is the light which attracts these film makers. A French director, Bernard Tavernier, said that the light in the west of Scotland, combined with the clarity of the unpolluted air, made for an effect which no amount of studio manipulation could recreate.
Past Loch Achtriochtan the military road crosses back over the A82 before we cross the River Coe and climb to Signal Rock also known as the Hill of the Sun. It is said that Signal Rock was the gathering place for the MacDonalds of Glencoe in an emergency, and beacons were lit there to signal when a threat was near.
After leaving Signal Rock we walk to the Clachaig Inn which dates to the 16th century and was close to the village until it was moved 3 kilometres further to the north. A notice on the door of the inn says, “No hawkers or Campbells" - the reason no Campbells are allowed is because of the Glencoe massacre, as explained below.
Continuing to the village, we visit the MacDonald Memorial. This is a memorial to the Glencoe Massacre which happened on February 13th, 1692. Many Scottish clans remained loyal to King James II after he was replaced on the English and Scottish thrones by William III in 1689. In August 1691, the Government offered an indemnity to all chiefs, who had to take an oath of allegiance before January 1, 1692. Alexander MacDonald of Glencoe tried to take his oath on December 31st, 1691 in Fort William but as there was no magistrate there to receive it, he had to travel to Inveraray which he didn’t reach until the 6th of January. As he was late, Sir John Dalrymple, William’s Secretary of State for Scotland, issued an order for military punishment against the MacDonald’s. Archibald Campbell, 10th Earl of Argyll, with more than 100 soldiers came and stayed with the MacDonald’s in February 1692, staying for more than a week before suddenly attacking them and killing 38. Some escaped but perished in the wintry conditions.
In Glencoe village itself there is the Glencoe Folk Museum, which is set within traditional 18th century thatched cottages. The museum collection includes Jacobite relics, toys, costumes, and utensils, from the Glencoe area, as well as weapons, some of which were found hidden in the thatched roofs of the local houses.
There are other great walks in the area such as a climb to the top of the Pap of Glencoe or around Glencoe Lochan but, at this point, we leave Glencoe and head for Ballachulish. En route we pass the small island of Eilean Munde. This is the burial place of the Stewarts of Ballachulish, the MacDonalds of Glencoe, and the Camerons of Callart.
The village of Ballachulish is split into 3 sections, as there is Ballachulish itself as well as North and South Ballachulish. Ballachulish comes from the Gaelic for ‘village of the narrows’ and is situated where Loch Leven narrows and joins Loch Linnhe. North and South Ballachulish grew up around the ferry which crossed the loch from early times. It changed to a vehicle ferry in 1912 before stopping in 1975, when the bridge was opened. Ballachulish was known for its slate quarries and the disused quarries can still be seen.
Crossing the bridge over Loch Leven, we walk along the A82 past Onich to Inchree where there are magnificent waterfalls on the Abhainn Righ river. From Inchree, we soon reach the Corran Ferry, where we catch a ferry taking us across the Corran Narrows on Loch Linnhe to the West Highlands Peninsulas.
The West Highland Peninsulas are often just referred to as Ardnamurchan, but it is actually made up of 5 peninsulas, Ardnamurchan itself as well as Ardgour, Sunart, Moidart and Morvern. (Morvern is the only one we won’t be visiting on our walk.). These peninsulas are wild and unspoilt, a landscape of mountains, coastlines, lochs, ancient woodlands, and heather moorland. It is home to one of the best surviving remnants of the temperate Atlantic oak forest, which once clothed most of the west coast of Scotland. Also, like the Highlands themselves, the area has an ancient history from Iron Age settlers to the Irish Saints, to the Vikings and to the Highland clans, followed by the Clearances. Now there are townships formed of crofting communities.
The route the ferry takes us lies on one of the ancient drove routes from the Hebrides to Central Scotland. We land at the Ardgour Ferry Terminal and walk south along the coast of Loch Linnhe past the Corran Point Lighthouse which we saw from the ferry. This lighthouse was completed in 1860 by Robert Louis Stevenson’s father and uncle, to warn ships of the treacherous Corran Narrows. The light is now automated, and the lighthouse keeper’s cottage is self-catering accommodation.
The road we are walking was originally built in 1820 by Thomas Telford to link Corran to Acharacle. It is now the A861 and, as we walk, Loch Linnhe is on our left and the crofting village of Clovullin is to our right before the road passes below Beinn Learnhain. Ardgour is mountainous and, although it does not have any Munros, there are 2 mountains which are only 100 foot short of being Munros: Sgurr Dhomhnuill and Garbh Bheinn. The name Ardgour comes from the Gaelic, ‘Aird Ghobhar’ meaning ‘height of the goats’, and while we walk here, we may encounter the wild goats which still live here.
After about 10 kilometres walking down Loch Linnhe, the road turns inland to take us through Glen Tarbert. After crossing Allt Coire an Lubhair, there is a path which would take us to the top of Garbh Bheinn, if we had more time. The views from the top across to Glencoe in the east are magnificent. The road which we are on follows the River Tarbert upstream, before reaching the top of the pass to follow the Carnoch River down to Loch Sunart, and onto the Sunart peninsula. Sunart comes from the Gaelic, ‘Suaineart’, meaning ‘Svein’s Fjord’. Once we reach Loch Sunart, we soon reach Strontian, the main settlement in this area.
Strontian is the anglicised version of the Gaelic ‘Sron an t-Sithein’, which means ‘Fairy Point’. The main part of the village is grouped around an area of grass and stretches north to Scotstown, along the glen where the Strontian River flows down to the sea. Strontian was established in 1724 to provide accommodation for the miners working in the lead mines nearby. Lead, silver, and zinc were extracted and, in 1730, there were 600 men working here. In 1790, the mineral Strontianite, an important raw material for Strontium, was discovered here and was named after the village. The lead mines were worked intermittently until the last mining, extracting barite for use in the North Sea oilfields, took place in the 1980s.
We continue walking west along Loch Sunart until we reach Ardery Car Park, where we take the path through the woods rather than walking along the road. This area is being regenerated with oak, hazel, and birch trees, to make a return to the temperate rainforest which used to clothe most of the Atlantic coast. When we reach a wider track, we turn left and head down to the Garbh Eilean hide. This hide, on the shore of Loch Sunart, across from Garbh Eilean island, is a great place to watch for otters and seals as well as eagles, herons, and other diving birds. Retracing our steps, we keep straight on to reach another car park to the west, and then head back onto the A861.
After about another 7 kilometres we reach the village of Salen, where we turn left to head along the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. Ardnamurchan comes from the Gaelic ‘Aird nam Murchan’, which means ‘headland of the great seas’, and, just south of Ardnamurchan Point, is the most westerly point of the British mainland. Salen is one of Loch Sunart’s safest anchorages and the pier was built in the 19th century, when steamers plied the length of the loch. In the 1990s, the oak woodlands surrounding Salen started to be restored and the area was proposed as a Special Area of Conservation.
Continuing through the oakwoods lining the shore of Loch Sunart, we head westwards on the single-track road past a car park for Dun Ghallain, ‘the fort of the storms’, an ancient fort on a rocky islet, before we pass the hamlets of Laga and Glenborrodale. Just after Glenborrodale we pass Glenborrodale Castle, a red sandstone, 5 storey Scots Baronial mansion, designed by Sydney Mitchell and completed in 1902 for Charles Dunnell Rudd, a diamond magnate. Later, it was owned by Lord Trent, who was the son of Jesse Boot, the founder of Boots the Chemist; during the war, the castle was available to staff as a wartime rest centre. It then became a hotel in the mid-20th century, before being sold to a private individual in 1992.
Just after the castle, we reach the Glenborrodale Nature Reserve which belongs to the RSPB and consists of woodland, upland and coastal habitats. It is home to animals such as pine marten, otters, the Scottish wildcat, and lots of bird species such as wood warbler, tree pipits, and whinchats, as well as golden eagles.
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