Stop Six: Ballachulish

The drive from Portree to Ballachulish via Ft. William was yet another one full of beautiful scenery. In this case, the fields along the road were full of stags for large parts of the journey.

The point of visiting Ballachulish for the very first time was to visit the village (pop. 639) where my great, great grandfather was born and worked in the slate quarry (seen in the foreground of the picture). What I was not expecting was how picturesque the area was. Located on the shores of Loch Leven and beneath the twin peaks of Beinn a' Bheithir, with the River Laroch running through the middle of it, Ballachulish was one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited in Scotland.

The first day in the village was mainly spent exploring the quarry and the surrounding area and finished with dinner at the village's one pub, The Laroch, where I dined on (venison) bangers and mash while watching a UEFA Cup match- not a bad way to spend an evening.

On day two I walked a mile down the road to Glencoe where I visited the monument erected to commemorate the thirty-seven members of the MacDonald clan killed by government forces in 1692. I returned to Ballachulish where I visited St. John's Church and walked the Brecklet Path above and behind the quarry.

One final fact about Ballahculish, the bank is open two days a week for a total of five hours.