The Moor of Rannoch is as wild and sombre a stretch of country as any in Scotland,
especially when shrouded in mist or lashed by driving rain or snow, a terrifying wilderness for
the lonely walker. In good weather, however, the Moor is a world of shining lochs with
treeclad islets and sandy bays, the way clothed with waving grass and purple heather, with
unique views to delight the adventurous walker.
It covers some 20 square miles at a height of over a 1000 feet of peat and bog for the most
part, laid on granite. It is the Watershed of Central Scotland where rivers start their journeys
towards the Atlantic in the west and to the North Sea in the east. Over this area are scattered
thousands or enormous rocks which have been torn from the sides of the hills and corries by
a giant glacier moving eastwards 20,000 years ago.
No road connects the west and east side of the moor. Walkers should make their way from
Kinghouse Hotel on the Glencoe Road (A82) by Landrover track to Black Corries Shooting
Lodge, from where there is a path that takes to the higher ground near the pylons above
Loch Laidon and leads to a forest three miles long, descending to the small, silent station of
Rannoch on the West Highland Railway, a distance of 11 miles.
The railway which bisects the moor, took 5000 navvies and nearly five years to build, a task
made nearly impossible by the problem of peat and water. The peat had to be overlaid with
brushwood, tree roots and thousands of tons of ash so that the permanent way could be
floated across. Where this was impossible, just north of Rannoch station, a viaduct had to be
built but this was not easy. The bog was 20 feet deep and the moor swallowed everything
that was offered. Progress was so slow that the company ran out of money, and the whole
project was in jeopardy, until Mr. Renton one of the directors, gave part of his private fortune
to save the situation. The railway navvies showed their gratitude by manhandling a huge
boulder to nearby Rannoch station, and from it they sculptured an excellent head of Mr.
Renton using only the tools of their trade. The stone can be seen today on the platform at the
north end of the station.
The lochs on the moor are good for trout and the sandy shores and the islets attract
interesting birds, such as the black-throated diver, goosander and merganser, while on the
heather slopes are curlew and red grouse. Higher up, mountain hares and red deer may be
spotted, and with luck, the traveller may see a golden eagle or osprey. Even the boggy
stretches are not void of interest. There is an abundance of sweet smelling bog-myrtle and
the rare Rannoch Rush can be found, the latter a delicate little plant grown no-where else in
Britain. So rare is it that its habitat has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific
Interest (SSSI) to protect it.
At Rannoch Station and the nearby Moor of Rannoch Hotel a motor road makes its way over
rocky moorland landscape, passing at Loch Eigeach, the first of the chain of dams of the
Rannoch-Tummel power Scheme, and then running beside the River Gaur as it hurtles along
its boulder-strewn course. The river joins Loch Rannoch at the Bridge of Gaur where the
open waters stretch ten miles long to the village of Kinloch Rannoch at its eastern end.
The great valley containing the lochs of Rannoch (Dunalstain), and Tummel is renowned in
Scottish song and story. Stories of its mountains, lochs and rivers are interwoven with the
legends of the clans with the names of Robertson, Stewart, Menzies, MacGregor,
MacDonald, Cameron, and Macdougall. For, as the traveller takes the road on the north side
of the loch, called An Slios Min (meaning the smooth slopes) he is among the ancient
MacGregors, the Menzies and MacDonalds. On the south side of the loch he passes the
Blackwood of Rannoch, one of the last remnants of the ancient Caledonian Forest of
Scotland, where the Camerons, the MacDougalls and the Robertsons held sway.
Nearing Kinloch Rannoch, the shapely cone of the mountain called Schiehallion ( in Gaelic
the meaning is The Fairy Hill of the Caledonians ) dominates the views from the village
where the Stewarts were the most numerous clan. Of course the days of the clans are now
over; they are only a memory, though some of their tales and exploits are commemorated on
the Clan Trail information boards positioned at different places around the loch.
The journey from Kinghouse across the wilds of the Moor to the peace of Loch Rannochside
is an experience that is to be recommended. It may start as a bog-trotting excursion but with
stout boots and a stout heart there is no need to be alarmed.........the reward is worth it.
This article was kindly written especially for my Guide by Mr. A. Cunningham
who was working at Rannoch School at the time.
A list of accommodation in the area is given
here.
