Lochaber
Alone with the elements Ardnamurchan
T
he expression ‘splendid isolation’ could have been coined for Ardna- murchan. It is an area of natural beau-
ty so unspoilt that an explorer following the winding roads can discover it as if for the fi rst time, and though you may not meet another car or person (and certainly not a tour bus) for miles, that sense of aloneness is the essence of what is captivating about the remote, rugged peninsula. A lack of people means a lack of pollution, and artists and photographers are drawn to Ardnamurchan for the quality of its light – on a clear day, you might spot a golden eagle majestically soaring on the thermals above, and on a clear night, the stars seem so close you can almost reach out and touch them. Ardnamurchan has long been a source of fascination for archaeologists, and years of determined excavation proved fruitful in 2011, when the UK mainland’s fi rst fully in- tact Viking boat burial site was uncovered near Ockle Point, complete with a sword
and axe head. Take a stroll along the sandy Sanna Bay, with views out towards Eigg, Muck and Rum, and you gain a sense of why the Vi- king adventurers might have been so keen to have a foothold here, for spiritual as well as logistical reasons. For natural history, head to Loch Sunart and the Sunart Oak Woods, an ancient Caledonian forest that is the remains of a band of coastal woodland that once stretched as far as Spain. The area has been designated a special conservation site, its clean air and moist climate com- bining to produce ideal conditions for li- chen and liverworts. The best known of Ardnamurchan’s sites is its lighthouse, built in 1849 with stone from the nearby Isle of Mull, just a short distance from Corrachadh Mor, the most westerly point of the British mainland. You can uncover its story at the Kingdom of Light visitor centre (open from April, 01972 510210).
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