A Third Ardnamurchan Holiday

From Marc Gerard:

Laga Revisted. Again. 

Our planned third consecutive visit to Ardnamurchan and Cluain Ghrianach at Laga presented us with options for the first week of our usual fortnight autumn Highland holiday in 2011. With familiarity providing certainty over the pleasures to be had in the second week we decided to take a bit of a gamble, have the first week in new territory, and go further north than we had been before. So, that first week was spent near Achiltibuie in Coigach in a cottage on the edge of Loch Broom. This was a 720 mile trip from home on the East Sussex coast. It also meant a mid-holiday changeover journey of 170 miles on mostly slow roads, but Ardnamurchan’s charms would be waiting for us in that second week.

Quickly into the swing of things after arrival at Laga, and with the weather staying kind, a walk up the favoured Meall nan Each was top of the list of things to do. The Loch Laga track was again initially employed with the change point to “off piste” climbing affording a view over Loch Laga into the hills of Moidart.

Anyone who has read my recounting of our 2010 Ardnamurchan visit might recall how my brother can react to the more awkward sections of walks. However, a seeming relenting in the catalogue of injuries being nursed meant no Tourette’s-style outbursts – at least not any I could hear.

The climb was punctuated by stumbling across a large herd of red deer, just as had happened the previous year on Ben Laga. Without wishing to sound too “Autumnwatch”, as we approached the edge of the ground above the un-named lochan below Leac an Fhidhleir we consciously slowed and kept low. This spookily prescient action enabled us to peer over the edge onto a herd of at least twenty deer and keep them completely unaware of our presence. However, as they were between us and our objective, there was no alternative other than to eventually stand up and, in so doing, scare them away. Interestingly, this was the second time in the fortnight that we had encountered the Gaelic word “Fhidhleir” in a hill’s name, with an ascent of Sgurr an Fhidhleir (Peak of the fiddler) being a memorable part of our week in Coigach.

Just as with the previous year’s stay, Laga farm’s friendly Jack Russell visited us at the house, and just as before it continued to only partly understand the concept of the game of fetch.

Attempts to repeat 2010’s visit from the pine marten proved to be controversial. I had brought with me a jar of homemade red gooseberry jam, with this being used to create fruity sandwich lures. However, this decision was held up as the reason for what turned out to be a week-long no-show from the creature. Despite protestations, the blame for the complete failure in the pine marten department was being laid at my door. Apparently, I should have stuck to the tried and tested blackcurrant jam – as it was, there was a danger that the unauthorised gooseberry jam would be stuck on me!

One blustery but dry day we decided to do the walk to the singing sands at Camas an Lighe. It may have been due to our third visit affording us a better understanding of the workings of the environment, but this decision proved to be well judged as whilst the south side of Ardnamurchan was being treated to a choppy Loch Sunart, rather grey skies, and trees whipped around by brisk winds, on the north side all was tranquil, sunny and quiet. We parked at Arivegaig and set off in conditions which very nearly called for shirt-sleeve order. After pleasantly meandering around Kentra Bay the wide track took us into a forest and eventually to a side path which led us away from the onward route to Ockle and down to the beach. We emerged from the forest and, wow! We had bright sunshine, blue waters, a gentle breeze and small waves lapping onto pale sand – brilliant. Initially we thought we had the place to ourselves, but soon stumbled across a couple and their dog sat against a rock. A sarcastic “busy today” was offered and met with a thumbs-up. Once past them, there wasn’t a footprint to be seen. We found a rocky promontory and sat down to take it all in. No idea how long we actually spent there, time just drifted - it was enthralling.

The haze out to sea and the fact that only the faintest outline of Eigg could be seen gave testimony to the strong winds which were clearly still blowing. On the singing sands, however, all was calm. Sadly, despite much demented shuffling about, the sands stayed resolutely mute.

Almost wanting to delay a return to the blustery south side, we decided to detour along the road and visit Castle Tioram. It might be more impressive when its island is surrounded by water, but even with the tide out it was still quite a sight.

Yet again the National Lottery had failed to provide us with the wherewithal to buy a plot of land and build a bolt-hole far away from the painfully crowded south east of England. It must be said that with Ardnamurchan’s beguiling mix of landscape, wildlife, access to sea and lochs, interesting history, and space and quiet, to do so in this area is a compelling proposition. I often wonder what the local reaction to such a comment might be as I can appreciate how every new building could be seen as taking a tiny bite out of part of what makes the area special in the first place, but if it’s not proof of how somewhere has got under your skin then I don’t know what is. I’m sure like many others in my profession the notion of designing and building a house which blends one’s requirements with the sensitivities of an area is an itch which I hope I’ll be able to scratch one day – it’s just that I currently would need a little help from six well-chosen numbers! Yes, all these thoughts were brought to the fore by 2011’s great visit to Ardnamurchan.

Another week’s visit was coming to a close and we were contemplating this being our last stay at Laga, yet Ardnamurchan still had a hold on us. The ball was put in my court to resolve the problem. However, as far as I was concerned it was simple – we would return, but base ourselves nearer the end of the peninsula, ideally on the more rugged north side. Upon returning home, research led me to the Ardnamurchan Estate’s stock of holiday accommodation and Fascadale in particular seemed to fit the brief. 2012’s visit to Ardnamurchan was sorted and the days on the calendar started to get ticked off…

Many thanks to Marc for this entry.