A cloudy day, but mild and dry;
we had our three stalwart explorers, Fern, Robbie and Rowan,
with Howard, Irene, Philippa, Richard L., Sam, Sheila, Sharon
and Thomas, making eight adults and Ellie as the expedition
dog.
We parked by Dalilea Pier and had a look around the pier area
before setting off to the farm. At the farm I mentioned the
big oak tree outside the kitchen, only to find some of the
party knew its history already, having been on the Alasdair
MacMaighstir Alasdair conference shortly before. We left the
farm and set off up the track, pausing to look at the old
mill on the right, which Roddie Langal could remember in operation.
The explorers had a look at the mill and Rowan spotted one
of the old saw blades by the door. We got a good view of the
walled area behind the house where Dee used to have his bee
hives and then set off on a diversion along the old track
towards the low road. The sharp-eyed explorers noticed holes
in the boulders beside the road, which had obviously once
been used for iron fence posts.
I took the party to the ruins of an old house by the stream
and told them about an old lady who used to live there and
had a reputation for sneaking into the fields at night and
stealing vegetables. The road became very boggy and we turned
and came back to the corner and started off on the old path
to Kinlochmoidart. I explained how this was once the main
road to Kinlochmoidart and that in 1755, a man called Nielson
took a day to travel there from Strontian, crossing the loch
from Achnanelan and fording the river at Brunery.
We made our way across the high ground in rather cold conditions,
stopping for a wafer break at the highest point and having
a quick look at the funerary cairns beside the track. Some
time around here, Robbie found a strange caterpillar with
horns. I looked it up later and it seems to have been a Narrow-Bordered
Bee Hawk Moth. That sounds rare but there were quite a few
of those moths around earlier this summer.
As we went down into Glen Moidart, we crossed the big bridge,
which has a lot of stonework for a very little stream. Rowan
and Fern bravely scrambled through it under the track, maybe
the only ones who have been through?
We stopped for a photograph by General Ross’ Cairn and
then walked back towards Kinlochmoidart while John Dove ferried
some drivers to Dalilea for the return journey.
John
Dye
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