Upon awaking on day 3 of our visit to Glencoe, a quick look out of the window confirmed the worst, lashing down rain blown by strong winds and a heavy overcast cloudy sky, not the best conditions for landscape photography, but we have to work with what nature provides us, so onwards and upwards as they say.
The plan for today was to visit Glencoe Lochan from there to Castle Stalker, Oban and returning to Glencoe via Kilchurn Castle, grabbing some photographs along the way.
The day did not start to good, as when we arrived at Glencoe Lochan, the rain was battering down, it was so bad that it was not feasible or realistic to set off hiking around the Loch in these conditions, it would have been a fruitless task.
So plan B was hatched, on to Castle Stalker hoping for better weather conditions with a stop of at what looked like a lovely sandy cove at Cuil Bay.
Initially I drove past Cuil Bay, but recognised the islands from the map and swiftly turned around. The bay is infract a shingle beach, but the tide was in and the flat grey light provided no incentive to get the camera out of the bag, this was a disappointment as the location had potential to provide a good photograph in the right lighting conditions.
The day was becoming a trip of repeating scenarios, so off we set for the Castle Stalker. Once we arrived at the castle the rain continued to pour, but I was determined not to travel this distance for nothing, so out came the waterproof clothing, and a good supply of cloths to dry the camera and lenses was had.
We got to the waters edge and looked for a decent composition, the conditions immediately screamed black and white, long exposure. I switched the camera to black and white as set about framing up a simple composition of the castle surrounded by the incoming tide with a rock as foreground interest. We then walked along the shore to see if there was any other interest to include, but to no avail, we returned to the car slightly damp and cold, changed from the soaking clothing, dried as much of the camera equipment as we could, had a drink before heading for Oban.
We arrived in Oban at about 12.20pm, but it was like night, the rain was belting down, very dark and blowing a gale, this resulted in us having a drive around the town, it is a pretty little fishing town with many ferry crossings to the outlying islands, but today was not a day for exploring, we filled the car up with fuel, grabbed some lunch and decided to head for Kilchurn Castle. We drove for some distance admiring the countryside as we passed, but every inch of high ground was hidden in a blanket of low, heavy rain sodden clouds. Once we saw the castle over our right shoulders we found the junction and turned towards the castle, quickly arriving at the parking layby.
We sat and looked at each other, whilst it is a lovely location and it is easy to see why so many photographs are taken here in the right conditions, today was not one of those, the rain was still battering down, and the path down towards the castle looked like it was a paddy field. I had no incentive or desire to leave a warm dry car to inflict myself to the extraordinary weather conditions outside. We did stay a while taking some phone snaps out of the car windows, but there was no chance of me trekking down to the castle in these conditions. We agreed to head for home via Crianlarich, looking forward to a hot warm drink and some food.
Day 4 was planned to visit Fort William and Glenfinnan to view the viaduct and monument, but we would also be stopping off to view the shipwreck at Corpach.
At last the weather had improved, well at least it was not raining today. We set off nice and early to get to our destinations.
We parked the car near to Corpach railway station, crossed over the Caledonian Canal onto the beach and easily found the shipwreck. This shipwreck has become known as the Corpach Wreck, however, her real name is MV Dayspring. Built in 1975, she was an old fishing vessel that was moored at Kinlochleven Pier in 2001. Unfortunately in 2011, a heavy storm caused a chain to fail and she ran aground and has been there ever since.
I set up and took several images of the wreck before moving further along the beach to where there is a sailing yacht wreck higher up the beach, this did wreck did not have the same interest as the old boat, but it was intriguing to view the remains still within the boat.
From Corpach we continued the drive to Glenfinnan to view the viaduct and the monument, both of these structures intrigued me.
The West Highland Railway was built to Fort William by Lucas and Aird. New contractors were needed to finish the construction of the viaduct and Robert McAlpine & Sons were taken on with Simpson & Wilson as engineers. Robert McAlpine & Sons was headed by Robert McAlpine, nicknamed "Concrete Bob" for his innovative use of mass concrete. Concrete was used due to the difficulty of working the hard schist in the area. McAlpine's son Robert, then aged 28, took charge of construction, with his younger son Malcolm appointed as assistant.
Construction of the extension from Fort William to Mallaig began in January 1897, and the line opened on 1 April 1901. The Glenfinnan Viaduct, however, was complete enough by October 1898 to be used to transport materials across the valley. It was built at a cost of GB£18,904.
From the viaduct we explored the monument which commemorates the 1745 Jacobite rising began here when Prince Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") raised his standard on the shores of Loch Shiel. Seventy years later, the 18 m (60 ft) Glenfinnan Monument, at the head of the loch, was erected to commemorate the historic event.
By 1815, the Jacobite cause was no longer a political threat to the Hanoverian monarchy. Alexander Macdonald of Glenaladale, a minor branch of the Clan Donald, built a memorial tower at Glenfinnan to commemorate the raising of the standard of the Young Pretender. The tower, which is 18 metres in height, was designed by the Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham. The statue of an anonymous highlander, referred to at the point of commission as Charles Edward Stewart, by John Greenshields, was added in 1835.
The monument's location at Glenfinnan was made possible because of an 1812 new road, now the A830 road, built by Thomas Telford, opened between Fort William to Arisaig.
Since 1938, the Glenfinnan Monument has been in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. The Trust constructed a visitor centre, providing tickets, information, exhibitions, a shop, café, and toilets. The tower is also a monument to Alexander Macdonald, but he perished before its completion. Jacobite enthusiasts gather at the tower each year on 19 August to remember the Rising of '45.
And so this brief history lesson brings to an end to our winters visit to Glencoe and the surrounding areas. Needless to say this area of outstanding beauty will be re-visited sometime in the future, thank you for reading these two blogs, I hope that you have found them interesting.
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