Camas nan Geall Circuit

When one draws the bedroom blinds and the view across Kilchoan Bay looks like this, the place to be is....

....Camas nan Geall, and the plan for the morning was to do a circuit around the settlement site, starting by climbing the hill to the west.

At the top there's one of the two sheep pens built by the new farm owner after the clachans of Camas nan Geall and Torr na Moine were cleared of their inhabitants in 1828. This one was used for gathering the sheep which roamed the area around where the Estate wind turbine now stands on Beinn Buidhe.

We then followed the top of the steep slope, from which this picture, of the site of Camas nan Geall, was taken. The whole history of this area is laid out below one, the main features....

....being shown in this labelled diagram. For more details, visit the AHHA website, here.

It's a fairly steep scramble down the slope to return to the road, with views towards Ben Hiant (left) and into the area called The Basin.

We then crossed the road and circled round on the opposite side of the Allt Torr na Moine until we reached the remains of that clachan, the stone houses demolished by the sheep farmer to build a rather larger sheep enclosure, which was used for the sheep which grazed on Camas nan Geall, Torr na Moine and Bourblaige land.

The approach to Camas nan Geall from the west gives one the opportunity to visit the two houses which the sheep farmer built, one to the left and one towards the middle of this picture. The purpose of the building to the right, with its one high window, very low door, and hipped roof, built at the same time, is a bit of a mystery.

Going into the main field one can take a look at the Neolithic cairn at the end of the line of sycamores, and....

....the 18th century graveyard in which two of the gravestones commemorate the Campbell family who held the land before the clearances. Sadly, one of the gravestones has recently been damaged, this despite the site being a scheduled monument.