Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

  • Ardnamurchan

    Ardnamurchan

    Quiz question: What is the connection between these hills on the westernmost point of the British mainland to the Cleveland Dyke back home in the North York Moors? The answer is of course they were both formed by volcanic activity near the island of Mull. Ok, there is a bit of a time difference between…

  • Allt na h-Eilde

    Allt na h-Eilde

    ‘The stream of the hind’, swollen and tumultuous as it begins its plunges down towards Loch Leven. Its source is Loch Eilde Mòr, which I think translates as ‘the big loch of the hind’. Perhaps the shelter and grazing here are favoured by nursing hinds. Such a large volume of water coming down the ‘stream’.…

  • The Appin Murder

    The Appin Murder

    This is Loch Leven, familiar to all those who have travelled on the A82 to Fort William. The Ballachulish bridge crossing the loch is just hidden by the headland on the north shore. On the south shore, again just out of sight is the tiny village of Duror. Here, on 14 May 1752, Colin Roy…

  • The Siannag of Dunstaffnage Castle

    The Siannag of Dunstaffnage Castle

    A wet and gloomy day, so dull in fact my photo count was a bit lean. So the featured image above is the runner-up from yesterday. Dunstaffnage Castle near Oban is a must-see on the tourist itinerary. Built by Duncan MacDougall, the Lord of Lorn, about 1220, on a plug of conglomerate rock. It would…

  • Clach na Carraig

    Clach na Carraig

    I stumbled across this massive standing stone on my morning run. Well, I tell a lie, I was carrying a map and was attracted to the Gothic font which is a giveaway of something interesting. It is truly a monolith, 12½ feet tall, made of granite, and 13 feet in girth. Probably erected by Neolithic…

  • The Big Mountain and the Toad of Lorn

    The Big Mountain and the Toad of Lorn

    A short trot up Beinn Mhòr, the ‘big mountain’. Not the Beinn Mhòr of Mull (better known by its anglicised name of Ben More), at 965m the only Munro requiring a ferry trip. Nor the two other Munros with the same name in Perthshire and Assynt. Nor even the 741m high Beinn Mhòr on Cowal…

  • Easdale

    Easdale

    The small island of Easdale lies a short ferry ride off the bigger island of Seil. It could fit inside a kilometre grid square and rises to a grand height of 38m., yet it has been transformed by quarrying for slate predominately for roof tiles that were shipped to cities all over Britain. The industry…

  • Dunadd

    Dunadd

    More than 1,300 years ago, this part of Argyll was known as Dàl Riata and was peopled by Gaels, known as the Scotti. The royal centre of Dàl Riata was a fortress built on top of a rocky hill beside the River Add: Dunadd, or Dùn Ad in Gaelic. It is said that the Gaels…

  • Keills Chapel

    Keills Chapel

    Sited at the very end of the Tayvallich peninsula, according to Historic Scotland the Keills chapel contains 40 carved stones dating from early Christian to late medieval but alas today, because of this virus, it was all shut up. Apparently it’s typical of 13th-century churches in the western Highlands. It seems to have been dedicated…

  • Tayvallich

    Tayvallich

    A dreich day so didn’t venture far. Tayvallich is a community overlooking the natural harbour of Loch a’ Bhealaich in Knapdale, Argyll. I find the learning of the pronunciation of Gaelic names is a slow process, Tayvallich is Taigh a’ Bhealaich in Gaelic and gives good hints. I just need to remember them. The name…

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