The Ardnamurchan Volcano - 6

For its third outburst, the Ardnamurchan volcano moved northeastwards, the centre for Centre 3 being almost exactly on the abandoned village of Glendrian. The rocks of this phase produced some of West Ardnamurchan's most spectacular wilderness scenery, and show the circular arrangement of the Ring Dykes to perfection.

Glendrian, visible in the middle of the picture, one of the abandoned villages, lies in a bowl of low land which extends westwards to Achnaha. All around it stand a ring of towering hills formed of the Ring Dyke rock called Eucrite, a variety of Gabbro. The picture was taken from the south of the mountain ring, looking north across Centre 3, the high hill in the background being Meall Clach an Daraich.
This view looks southwest to the great ridge, again formed from Ring Dyke material, called Beinn na h-Imeilte, the smaller hill in the middle ground being Sithean Mor. Some sense of the grandeur of this landscape is given by finding our Land Rover in the centre of the picture, parked beside the road to Sanna.

The western section of the ring forms the forbidding hills that Sanna nestles against. This picture is taken from the Sanna road before it reaches Achnaha, looking northwest towards the western side of the Eucrite Ring Dyke, the peak at mid-right being Meall Sanna.

Standing in the broken buildings of Glendrian village, looking in a 360-degree circle at this gaunt ring of hills, one has to imagine oneself as being in the very guts of a volcanic episode frozen in time for us to study and enjoy.