Big Old Stone Slipway Applecross West Highland Scotland
by OBT Imaging
Title
Big Old Stone Slipway Applecross West Highland Scotland
Artist
OBT Imaging
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
The Applecross Peninsula lies in the old county of Wester Ross and projects westwards from the mainland towards Raasay and the Isle of Skye. Shaped like a west-facing axe blade, its neck is formed by the single track A896 running from Shieldaig in the north to Kishorn in the south. Using this road it is possible for anyone travelling the west coast to bypass Applecross altogether: but anyone who does so has missed some of the best scenery in Scotland.
Much of Applecross's attraction lies in its remoteness and its distinctive history. In 1822 a road was built from Kishorn in the east and over the Bealach na Ba, or Pass of the Cattle to Applecross village. The pass is sometimes called the Bealach nam Bo, but we've stuck with the Ordnance Survey version of the name. Until 1975 Applecross comprised of two very distinct and unconnected communities. The 1822 "Parliamentary" road to the village of Applecross from Kishorn continued down the coast via Camusterrach to Toscaig linking them together and to the outside world (to some extent). But there was no road at all north of the village of Applecross, only paths and tracks suitable at best for horses or hardy motorcycles. As a result the settlements along the north coast were accessible only by sea.
This was fine in the days when travel and transport by sea were the norm for much of western Scotland, and in 1884 as many as 400 people were recorded as living along the north coast of the peninsula. But in the age of the internal combustion engine this lack of a road spelled the end for many of these north coast communities. By the time the road was built along the coast from Applecross to meet the A896 near Shieldaig it was far too late, and most of the population had already left. A commemorative stone with a plaque near the Shieldaig end of the road records the opening, after five years of construction, of the Shieldaig to Kenmore section on 11 May 1970. It was to be a further five years until the whole road from Applecross to Shieldaig was finished.
Uploaded
March 7th, 2021
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