Short Break in Arisaig

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Short Break in Arisaig

AFTER an unusually cold March signs of spring have been sparse here in Perthshire. We recently set off for the West Coast, hoping to find buds bursting, and the winter landscape turning green. For the duration of our three-day stay, the country was bathed in sunshine and, on our return home, the larches were almost as green as those we had left behind in Morar.

We already knew the Road to the Isles and had taken the train to the busy little port of Mallaig more than once, so we chose a slightly different route to our destination. An abiding memory of our stay in Arisaig will be watching while two otters leapt and gamboled in the sea, their lithe bodies twisting and turning in a joyful marine dance.

Our journey from home was by the northerly route to Fort William where we gazed at the massive bulk of snow-covered Ben Nevis, with its surrounding peaks. Snow seems to enhance the defining features of many hills. While the mountain’s summit glistened, the crags of the severe north face were black in contrast. We drove the south side of Loch Eil where the road was almost devoid of traffic.

Glencoe’s peaks came into view with an ethereal Buachaille Etive Mor soaring above the blackness of the snow-free Pap of Glencoe. We turned inland to Strontian at the east end of remote and beautiful Loch Sunart. The country is well wooded and banks beneath the ancient trees were studded with primroses and coltsfoot.

Strontian has a charming village green and it is a surprise to learn that this isolated area provided the lead for bullets used in the Napoleonic wars. The village is unusual in deriving its name from the chemical element discovered there and also mined from the end of the18th century. Strontium is used in the manufacture of fireworks to give the colour red. The mines three miles to the north of the village now belong to an aggregate company.

Driving north took us through a superb landscape of lochs and hills until, approaching the coast, the iconic Sgurr of Eigg and the skyline of Rum came into view. An early evening otter-watch provided not only the two dancers, but others climbing on and off a tiny, distant island where they consumed their latest catch while a greater black-backed gull and two corvids looked on. Our own delightful evening meal (also fish) was provided by the Old Library Restaurant in Arisaig.

To the north of the village are the white sands of Morar. Take a walk along these spectacular beaches, which offer views of the Cuillin range of Skye as well as Rum and Eigg. The coast here was used in the memorable film ‘Local Hero’. A short distance inland Loch Morar stretches away twelve miles eastwards. It is the deepest loch in Scotland and possibly in Europe. Considering its proximity to the coast it seems remarkable that it is 1,000 feet deep just six miles inland. Like Loch Ness, Morar also has a ‘monster’, Morag. On an island at the far end an early seminary was built, but destroyed after 1746. Arisaig and Morar traditionally have many Catholics.

A brief stop at Glenfinnan on our journey home reminded us of the area’s many associations with Bonnie Prince Charlie. On 19 August, 1745 he landed in Loch nan Uamh south of Arisaig from the French vessel ‘Du Teillay’. Several clans joined him and they eventually started on their journey south. After the appalling disaster of Culloden Charles went into hiding, escaping back to France in September 1746 from his point of arrival just the year before. The impressive memorial at Glenfinnan, where he raised his standard, was put up in 1815.