A Quick Walk on a Cold Day

If we want a brisk walk on a cold day, we head straight up from the back of the house, up the steep slope that leads to the ridge called Druim na Gearr Leacainn. In August and September its slopes vividly demonstrate the battle being waged between the heather - mostly Bell and Ling - and the encroaching tide of bracken.

Not only is the heather losing the battle, it's also suffering from something else which causes, in places, a mass die-back, leaving only the whitening stalks of the dead plant.

Even on a cold day, we sometimes take a picnic lunch. On the day this picture was taken, there was a bitter northerly wind, but this rock not only acted as a windbreak, it also provided a perfect bench seat for two.

Nearby, wild ivy and ling clung to the rock face....

....while, on the way down, we found an erratic, a huge chunk of rock dropped when the glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age. It was so covered in lichen we couldn't identify the type of rock, so it may have been brought in from near or far.

Valerian

This is Common Valerian, a wildflower which flowers in summer on long and remarkably strong stalks so it towers above the surrounding plants. It's common in neglected croft fields which have been left to be invaded by wildflowers.

According to one website dedicated to the use of traditional herb remedies, "Valerian is used to reduce tension and anxiety, over-excitability and hysterical states. It is calming without exerting too sedative an effect and is practically non-addictive. It is a valuable treatment for insomnia..."

Plocaig Reawakens

Plocaig is a village which died. It stands on Ardnamurchan's north coast, to the east of, and about a kilometre from Sanna. It's surrounded by the remains of its people's fields and, below the village, there's a well-protected bay where the men kept their fishing boats.

We know from the wonderful photo in Catriona MacMillan's collection, here, that Plocaig's houses still had the remains of their thatch in 1932, so this was not a classic, 19th century 'clearance' village. It probably faded away because it was so remote, separated from the new road and 'civilisation' by the deep cut of the Sanna Burn.

But, every now and again, the village reawakens. In early autumn the sheep which still graze its fields as they have done for generations are gathered and held in a fank at the south end of the line of abandoned houses.

Gathering is a hard task in this broken wilderness, and impossible without dogs. This picture shows John Alec Cameron, who has rights on the croft land, at work a mile to the east of Plocaig, driving his sheep along the coast.

The area also comes alive in the summer with visitors who use the land the villagers knew so well for modern, leisure purposes. One of the many things the area offers, along with superb walking, is endless opportunities for rock climbing on the steep outcrops of the ring dykes left after the erosion of the 60-million year old Ardnamurchan volcano.

A map of the area is here.

The Sanna Burn

The Sanna Burn where it cuts through the ring dyke,

looking southeast towards Achanaha.

The Hill of Pools - 1

The hill which overlooks Fascadale is a bold feature and is 262m high but, on the 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map, it has no name. The OS is a little haphazard with its naming of features. Part of the map-makers' problem is that, when they make or revise a map, they have to go around the area asking people about the names, and they probably get no, or conflicting answers. As a result, some of the more prominent features, which must have had their names, remain nameless on the maps, and the memory of the name is then lost. Worse, local names are in Gaelic, and need a translation.

The view in the picture above is from the northwest, and the hill has a tempting shoulder to use as an approach to the summit, but we found that the route was blocked near the top by steep, rocky faces, so we had to move around the western side of the hill as we climbed, and come at the summit from the south.

The climb was well worth it. This picture shows the rock which forms the summit itself, and a dark, silent pool. In the distance can be seen the Isle of Muck.

This view looks down from the summit to Fascadale Bay and the three houses available to let from Ardnamurchan Estate, here. The bay used to be the centre of Ardnamurchan's salmon-fishing industry, and the flat fields to the right of the houses were used in winter to grow ice, which was placed in an ice house on the far side of the bay, enabling salmon to be stored until they were ready to be shipped to London.

The first peak is connected to another immediately to the west by a boulder-strewn saddle, and that one is named: Meall an Fhir-eoin, Eagle Hill. So, having enjoyed the view, the set off to climb it.

A map of the area is here.