LOCH NAN UAMH

Bonnie Prince Charlie has been popping up all over the place during my virtual meander around the Scottish coast, but few places can rival Loch Nan Uamh for the significance of their link to the Prince. It was here that Charles Edward Stuart landed at the start of the 1745 rebellion, and it was also here that he finally departed for France 14 months later after the ill-fated escapade was abandoned following the defeat at Culloden. There is a cave on the loch, below Arisaig House (now a hotel), where the Prince and his fellow fugitives hid from the English redcoats. There is a memorial cairn on the shore of the loch marking the spot where the Prince landed. Harking back to much earlier times, there is an Iron Age fort on a headland to the south; the fort is unusual in that the stones used to build it became "vitrified" probably due to intense heat from the accidental burning of the timber used to strengthen the walls. The other major feature of the loch, at its head, is the Gleann Mama Viaduct, built for the West Highland Railway and boasting eight arches. The viaduct provides passengers on the Jacobite, or "Harry Potter train" with wonderful views out over the loch and its beautiful shoreline.

Map of the area.

Loch nan Uamh - geograph.org.uk - 412224. Photo by Dave Fergusson, via Wikimedia Commons.