West of Bourblaige - 2

Having come through the gap and down the slope at top left in this picture, we came across two stone-walled buildings at the back of the beach.  They're almost certainly fishing bothies used by the people of Bourblaige.  Perhaps they were just store-rooms for the equipment for the boats which would have been hauled up on the wide shingle beach, perhaps people lived in them.

The second bothy is better preserved than the first.  Both have a small room attached at the western end, which strengthens the case that they were inhabited, and these annexes used for storage.  This second bothy has a large, pale-coloured rock which is visible at the right of the picture.  This has a flat top, and could well have been a block used for gutting and cutting fish.

As we stood by these buildings an RAF Tornado came over, drawing our attention upwards, which was fortunate as an eagle had also been disturbed by the 'plane, and was flying along the edge of the cliff face.

We returned to the road by a slightly different route, using a gate to pass through the Estate fence and then walking up through Bourblaige.  Looking back, with a pale winter sun occasionally lighting the peaks of Stellachan Dubha and Sron Mhor, we realised what a beautiful place the people of Bourblaige inhabited, and could well sympathise with their distress when, after generations of occupying the site, they were told to move.  Some went to Swordle, and later on to Kilmory and Sanna; many left Ardnamurchan for other parts of Scotland; and many families went abroad.

Although red deer are common in this area, we hadn't seen one all day, but this small group of stags, which we saw at the top of the Basin as we drove home, more than made up for it.