Local A to Z Guide of the Loch Lomond AreaThis area will be updated on a frequent basis with information and interesting articles on the local area. Please check back soon for updates. View the Archive for previous insertions. © Copyright Notice: All the information appearing on this page is copyright of John (Sion) Barrington and may not be reproduced without his explicit consent. Our thanks to Sion who is a local Historian and Author of note with a vast knowledge of all things historical about Scotland in general and our local area in particular. Buy his books from your retailer and gain a real insight into Scotland's History. C - "Corbetts"Within the boundary of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, there are 20 mountains between 2500ft and 2999ft. That is a good percentage of the 221 Scottish mountains classified as Corbetts, and there are another 13 within easy distance. If you add these to the 21 Munros inside the Park, over 3000ft, with ten more close at hand, there is a lot of climbing to be had! John Rooke Corbett was a keen member of the Scottish Mountaineering Club, who completed his Munro list in 1930. Corbett then set about everything over 2000ft – and there are a lot of those! The list was not published until after his death. Corbett insisted on a descent of 500ft on all sides of a summit, making his mountains more clearly defined than Munros. Some may consider Corbetts to be rather inferior hills – they are most certainly not. With the likes of The Cobbler (2899ft/884m), Beinn a’Choin (2525ft/770m) and Beinn Odhar (2995ft/901m) in the area, climbers are spoiled for choice. These are some of the finest hills in Scotland. What ever they lack in height they more than make up for in character. And the views are just as good! In Scotland there has always been a freedom to roam on the hills and moorland – now enshrined in law. With these rights come a few responsibilities , to take care of our countryside and remember that some people make their living from these hills. At certain times of the year there will be lambing, grouse shooting and deer stalking. Also take care of yourself. Be sure to be properly kitted out – and that someone knows where you are going.
C - "Crianlarich"Crianlarich is either a little pass (crion lairig), which it is certainly not, or aspen trees by a ruin (critheann laraich), a more plausible explanation. Aspen was held in high regard by our ancestors. The wreaths or chaplets worn by the heroes of old would allow them to enter the mysterious Underworld – and return quite unharmed. Shields made from aspen wood offered protection against supernatural forces as well as mortal powers. Crianlarich is one of the last romantic railway junctions. Here the West Highland Line from Glasgow splits either side of Strath Fillan, to Oban and Fort William. At the junction trains are divided or joined and goods traffic, mostly timber, is shunted. Sixty miles from Queen Street Station, the final five miles into Crianlarich requires some serious climbing. This is waterfall country and the ascent is over five hundred feet. This is the heart of the ancient Celtic earldom of Breadalbane – the High Country of the Scots. Crianlarich is surrounded by the grandest and wildest mountain scenery in the National Park. Rich, too, in folklore and legend, as tales of mythical warriors intertwine with stories of medieval saints. Perhaps a few of the old, gnarled pine trees, standing alongside the railway and the A82, witnessed such times. Crianlarich is popular with walkers. The West Highland Way has given a boost to the local economy, this is one of the favourite overnight halts. It has been claimed that it would be possible to fish a new river-beat or fresh loch every day for a year – a challenge for any angler! But it is to the hills that many are drawn, for shooting, for stalking and, most of all, for climbing. Just as well, Crianlarich is home to the Mountain Rescue Service. |
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