Wester Ross
Encyclopedia
Wester Ross is a western area of Ross and Cromarty
in Scotland, notably containing the villages on the west coast such as:
Wester Ross is geographically regarded as the western watershed of Ross-shire, but administrative and political boundaries diverge from this and have been subject to several changes and inconsistencies.
Wester Ross is a popular scenic tourism destination, although the level of this has declined considerably since the 1970s. Tourism still forms a major part of the economic activity of the area, particularly with the dramatic declines in fishing over the same period.
Wester Ross contains notable beauty spots such as Loch Maree
, Inverewe Garden
, Corrieshalloch Gorge
, Glen Docherty
and Bealach na Ba
. But it is its mountains for which Wester Ross is renowned, in a unique and very old landscape.
The area is well known for its spectacular mountain
scenery, especially the Torridon Hills
which includes such peaks as Beinn Eighe
and Liathach
. Although many peaks in the North-west highlands exhibit Torridon geology
, the Torridon hills are generally considered only to be those in the Torridon Forest to the north of Glen Torridon. Specifically, these are:
Hills between Glen Torridon and Strath Carron share much of the splendour and character of the main hills, although perhaps less of the drama:
The Torridon Hills exhibit some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the British Isles
, surpassed in grandeur probably only by the Cuillins of Skye
.
Other notable peaks include An Teallach
and Slioch
. The landscape is dominated by the Torridonian sandstone, a Precambrian
and very old rock formation. Each of the Torridon Hills sits very much apart from each other, and they are often likened to castles. They have steep terraced sides, and broken summit crests, riven into many pinnacle
s. There are many steep gullies running down the terraced sides. The summit ridge
s provide excellent scrambling
, and are popular with hill walkers and mountaineers. However, like many ridge routes, there are few escape points, so once committed, the scrambler or hillwalker must complete the entire ridge before descent. The area is thinly populated, so walkers need to come fully prepared. Under winter conditions, many walking routes become serious expeditions.
by The Proclaimers
, and Kishorn Commandos by North Sea Gas, which relate the wild lifestyle of construction workers on the Ninian Central Platform
in Kishorn. Many other songs refer to or are named after areas, geographical features and villages of Wester Ross, notably Loch Maree
Islands, which has been recorded by many artists including Calum Kennedy
.
Major outdoor scenes in the films Stardust and The Eagle of the Ninth
were shot in Wester Ross
Wester Ross is the location for the adventures of John Macnab
in the book by John Buchan
Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
in Scotland, notably containing the villages on the west coast such as:
- LochcarronLochcarronLochcarron is a village, community and civil parish in the Wester Ross area of Highland, Scotland. It has a population of 923.-Local Information:...
- ApplecrossApplecrossThe Applecross peninsula is a peninsula in Wester Ross, Highland, on the west coast of Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1300 years old and is not used locally to refer to the 19th century village with the pub and post office, lying on the small Applecross Bay, facing the Inner Sound, on...
- ShieldaigShieldaigShieldaig is a village in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland.The village was founded in 1800 with a view to training up seamen for war against Napoleon, but after his defeat and exile to Elba, the community found itself a new role as a fishing village; therefore, the small island...
- TorridonTorridonTorridon is a small village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. However the name is also applied to the area surrounding the village, particularly the Torridon Hills, mountains to the north of Glen Torridon. It lies on the shore of Loch Torridon.Torridon is on the west coast of Scotland, ...
- KinlocheweKinlocheweKinlochewe is a village in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It is in the parish of Gairloch, the community of Torridon and Kinlochewe and the Highland Council area. It lies near the head of Loch Maree in its magnificent valley, and serves as a junction between the main Ullapool...
(inland) - Gairloch
- Poolewe
- AultbeaAultbeaAultbea is a small fishing village in the North-West Highlands of Scotland. It is situated on the shores of Loch Ewe, about 30 km west of Ullapool. The village has two hotels, the Aultbea Hotel and the Drumchork Lodge Hotel, which won the accolade of top whisky hotel in the world in 2006...
- LaideLaideLaide is a small village in the northwest of the Highlands of Scotland. It is situated on the southern shore of Gruinard Bay, about 30 km west of Ullapool....
- UllapoolUllapoolUllapool is a small town of around 1,300 inhabitants in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest settlement for many miles around, and is a major tourist destination of Scotland. The North Atlantic Drift passes by Ullapool, bringing moderate temperatures...
- AchiltibuieAchiltibuieAchiltibuie is a long linear village in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, on the Coigach coast of northwestern Scotland, overlooking Badentarbet Bay to the west. Loch Broom and the Summer Isles also lie to the west. Located 10 miles northwest of Ullapool, Achiltibuie is home to the Hydroponicum, a...
Wester Ross is geographically regarded as the western watershed of Ross-shire, but administrative and political boundaries diverge from this and have been subject to several changes and inconsistencies.
Wester Ross is a popular scenic tourism destination, although the level of this has declined considerably since the 1970s. Tourism still forms a major part of the economic activity of the area, particularly with the dramatic declines in fishing over the same period.
Wester Ross contains notable beauty spots such as Loch Maree
Loch Maree
Loch Maree is a loch in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. At long and with a maximum width of , it is the fourth largest freshwater loch in Scotland; it is the largest north of Loch Ness. Its surface area is ....
, Inverewe Garden
Inverewe Garden
Inverewe Garden is a botanical garden in the Scottish Highlands. It is located just to the north of Poolewe in Wester Ross.The garden was created in 1862 by Osgood Mackenzie on the estate bought for him by his mother. The original Inverewe Lodge was destroyed by fire in 1914 and replaced in 1937...
, Corrieshalloch Gorge
Corrieshalloch Gorge
Corrieshalloch Gorge is situated on the Droma River 20 km S of Ullapool in the Scottish Highlands. It is 1.5 km long, 60m deep and formed at the end of the last ice age by rapid erosion caused by meltwater. The 46m Falls of Measach can be viewed from a viewing platform and a Victorian...
, Glen Docherty
Glen Docherty
Glen Docherty is a glen in Wester Ross in Scotland, between Loch Maree and Kinlochewe to the west and Loch a'Chroisg and Achnasheen to the east....
and Bealach na Ba
Bealach na Ba
Bealach na Bà is a historic pass through the mountains of the Applecross peninsula, in Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands—and the name of a famous twisting, single-track mountain road through the pass and mountains....
. But it is its mountains for which Wester Ross is renowned, in a unique and very old landscape.
Mountains
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
scenery, especially the Torridon Hills
Torridon Hills
The Torridon Hills surround Torridon village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is usually applied to the mountains to the north of Glen Torridon...
which includes such peaks as Beinn Eighe
Beinn Eighe
Beinn Eighe is a complex mountain massif in the Torridon area of the Highlands of Scotland. It forms a long ridge with many spurs and summits, two of which are classified as Munros. The name Beinn Eighe comes from the Scottish Gaelic meaning File Mountain...
and Liathach
Liathach
Liathach is one of the most famous of the Torridon Hills. It lies to the north of the A896 road, in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, and has two peaks of Munro status: Spidean a' Choire Leith at the east of the main ridge, and Mullach an Rathain at the western end of the mountain...
. Although many peaks in the North-west highlands exhibit Torridon geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, the Torridon hills are generally considered only to be those in the Torridon Forest to the north of Glen Torridon. Specifically, these are:
- LiathachLiathachLiathach is one of the most famous of the Torridon Hills. It lies to the north of the A896 road, in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, and has two peaks of Munro status: Spidean a' Choire Leith at the east of the main ridge, and Mullach an Rathain at the western end of the mountain...
- Beinn EigheBeinn EigheBeinn Eighe is a complex mountain massif in the Torridon area of the Highlands of Scotland. It forms a long ridge with many spurs and summits, two of which are classified as Munros. The name Beinn Eighe comes from the Scottish Gaelic meaning File Mountain...
- Beinn AlliginBeinn AlliginBeinn Alligin one of the classic mountains of the Torridon region of Scotland, lying to the north of Loch Torridon, in the Highlands. The name Beinn Alligin is from the Scottish Gaelic, meaning Jewelled Hill...
- Beinn DeargBeinn Dearg (Torridon)Beinn Dearg is the 4th highest of the Torridon mountains in the highlands of Scotland. Beinn Dearg offers all the typical features of a Torridon hill, with steeply terraced rocky sides dissected by near vertical gullies...
Hills between Glen Torridon and Strath Carron share much of the splendour and character of the main hills, although perhaps less of the drama:
- Beinn Liath MhòrBeinn Liath MhòrBeinn Liath Mhòr is a Scottish mountain situated in the mountainous area between Strath Carron and Glen Torridon in Wester Ross in the Highland region. Geologically Beinn Liath Mhòr is made up of Cambrian quartzite scree and Torridonian sandstones giving the mountain a distinctive colour contrast...
- Sgorr RuadhSgorr RuadhSgorr Ruadh is a mountain situated in the mountainous area between Strath Carron and Glen Torridon in Wester Ross in the Highland Region of Scotland...
- Maol Cheann-deargMaol Cheann-deargMaol Cheann-dearg is a Scottish Mountain situated between Upper Loch Torridon and Loch Carron, in the Coulags deer forest in Wester Ross, Highland region...
- Beinn DamhBeinn DamhBeinn Damh is a Scottish mountain situated in the wild mountainous area between Upper Loch Torridon and Glen Carron, 25 kilometres north northeast of Kyle of Lochalsh...
- An Ruadh-stacAn Ruadh-stacAn Ruadh-stac is a Scottish mountain situated in the Wester Ross region of the Highland council area. It is located 26 km north east of Kyle of Lochalsh.-Overview:...
- Fuar ThollFuar ThollFuar Tholl is a mountain in the highlands of Scotland. It is situated in the Coulin deer forest 21 km SW of Achnasheen in the Wester Ross region of the Highland council area.-Overview:...
The Torridon Hills exhibit some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, surpassed in grandeur probably only by the Cuillins of Skye
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
.
Other notable peaks include An Teallach
An Teallach
An Teallach is a mountain in Scotland. It lies to the southwest of Dundonnell and overlooks Little Loch Broom, in an area often nicknamed the "great wilderness"...
and Slioch
Slioch
Slioch is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands situated in Wester Ross, eight kilometres north of the village of Kinlochewe. Slioch reaches a height of 981 metres and towers above the south east end of Loch Maree to give one of the best known and most photographed sights in the Highlands...
. The landscape is dominated by the Torridonian sandstone, a Precambrian
Precambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
and very old rock formation. Each of the Torridon Hills sits very much apart from each other, and they are often likened to castles. They have steep terraced sides, and broken summit crests, riven into many pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
s. There are many steep gullies running down the terraced sides. The summit ridge
Ridge
A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...
s provide excellent scrambling
Scrambling
Scrambling is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges. It is an ambiguous term that lies somewhere between hillwalking and rock climbing. It is often distinguished from hillwalking by defining a scramble as a route where hands must be used in the ascent...
, and are popular with hill walkers and mountaineers. However, like many ridge routes, there are few escape points, so once committed, the scrambler or hillwalker must complete the entire ridge before descent. The area is thinly populated, so walkers need to come fully prepared. Under winter conditions, many walking routes become serious expeditions.
Wester Ross in popular culture
Wester Ross is featured in the lyrics to the song Letter from AmericaLetter from America (song)
"Letter From America" is a pop song written and performed by Scottish band The Proclaimers that appears on their debut album This Is the Story....
by The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers are a Scottish band composed of identical twin brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid . They are probably best known for the songs "Letter from America", "I'm On My Way" and "I'm Gonna Be ". The band tours extensively throughout Europe and other continents...
, and Kishorn Commandos by North Sea Gas, which relate the wild lifestyle of construction workers on the Ninian Central Platform
Ninian Central Platform
The Ninian Central Platform is an oil platform in the North Sea. When constructed in Loch Kishorn, Scotland in 1978 the 600,000 tonne platform was the world's largest man-made movable object before being towed to its current position and fixed to the sea floor.It is a circular concrete gravity...
in Kishorn. Many other songs refer to or are named after areas, geographical features and villages of Wester Ross, notably Loch Maree
Loch Maree
Loch Maree is a loch in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. At long and with a maximum width of , it is the fourth largest freshwater loch in Scotland; it is the largest north of Loch Ness. Its surface area is ....
Islands, which has been recorded by many artists including Calum Kennedy
Calum Kennedy
Calum Kennedy was a Scottish singer.Kennedy won a gold medal at the Mod , singing in Scottish Gaelic...
.
Major outdoor scenes in the films Stardust and The Eagle of the Ninth
The Eagle of the Ninth (film)
The Eagle is a 2011 historical epic film directed by Kevin Macdonald, and starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, and Donald Sutherland. Adapted by Jeremy Brock from Rosemary Sutcliff's historical adventure novel The Eagle of the Ninth , the film tells the story of a young Roman officer searching to...
were shot in Wester Ross
Wester Ross is the location for the adventures of John Macnab
John Macnab
John Macnab is a novel by John Buchan, published in 1925.-Plot summary:Three successful but bored friends in their mid-forties decide to turn to poaching. They are Sir Edward Leithen, lawyer, Tory Member of Parliament , and ex-Attorney General; John Palliser-Yeates, banker and sportsman; and...
in the book by John Buchan
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir was a Scottish novelist, historian and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation....
See also
- Easter RossEaster RossEaster Ross is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland.The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constituency and a Scottish Parliament constituency...
- Ross-shireRoss-shireRoss-shire is an area in the Highland Council Area in Scotland. The name is now used as a geographic or cultural term, equivalent to Ross. Until 1889 the term denoted a county of Scotland, also known as the County of Ross...
- Ross and CromartyRoss and CromartyRoss and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
- Dundonnell and Fisherfield ForestDundonnell and Fisherfield ForestThe Dundonnell and Fisherfield Forest covers a large mountainous area of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, lying between Loch Maree and Little Loch Broom. It is sometimes nicknamed The Great Wilderness, as the area is entirely devoid of permanent settlements.Although termed a...
- Little GruinardLittle GruinardThe Little Gruinard is a river in Wester Ross, Scotland which runs from the Fionn Loch into Gruinard Bay . It lies within the Letterewe Estate, previously owned by Paul van Vlissingen, a Dutch businessman. It has a healthy run of Atlantic Salmon...
- SutherlandSutherlandSutherland is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic administrative county of Scotland. It is now within the Highland local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh , Asainte , and Cataibh...
External links
- Visit Wester Ross - a community website for the region.