Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: pier

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Highlands Holiday - Red Point, Torridon and a hidden gem

Thursday promised to be the best day of our two remaining days so, with the sun shining, we decided to head down Torridon way and maybe have a walk to Loch Clair and then just take things from there. We then would have three options; we could go to Shieldaig on the coast and then do a circular route back round to Loch Maree; we could drive on the coastal road to Applecross but we would need sunny weather for this, or we could go over to Lower Diabaig which is an old fishing village at the head of Loch Torridon. Sal had been to Applecrosss and driven part of the Shielbaig road so the obvious place would be Lower Diabaig.

Whilst Sal was getting ready, I jumped in the car and paid a quick visit to Red Point Beach. I only drove about nine miles but the difference in the weather was quite marked. Looking across to the North West, it was ok but there looked to be some terrible weather over on Skye and behind me, Torridon didn't look too promising either. I just managed to walk down to the beach, take some photos and get back to the car before the heavens opened. Fortunately it was only a quick shower and the weather was nice again by the time I got back to Badachro.

Sal was ready for the off so we jumped back in the car and headed for Loch Maree. Our first port of call was Victoria Falls, named after Queen Victoria who used to come and spend her summers in this area. They were quite spectacular but the sun was directly in front which made it nigh-on impossible for us to get a good shot. No visit to this area would be complete without the customary photos of Loch Maree and its Munro "Slioch" which is Gaelic for The Spear and, as the sun was still shining, we both got some belting photos of both.

It was then on to Glen Torridon. We parked opposite the track to the Coulin Estate which, if followed its entire length, goes through some fabulous mountain scenery but we just walked down to Loch Clair and as far the bridge separating it from Loch Coulin. We hadn't really done any walking so far in the holiday so I thought it would do us both the world of good, and it did.

We started off in nice bright weather but I could see the rain clouds building up over the hills. Past experience in the Lakes has told me that weather can be very localized and that proved to be the case. We did get a few spots of light rain but nothing compared to what seemed to be coming down less that a mile away across the other side of the Loch. The autumn colours were fabulous as were the views of the high Torridon hills.We both thoroughly enjoyed our little excursion.

The word "coffee" kept being murmured on our walk back to the car plus we were both getting a bit peckish so we headed straight to a great little cafe which was incorporated in with the local Torridon Stores. We both gave the cappuccinos and bacon butties 5 out of 5 which ranked them up there with the very best. I think our only other two 5 star coffee shops are the one at Lanercost Priory in Cumbria and the one at Ripley Castle in North Yorkshire.

Fed and watered we set off for our final destination, Lower Diabaig. The narrow road followed the right hand side of Loch Torridon before rising up in a series of zig-zags to a pass named Bealach na Gaoithe which is Gaelic for The Pass of the Wind. The views back across Upper Loch Torridon and over to Applecross were stunning even though they were hampered a bit by the cloud and rain squalls sweeping across but on a clear day I reckon you could see for mile after mile.

The road then continued towards Loch Daibaigas Airde where we had even more superb albeit terrifying views. If you are afraid of heights then I'd recommend not to look down to the loch as the it is far, far below the road and it looks a pretty sheer drop! Talk about vertigo!!

The rest of the journey down to Lower Diabaig was pretty uneventful apart from a nice rainbow momentarily appearing. The place itself consisted of a lovely collection of cottages dotted on the hill-side along the road which eventually lead down to the pier. There was lots more evidence that in the past it had been quite a busy fishing village and I think a few locals still fish from there but it is mainly oyster fishing. There was old fishing huts boarded up and also one or two run down cottages that were just screaming out for a bit of tlc, it was such a shame.

I think most of the houses and cottages must be holiday lets as I have been there three times now and have hardly seen anyone at all. Infact I think I've seen more herons there than people; one was stood at the water's edge fishing for its dinner whilst we were there and I've seen them on previous occasions as well.

Our drive back was by the same route and we were both really glad to get back to Badachro and just chill-out. I think this may have been the longest day of our holiday and we had crammed a lot in it.

There are two thinks of note about Lower Diabaig -

1/ There is a shipwreck just offshore called The Dayspring which broke its moorings during a hurricane in 2005 and ended up in Lower Diabaig.

2/ It has its own Pub and Restaurant called Gille Brighde at the old schoolhouse which gets good write ups but for obvious reasons it is closed Oct-Apr.

Red Point Beach

Sand dunes, Red Point Beach

Victoria Falls, Slatterdale

Slioch

Capturing The View, Loch Maree

Coulin Forest, Torridon

Sgurr Dubh, Torridon

Coulin Estate Bridge

Sal, Loch Clair

Loch Clair

Coulin Bridge

Locg Clair

Loch Clair

Upper Loch Torridon from the Bealach na Gaoithe

Bealach na Gaoithe

Lower Diabaig

Shipwrech, Lower Diabaig

Old Fishing Sheds, Lower Diabaig

Lower Diabaig Pier

The Costa del Whitehaven

Interesting facts about Whitehaven -

George Washington’s Granny is buried in Whitehaven.
During the American War of Independence, Whitehaven was briefly invaded by American forces. Father of the US Navy John Paul Jones, raided the town in April 1778 . He took the fort, spiked its guns, burned a few coal ships, and made off in his vessel Ranger with three prisoners.
Jonathon Swift Author of Gulliver's Travels who later became Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin was kidnapped by his nurse as an infant and brought to Whitehaven for 3 years and taught to read.
William Wordsworth's uncle Richard lived in Whitehaven and was keeper of Customs for the district and his son was rector at Moresby.
Bounty “mutineer’’ Peter Heywood, who was granted a Royal pardon and escaped the hangman’s rope, once lived in Whitehaven. Peter joined the Bounty which was bound for the South Sea Islands to make scientific observations. Captain Bligh was a strict disciplinarian and as a result there was much discontent among the crew. On arrival at the Friendly Islands this culminated in open mutiny headed by Fletcher Christian, the Master’s Mate.
Whitehaven folk are known as Jam Eaters, supposedly because they can’t afford meat in their sandwiches. This goes back to the mining days of the 18th century.
In the 17th and 18th centuries Whitehaven was involved in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, and the role of British trade in shipping millions of Africans into slavery in the Americas. It grew rich from trade that depended upon slavery: tobacco from Virginia and, most famously, rum and sugar from slave plantations in the Caribbean.

And that's about it...good or bad, that is what Whitehaven is famous for!

Personally I right like the place. The shopping area is pretty run down but the harbour and marina (which have had a lot of money thrown at them over the years) are always busy and a pleasure to walk round. The marina is still being developed, both as a leisure and as a residential area.

Me and Sal paid a quick visit there the other week with our cameras and spent a very enjoyable couple of hours shopping, drinking coffee and taking photographs. The sun was shining which is always a bonus and our drive back to the caravan conveniently went past the Pheasant Inn at Bassenthwaite, which was a double bonus!

Local youth project in Whitehaven

Back to back

Catagorical!

Whitehaven marina

Harbour entrance

Whitehaven Lighthouse

Harbour entrance

Lighthouse and Sal

Whitehaven old harbour

Harbour wall

To the Badachro Inn for a last pint.

These photos were taken on my last night in Wester Ross. It was a gorgeous evening so I decided to go for a final pint in The Badachro Inn just up the road. The setting is idyllic with the beer garden sitting just on the edge of the loch. For such a small place, the pub does a roaring trade and not, I might add, just from passing tourists. There were a fair few red faced, bulbous nosed local fishermen propping up the bar when I was there and none looked as though they had any intention of leaving anytime soon.

The village looks out onto an inlet projecting south from Loch Gairloch and is well guarded from the elements by the rocky islet of Eilean Horrisdale. The area was long renowned for its cod fishing, and Badachro's growth was as a result of that. When the fishery was in full operation much of the cod landed at Gairloch was dried at Badachro before being shipped to markets in Spain. Today the area's main catch comprises of lobsters, crabs and prawns: and the piles of lobster pots on Badachro's jetty plus the characters in the pub suggest that the village is still an active base for fishing vessels. Most of the boats on view in the inlet though,are leisure craft and very expensive they look too.

I usually go up to Melvaig, which is on the peninsula to the north of Gairloch, when in these parts but I didn't have the time this year. On the drive up, the views across the bay back towards Torridon are terrific so before returning to my hotel, I had a quick scoot across to take a few shots of the late evening sun on the hills. I was surprised how well they turned out and it was a fitting end to my stay.