Welcome to HOLIDAY West Highland - Discover the West Highlands

Loch Awe - at the foot of Ben Cruachan

Author Holiday West Highland

IMAGINE being in Greater London with its many millions of workers and dwellers. Now think of an area of similar size in the West Highlands but with a population of only 800. Yes, you’’ve got it, you’’re at Loch Awe.

Imagine only 800 people in 610 square miles of glorious scenery dominated by Ben Cruachan and the loch itself.

There could’n’t be a greater contrast between the noise and pollution of a capital city and the pure West Highlands air at Loch Awe. At the height of the season the population may treble but there still room for everyone. We at Holiday West Highland can be forgiven for using the words ‘fabulous, magnificent, beautiful, entrancing, wonderful, incredible’ and so on as the whole area is superlatively stunning.

But all these are attributable to Loch Awe. Centrally positioned in Argyll it’s within easy reach from the Cowal peninsula, Inveraray, Lochgilphead and Oban and you’’ll have a drive through marvellous scenery whichever road you use. But for a stay here there are plenty of hotels, guesthouses, caravans, lodges and self-catering cottages all over the Loch Awe area at Dalmally, Ardanaseig, Bridge of Orchy and other places – something to suit all tastes and budgets. Handsome Victorian piles, country houses, modern hotels, Loch Awe has them all.

Kilchurn Castle is the gem of Loch Awe and another constantly photographed view. On a fantastic location at the head of the loch, the castle was for 400 years a Campbell stronghold but is thought to have originally been in the hands of the McGregor clan. The Campbells being on the Hanoverian side in Jacobite times it was extended to include a barracks. The subjugation of the Highland clans led to the castle being abandoned at the end of the eighteenth century. It caught fire during a lightning strike although some think a vengeful McGregor was the culprit. It can be visited by road or by boat. The loch was lowered in late Victorian times for a road to be built, exposing several ancient crannogs.

Record fish have been caught in Loch Awe including a brown trout weighing 30 pounds. It’’s claimed an even bigger one at 39.5lbs was caught in the nineteenth century.

The beautiful St Conan’s Church makes an ideal setting for a wedding. The Lakes poet William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, were greatly inspired by this area and it will surely inspire you. There’s a hollow mountain on the shores of Loch Awe.

Huge turbines were built inside Ben Cruachan for a massive hydroelectric scheme and the great thing is that you can see them. You can go right into the heart of this mountain, one mile inside, and see the turbines at work using the water from the loch. There’s a visitor centre at the power station with ample parking. You can see the waters tumbling through the Pass of Brander where they narrow and deepen before gushing through the barrage for the hydro-electric scheme.

Nearby Dalmally is an ancient village and home to a large auction mart which makes for a fascinating day out, with farmers discussing the livestock and the auctioneer taking bids. The village also has one of the largest agricultural shows in the area, an important event for local cattle breeders. At Dalmally is a memorial to the ‘Robbie Burns’ of Gaelic poetry, Duncan Ban MacIntyre, a shepherd of Glen Orchy, famous for his poems In Praise of Ben Dorain, Song of the Misty Corrie and others, who was around to chronicle the infamous Highland clearances.

Dalmally also has a railway station where you can catch a train to Oban or Glasgow. At Kilchrenan and Dalavich there are plenty of forest trails for cycling or walking. But it’s the loch that is the star. Nearly 30 miles long, it’’s massive. One of its tiny islands is the burial place of the Dukes of Argyll. On others you’’ll find traces of early settlements or where cattle were kept before being driven to market along the drover’s roads. In the old days it was easiest to travel by boat and ferries regularly plied the loch bring food, goods, coal and livestock. Boats can be hired today and there are also organized steamboat and other boat trips. What a way to see the loch in all its glory. Both the River Awe and the River Orchy flow into the loch and are great for some serious fishing as well as the loch. Fabulous Glen Orchy with its tumbling river and waterfalls is a canoeist’s delight. It’s a quiet, almost hidden glen of great beauty and a wonderful place to while away a warm afternoon.

Glen Orchy, between Dalmally and Bridge of Orchy, is only twelve miles long. In 1792 there were ten settlements here with a total of 152 people but now there are only a handful of permanent residents. Many emigrated from here and there are at least three other Glen Orchys in the world.