A Sunny Winter's Day at Glendrian

The day dawned bright, clear and cold, perfect for another trip to Glendrian to continue the work of investigating every structure on the site.  Instead of following the Ardnamurchan Estate track from the Kilchoan-Achnaha road, I walked over Druim Liath, following the path whose route is incorrectly marked on the OS map - see map of area here.

The objects of the morning's work were the three structures marked 9, 10 and 11 on this view of the Glendrian site. They all lie against the northeastern side, right against the header dyke - the stone wall that surrounds all the community's arable (inbye) land.

This picture shows all three structures, viewed from the southeast.  Structure 9 is long and narrow, backing right up against the header dyke.  It's in six parts.  At this end is what might be a byre, then there is the dwelling house, followed by four more buildings which might have been barns or byres.  The view from the house, particularly on a day like today, is spectacular - that's Meall Sanna in the distance.

Viewed from the other side, the southwest, it can be seen that the occupants had a small, enclosed area in front of the house, which might have been a gathering area for animals but is more likely to have been a garden.  The dwelling house can be seen to have a gabled porch at the front.

A closer view of the porch shows that it was partly rendered, as were the surrounds to the house's windows and doors.  Inside, there are some rusting sheets of corrugated iron, suggesting that this was the last roofing material used, and a hearth against the northwest gable end.  All this suggests that this house was probably last occupied during in the first half of the 20th century.

Building 10 is more of a puzzle.  This view looks down at it from the northeast, and clearly shows the door.  However, there was, at one time, a single window, which faced the door, but can't be seen in the picture because it was, at some later stage, blocked up.  There is no sign of a gable hearth.

This looks like a dwelling house, but a much older one that '9', a real 'black cottage', which would have had its hearth in the middle of the main room, with the smoke finding its way out of the thatched roof.

Structure 11 is a series of animal pens.  They're higgledy-piggledy, suggesting that they were built at different times, each new section being fitted in according to the lie of the land.  The nearest enclosure of the four is built of massive blocks of rock, and it is a wonder that the people who constructed it were able to raise them into position.

It seems possible that dwelling 10 originally owned these pens but, after it was abandoned, the occupants of '9' took it over, blocking up the window of the dwelling house to use it as a store.

The solitude and silence of this beautiful place were interrupted by the arrival of four ladies who were participating in the regular Tuesday 'track' walk and looking for a place to enjoy their tea.  We stopped to talk, as you do, about health and safety legislation.