Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Linnhe in 1828, six years after the canal was completed. Now the L-shaped tower ruins gaze
over the Glengarry Castle Hotel, itself having interesting architecture.
Unlike most other British canals, the Caledonian Canal has limitless water supplies. At In-
vergarry it is the River Garry that enters from Loch Garry past fragments of the old Caledoni-
an pine forest. Beyond a boathouse, the Calder Burn enters at Aberchalder, opposite a rocky
outcrop with heather and pines.
The village of Kilcumin was established by St Chumein, a follower of St Columba, who
set up a church. After the 1715 rebellion, a Hanoverian fort was built to help control the
Highlands from this strategically important point, remaining in military use until 1854. It was
sold in 1867 to the 14th Lord Lovat, whose son presented it to a Catholic Benedictine order.
St Benedict's Abbey was damaged during the 1745 uprising. A boys' public school was es-
tablished in it at the end of the 19th century. The school and clocktower were designed by
Joseph Hansom. The Abbey Church was largely designed by Pugin in English Gothic style
around the same time. The village was renamed Fort Augustus after William Augustus, the
Duke of Cumberland - probably the most hated Englishman in Scottish history - following
Culloden. (Fort William was named after William III.)
The central feature today is the five-lock staircase 12m down to the A82 swing bridge and
Loch Ness, the grass neatly mown all around although there is little to stop a customer stag-
gering out of the Lock Inn in the dark after a dram too many and falling into one of the large
lock chambers. Construction had to be undertaken with the stone at the base laid on moss to
prevent sand being blown upwards, the base of the bottom lock being 7.3m below Loch Ness
water level.
Landing pontoons are adjacent to the entrance to Loch Ness. Loch Ness is Scotland's most
famous loch. It is 35km long, covers 56km
2
and has a catchment of 1,777km
2
. It contains the
greatest volume of freshwater in Britain, is deeper than the North Sea at 250m and has the
greatest mean depth of any British lake at 130m. Its length has been swum, singly and doubly.
The shores are steep with underwater cliffs and the sea rises quickly with fierce squalls, 1.5m
waves not being unusual. Thus, it needs to be treated with great respect in bad weather, par-
ticularly when the wind is the prevailing south-westerly that blows straight up the loch. The
wave action and steep bed and sides mean that wildlife is not as extensive as on the smaller
lochs but the water is clearer and it has never been known to freeze, the temperature remain-
ing fairly constant at 5-7˚C, especially at the bottom.
The Allt Doe descends over a waterfall to enter the loch on the right side. A sheet of scree
slides down from 555m Beinn a' Bhacaidh, facing across to 607m high Burach. The latter is
surrounded by Portclair Forest.
Caravans at Rubha Bàn precede Invermoriston. General Wade's bridge over the River
Moriston was built after the 1715 Jacobite uprising. The Seven Men of Moriston sheltered
Prince Charlie for a month in 1746. Jacobite Roderick MacKenzie, who looked like the
