The The
We
offer self catering accommodation in Bruernish,
Isle of Barra and in Duror, Appin in Argyll.
Contact
Flora Macneil, phone +44 (0)
7813 860 776, Duror, Appin, Argyll, Scotland PA38 4DA
The house, which adjoins the main
house, is beside the River Duror close to
Accommodation consists of a kitchen/dining room, sitting room, toilet,
bathroom, double bedroom and twin bedroom. The kitchen has an electric cooker, fridge
freezer, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer. The sitting room has
television and video player. There is also a comfortable bed-settee for an
extra two guests, if required. There is central heating and an electric fire in
the sitting room.
Bedding, linen and towels are provided.
The scenery and wildlife are
spectacular. Mountains, waterfalls, caves, seals, otters, golden eagles, deer, pine-martens.
There's also a huge range of tourist attractions in the area: the world famous
Sea Life Sanctuary, haunted Barcaldine Castle, boat hire, horse-riding......
There’s a nine-hole golf course just a few minutes drive away in Ballachulish.
It’s a paradise for walkers
and climbers. You may be heading for the hills or enjoying the wonderful
low level coastal walking. We walk and climb ourselves, and we can give you any
advice you require.
Oban (about 40 minutes away) is the
gateway to the isles and you can take day trips to the Inner Hebrides,
including Mull, Iona and the famous Fingal’s Cave on Staffa. The town also has a supermarket, cinema,
swimming pool and sports centre and is a lively tourist town with a variety of
events and exhibitions. In winter, you have a choice of two ski centres –
Glencoe and
Self catering rates vary from £300 -
£450 per week for up to six guests, according to the season, pro rata for
weekends or short breaks.
Contact Flora Macneil, phone +44 (0)
7813 860 776, Duror, Appin, Argyll, Scotland PA38 4DA
Mingulay cottage is situated in the
hamlet of Bruernish in the north-east of Barra,
about one mile off the main road which encircles the island. It is named after
the now uninhabited
The cottage is a recently renovated
traditional croft-house with double glazing and electric heating. If you have
an Ordnance Survey map, the national grid reference is (0)723 (7)020
(Landranger 31)
On the ground floor there is an open
plan kitchen, dining and living area. The kitchen is well-equipped with a
fridge, an electric cooker and a washing machine/dryer. The sitting area has a
television and a king-sized bed in a recess.
A loft ladder, which can be folded
away when not in use, leads to two upper bedrooms, each with two single beds.
These rooms are not full height, as in all traditional croft-houses, but are
ideal for children (or nimble adults!).
Bedding is provided (duvets and
pillows), but please bring your own linen and towels. If this is impossible we
can supply them at a small extra charge.
It's best to bring your own supplies
of food with you for the first couple of days on the island. There are three
food shops on he island, including a small supermarket, and travelling shops.
You can travel to Barra on the car
ferry, "The Lord of the Isles", which leaves from Oban. Information
about ferries can be obtained from Caledonian MacBrayne. There are daily
flights from
You can hire cars, taxis and bicycles
on the island or travel in the Post Office bus, which delivers the
Rates for the cottage range from £160
- £220 per week, according to the season.
Contact Flora Macneil, phone +44 (0)
7813 860 776, Duror, Appin, Argyll, Scotland PA38 4DA
The lands of "Durrour, Glencoe
and the iles of Tirree and
The modern settlement of Duror is
about 100 miles from
The whole area is rich in natural
beauty, wildlife and history. These are just some of the places you can visit:
The island of Lismore, south of
Duror, was in important centre in earlier times when most trade was sea-borne.
It contains the ruins of of brochs, castles and religious sites associated with
St Moluag who established a church here in 561AD. This is a limestone island
and the gentle scenery is in complete contrast to the rugged mainland hills.
The belt of limestone through Glen Stockdale
contains the deepest cave in Scotland, and many other caves some of which were
used as hiding places during troubled times in the past. The walk through the
glen, from Appin to Duror is a fine low level excursion, with breathtaking
views of sea and mountain scenery.
Glen Duror was the home of James of the Glens, who was unjustly executed for the
murder of Colin Campbell in 1752. The murderer was never caught, but James was
arrested and found guilty by a jury of
Glen Duror is the ancient route
through the hills to Ballachulish, beneath the towering peaks of Beinn
a'Bheithir, the peak of storms. The glen is haunted by a spirit in the form of
a beautiful woman, the green lady, who appears to solitary travellers.
Stewart's Cave lies behind a waterfall, close to the village. Stewart of Ardsheal hid here
after the defeat of Bonny Prince Charlie in the 1745 rebellion. His house, on
the Ardsheal peninsula, west of Duror, was cordoned off and his wife and baby
son were held prisoner while troops carried out extensive searches for him. He
escaped to
The Great Glen Fault runs across the
North of Duror, and close to Glencoe,
is the site of the Battle
of Laroch where Finn MacCool defeated the Vikings in an epic
struggle. It is said that the waters of the river Laroch ran red with blood.
The trenches still visible on the slopes of Sgorr nam Fiannaidh are said to be
the remains of Finn’s fortifications.
Glencoe is known throughout the world, as the scene of the infamous massacre of
Clan Donald by government troops in 1692. It is also one of the most
spectacular mountain areas in
Beinn a'Bheithir is one of the many
Munros in the area around Duror. The mountain consists of a summit
ridge with the prominent summits of Sgurr Dhonnuil and Sgurr Dearg. This is one
of the
Glencoe (20 minutes drive from Duror) is world famous for walking and climbing
and it is impossible to do the area justice in this small space. Classic walks
include the ascent of Buachaille Etive Mor, a walk into Coire Gabhail (often
called the Lost or
For climbers, there is everything from
the traditional (but often serious) routes like Crowberry Ridge and Agag's
Groove to the modern extremes. In winter, there's the same range from Grade 1
to Grade 5.
In Glen Etive, to the south of Glencoe,
there is more fine walking, and the famous Trilleachan Slabs - smooth granite
slabs at a deceptively easy angle which offer the ultimate in friction
climbing.
On the north face of
The road up Glen Nevis on the
south side of the Ben, leads past the Lower Falls and the crags at Pol Dubh
(which are ideal for bad weather climbing) to a car park at the top of the
glen. From here it is possible to walk through the Steall Gorge and on to
Kinlochleven.
The Mamores form a 3000 ft high wall along the south side of Glen Nevis. The peaks
can be ascended from Glen Nevis or from Kinlochleven and a traverse of the
whole ridge is a hard, but magnificent mountaineering day.
Kinlochleven (30 minutes from Duror) is a good base for the Mamores and also a good
base for canyonning. The Nathrach Gorge and the Gray Mare's Tail are serious
undertakings. The village also has the biggest indoor ice climbing facility in
the world, the
At the head of Loch Creran (20
minutes from Duror) there are two Munros,
Beinn Sgulaird and Beinn Fhionnlaidh and a range of low level walks. You can
also walk through to Glen Etive.
The Munros are Scottish mountains
that are 3000 feet or more in height, named after Sir Hugh Munro who compiled
the original list.
There is a distinction between Munros
and Munro tops. To be a Munro, a summit must be "such as may be fairly
reckoned a distinct mountain". Tops need only be summits above 3000 feet.
They could, for example, be hummocks on a summit plateau.
There are well over 500 tops and
nearly 300 Munros. Improved surveying techniques and fine philosophical
discussion mean that Munros and tops are sometimes re-classified. If a top is
recognised as a new Munro, there is a rush of munro-baggers to get to the
summit.
These are the walkers who aim to
climb every Munro. The ascent of the last Munro is traditionally followed by a
summit party. The truly dedicated are the Munro toppers, who aim to reach every
top.
Barra is named after St Barr who
founded a church there in the sixth century. The ending "a" or
sometimes "ay" is a Viking ending signifying an island. For many
centuries Barra was part of the Viking kingdoms which extended from the
Barra is only about 8 miles long (13
km) from Scurrival Point in the north, to the Sound of Vatersay in the south,
and little more than 5 miles wide. The main road makes a 14 mile circuit of the
island, with a spur running north to Eoligarry and another running south over
the recently completed causeway to the adjoining
The rocky east coast of the island
looks out over The Minch to the mountains of Skye. The west coast looks out
over the wide expanse of the
The west side is dominated by
spectacular white beaches. They are usually deserted and you can walk along the
Traigh Each, the
The spine of the island is formed by
a low range of hills, culminating in Heaval (1264 ft). The ascent of Heaval is
easy and gives fine views of the chain of uninhabited islands to the south -
Sandray, Pabbay, Mingulay and Berneray.
The main settlement is Castlebay,
named after the ancient
Presumably he survived the deluge,
because by the middle ages the Macneils could put 200 armed warriors into the
field. This was no mean feat for such a small clan.
Today most of the islanders are still
Macneils, most are Gaelic speakers and the island is a lively centre of Gaelic
culture. There are regular ceilidhs and the feis, or music festival, is the
highlight of the year.
There is a nine hole golf course on
the west coast, a swimming pool, a library and a heritage centre in Castlebay.
You can hire cars and bikes on the island and walk anywhere on Barra or
Vatersay.
It's worth taking a trip to the small
airport on the Traigh Mhor to watch the passenger aircraft land on the beach.
After it's taken off to return to
If you would like to
go further afield, you could take a boat trip to the
Mingulay has some of the highest sea
cliffs in
The island was inhabited until 1912.
The deserted village is a moving memorial to all those who made their living in
this beautiful but harsh location.
Although the island shows signs of
habitation from Neolithic times, the first inhabitant we know of is Kenneth
MacPhee who lived there sometime in the 15th Century. As a child, Kenneth was
one of only a handful of survivors from a fearful clan massacre on the island
of Eigg. They fled to Barra and when Kenneth grew up, he became the rent
collector for the Macneil.
One year, the Mingulay people failed
to come to Barra with their rents. Kenneth was sent to investigate and when he
landed he found the whole population dead from the plague. The boatmen who had
landed him refused to take him back on board in case he had become infected and
he lived alone on the island for weeks. He sheltered in a cave on the hillside,
and everyday he climbed the hill to see if a boat was coming for him. The hill
is now known as Macphee's hill. He survived his ordeal and Macneil granted him
land and rents on the island.
Four hundred years later, at the
start of the 20th century, his descendant Neil MacPhee (
In recent years, Mingulay has seen
something of a re-birth as climbers have discovered the huge potential of the
sea-cliffs.
Duror - Origin unknown
Cuil Bay (Cul Bay) - Bay of the hollow
Glencoe (possibly Glean Con) - Glen of the dogs
Lismore (Lios Mor) - Great enclosure or great garden. This may refer to St
Moluag’s religious settlement, or to the greaty variety of wild flowers!
Beinn a'Bheithir - Hill of the Thunderbolt
Buachaille Etive Mor - Great Herdsman of Etive
Coire Gabhail - Corrie of plunder or loot. The Macdonalds hid their stolen
cattle here.
Bidean nam Bian - Peak of peaks
Stob Coire nan Lochan - Peak of the corrie of the lochan (small loch or lake)
Sgorr
nam Fiannaidh – Peak of the Fianna (Finn MacCool’s legendary band of warriors)
Aonach Eagach - Serrated ridge
Ben Nevis - Probably Venomous mountain
Mamores - Probably Big Hills
Kinlochleven - Head of Loch Leven
Beinn Sgulaird - Origin unknown
Beinn Fhionnlaidh - Finlay's hill
Many of the place names in the
islands are derived from Old Norse, the language spoken by the Vikings who
settled here from the eight to the thirteenth century. These notes are mostly
from "The Norse Place Names of Barra" by Carl Hj Borgstrom in
"The Book of Barra"
-ay or -ey means an island.
Barra (Barray) - St Barr's island
Vatersay - Possibly from the Gaelic Bhatasaidh, Island of boats
Sandray (Sandey or Sand - rif -ay) - Island of Sand or Island of Sandy Reefs
Pabbay (Papay) - Hermit's island
Mingulay (Mikil ay) - Big island
Eriskay (Eiriksay) - Erik's Island
Nes means a headland, as does Tangi
(see below)
Bruernish (Bruarnes) - Headland of
the bridge. There may have been a bridge across the very narrow inlet on the
south side of the headland.
Fjal means a hill or mountain
Heaval (Hafjall) - High hill
Tangaval (Tangafjall) - Hill of the headland
Traigh is Gaelic for a beach
Traigh Mhor - Big Beach
Traigh Each - Beach of horses
The Dewar Manuscripts - Oral traditions from Duror and Appin describing events during and
after the 1745 rebellion. Out of print but available in many Scottish
libraries, often in the reference section.
Kidnapped - RL Stevenson's classic tale. Much of the action takes place in and
around Duror and it includes an account of the famous Appin murder. Widely
available and the subject of several films and TV dramas.
Walks: Oban and North Argyll by Paul Williams. Hallewell publications.
The Book of Barra - "Being an account of the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides
written by various authors at various times, together with unpublished letters
and other matters relating to the island" First published in 1936,
re-published 1998 by Acair Ltd, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.
Mingulay - a thoroughly researched and fascinating book by Ben Buxton, published
in 1995 by Birlinn Ltd, Edinburgh
Whisky Galore - Compton Mackenzie's hilarious novel, based upon the true story of the
stranding of a ship load of whisky in between Barra and Eriskay during the
Second World war. It is better known as one of the classic Ealing comedy films,
called "Whisky Galore" in the UK and "Tight Little Island"
in the US. Much of it was filmed on Barra. The film is available on video and DVD
Walks
: Western Isles by
Luke Williams. Includes walks on Barra, Vatersay and Eriskay. Hallewell
publications.