The Highlands

Stac Pollaidh (the mountain to the right - pronounced 'stack polly') and Loch Lurgainn

The Achininver Youth Hostel, an old croft that has been preserved, modernized and turned into a somewhat remote and rugged hostel. It's not very far up the coast from Ullapool, but is a 25 mile drive (on single track roads) because there isn't a road that goes up the coast. And after that 25 mile drive on little roads, there's a 1/2 mile hike out to the hostel from the road. But it's a beautiful location. The mountain Ben Mòr Coigach is behind it - Coigach is the name for the area (A' Còigeach in Gaelic meaning "place of fifths. Land was often divided into 'fifths' in ancient times.) and Ben Mòr just means 'big mountain', so it is the 'big mountain of Coigach'.

For anyone interested in the Gaelic origins of place names, a nice book published by Scottish National Heritage is available for free as a pdf online: A' Ghàidhlig air Aghaidh na Tìre / Gaelic in the Landscape.

The opening of Loch Broom where it meets the sea (view from the hostel)

Advreck Castle on Loch Assynt - the 15th century seat of the MacLeods of Assynt. During its lifetime it was the scene of considerable violence. A siege in 1672 ended the MacLeod ownership of Assynt, after which it was never fully re-occupied. A lightning strike in 1795 largely destroyed it.

Carrbisdale Castle - now a hostel, it was built in 1914 for the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland. During World War II it was home to the exiled King Haakon VII of Norway. Apart from functioning as a hostel, it also currently houses a fairly large art and statue collection.
Carrbisdale Castle YH

Croik Church was completed in 1827. Its significance lies not in its age or building, but for the role it played in the Highland Clearances. By the end of the 18th century commercial sheep farming was starting to take hold in the Highlands and it became more profitable for landlords to evict their tenants to make room for the new livestock. In Glencalvie, near this church, the landlord succeeded in evicting 18 families (90 people) from their homes they had lived in for generations on 24 May 1845. Before they received their payments and left the area, they sheltered under makeshift tents erected against the east wall of the church and scratched names, dates, and short messages into the glass of the window. (The image to the left is of a window pane seen from the inside, the date 1845 is visible.) It is likely that the people did not shelter inside the church because at that time it would have been regarded as desecration of a holy place. The window is sad and deeply moving and makes the sight of the ruined croft foundations dotting the highland landscape all the more poignant.

Panorama of the Dornoch Firth, from the Struie viewpoint on its south side
Dornoch Firth panorama