Scotland – Ross and Cromarty

Photographs, words and illustrations Nick Sidle

Photograph – Slioch, Loch Maree

Beinn Eighe

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3314 foot mountain and National Nature Reserve designated in 1951, the first in Britain. Founding principle the primacy of nature, ‘nature comes first’. Now there are 43 NNR’s in Scotland managed by NatureScot where accommodating visitors and users of the land is also a priority so long as nature is safeguarded. Let’s all say yes to that.

Ben Mor Coigach

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Ben Mor Coigach, Scottish Gaelic ‘Beinn Mhòr na Còigich’, 2438 feet high peak in the Assynt Coigach National Scenic Area and a nature reserve in its own right, part of the clan lands of Mackenzie. A sobering thought is that the mountain was not pushed up to where it is now, instead the area was a sandstone plateau and water and ice erosion stripped away vast amounts of rock leaving the mountains as they are today, but they are just remnants of what used to be. Remnants can have beauty……

Cùl Beag

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Cùl Beag, 2523 foot mountain in the Coigach district of Ross and Cromarty, Highland Scotland. The Gaelic name translates as ‘Little Cul’ or ‘Small Back’ which is not a very inspiring label for a relatively low but dramatic peak. Lands linked with the Clan Mackenzie but also associated with the Vikings in older history.

Cùl Mòr

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Inverpolly. Many mountains in Scotland are said to have been made by Beira, Queen of Winter. Assynt Coigach where Cùl Mòr stands was shaped by glaciers so perhaps that’s true.

Five Sisters of Kintail

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Named after five daughters turned to stone the mountains are said to bring gifts for humanity: Individually food, security, healing, histories and the secrets of life and death. Walk in the land today with respect and you will be given all those.

Slioch

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From Gaelic Sleaghach, The Spear, Loch Maree, Ross. Loch Maree, home to the sad legend of a Norwegian prince and his bride and to a monster to rival Loch Ness. Slioch, born in the Caledonian Orogeny tectonic event, a geological pile up 450 million years ago, with a foundation of granitic gneiss and a cap of sedimentary sandstone, 3218 feet high (981m).

Ross and Cromarty Album