We went out this morning looking for two villages which were destroyed in the years around 1828, when Sir James Riddell owned Ardnamurchan Estate and wanted the land cleared of humans to make way for sheep. Both lie on the western flanks of Ben Hiant's foothill, Beinn na h-Urchrach. The first, Coire Mhulinn (above), is close to the sea, a spot so forgotten that it is no longer marked on OS maps. The village was tiny - the remains of only four buildings can be found - but with wonderful views westwards across Mingary Castle to the northern approach of the Sound of Mull. All that is visible are the shattered walls of the enclosures and the outlines of the houses, each about the size of a modern, single garage.
The second, Skinid, lies just to the east of Caim and is marked on the current maps, though the 1:25,000 map is a little imaginative, giving the village some eight buildings while we could only find traces of four. The village stood on the old road to Kilchoan which cuts across the north side of Ben Hiant and can still be walked today.
On our way back to the car we almost trod on this slow worm. Not as exciting as Alasdair's adders, but a great deal more friendly.
As we drove home a pterodactyl wheeled over Ormsaigbeg. It was only as we came closer that we recognised this heron. The local buzzards are busy feeding a chick at the moment, a horrible child which sits in trees just below the common grazings and screams for food all day, but the weary parents left their task to fly up and see the heron off.
We went out this morning looking for two villages which were destroyed in the years around 1828, when Sir James Riddell owned Ardnamurchan Estate and wanted the land cleared of humans to make way for sheep. Both lie on the western flanks of Ben Hiant's foothill, Beinn na h-Urchrach. The first, Coire Mhulinn (above), is close to the sea, a spot so forgotten that it is no longer marked on OS maps. The village was tiny - the remains of only four buildings can be found - but with wonderful views westwards across Mingary Castle to the northern approach of the Sound of Mull. All that is visible are the shattered walls of the enclosures and the outlines of the houses, each about the size of a modern, single garage.
The second, Skinid, lies just to the east of Caim and is marked on the current maps, though the 1:25,000 map is a little imaginative, giving the village some eight buildings while we could only find traces of four. The village stood on the old road to Kilchoan which cuts across the north side of Ben Hiant and can still be walked today.
On our way back to the car we almost trod on this slow worm. Not as exciting as Alasdair's adders, but a great deal more friendly.
As we drove home a pterodactyl wheeled over Ormsaigbeg. It was only as we came closer that we recognised this heron. The local buzzards are busy feeding a chick at the moment, a horrible child which sits in trees just below the common grazings and screams for food all day, but the weary parents left their task to fly up and see the heron off.
Good spot on the pterodactyl, there. We saw a few of these last year while fishing from the rocks on Ormsaigbeg. Coming from the heady metropolis that is rural Norfolk, we simply took it as proof that West Ardnamurchan really is the land that time forgot.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of curious phenomena, did anyone else notice a strange, bright light in the sky last Thursday from about midday onward? Someone in the Kilchoan House Hotel last Friday night said it might have been the sun, but I remain sceptical.