BARCALDINE

When researching Barcaldine on Google, I kept seeing references to bushfires, which was perturbing, because you don't hear about many bushfires in Scotland. However, it transpires that there is a Barcaldine in Queensland Australia, where bushfires have been raging during the last week or so, so let's breathe a sigh of relief for Barcaldine Scotland, but say a little prayer for its Australian counterpart. Barcaldine is on the south shore of Loch Creran and its main purpose in life is the provision of boat yard and marina facilities. The 16th century Barcaldine Castle, otherwise known as the "Black Castle" was the ancient seat of the Campbells of Barcaldine. The castle now provides elegant holiday accommodation and wedding facilities. Walkers can take the waymarked Sutherland's Grove forest walk, which passes a gorge on the way up and offers wonderful views of the islands and mountains on the way back down.

Map of the area.

Loch Creran, at Barcaldine. Photo by Colin Smith, via Wikimedia Commons.