Clearing Vegetation at Camas nan Geall

Members of Ardnamurchan History & Heritage Association spent yesterday afternoon in warm sunshine at Camas nan Geall clearing parts of the historic site of bracken, stinging nettles and brambles ready for the summer tourist season. In the past, the Campbell graveyard and standing stone, at '1', have been so buried in bracken that people have walked past without realising the monuments are there. This is the third season we've cleared it and....

....the bracken has largely given up, so it was a relatively quick job.

The site of the neolithic cairn - at '2', at the south end of the line of sycamores - would have taken much longer but one of our party, Trevor Potts, who runs the Ardnamurchan Campsite, had brought a strimmer along so the job was quickly done.

The third site, at '3', is of a building which we believe to be certainly pre-nineteenth century and possibly pre-eighteenth. We originally cleared this back in March - see post here - but the vegetation was already growing back.

Finally we moved into the area once occupied by the clachan and cleared an irregular structure which has obviously been pillaged for its stone. While it might have been a building, it could also have been a small animal enclosure. The entrance, formed of two upright rocks, is to the right of the Raptor, who is patiently standing there to give a sense of scale, which he also did....

....for this nearby building to which we'll have to return as it is buried in a tangled mass of vegetation.

Our efforts should enable visitors to have a much better appreciation of the superb archaeology at Camas nan Geall. AHHA's next task is to replace the fencing round the Campbell graveyard.

Many thanks to Dale, Elaine, Meri, Sue, Trevor and the Raptor for their time and efforts.