Balmaha
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The Main Street in Balmaha | |
Location within the Stirling council area | |
Population | 60 (approximately) |
OS grid reference | NS420909 |
Civil parish | |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Glasgow |
Postcode district | G63 |
Dialling code | 01360 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Balmaha (Gaelic: Baile Mo Thatha) is a village on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond in the council area of Stirling, Scotland.
The village is a popular tourist destination for picnickers and day trippers from Glasgow as well as walkers on the West Highland Way. The only road passing through the village is the B837. Boat trips leave from Balmaha for the town of Balloch and the village of Luss as well as nearby Inchcailloch Island. [1]
Balmaha sits at the westerly foot of Conic Hill, and is roughly 30 kilometres (20 miles) along the West Highland Way if coming from Milngavie.
The name Balmaha derives from the Gaelic Bealach Mo-Cha, 'the pass of Saint Mo-Cha'. The pass referred to is now named The Pass of Balmaha, a narrow route between hills at the north end of the village, carrying the road north along Loch Lomond. The saint referred to is Kentigerna, patron saint of the parish who was revered especially on the nearby island of Inchcailloch ('Island of Nuns'). Mo-Cha is a 'hypocoristic' form of her name, a sort of devotional nickname, common in medieval Gaelic and Welsh use. She is also commemorated in a well in the hills above the village, St Maha's Well.
Balmaha has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb). There is a Met Office weather station located at Arrochymore, around 1 km (5⁄8 mi) to the north.
Climate data for Arrochymore (30 m or 98 ft asl, averages 1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7.2 (45.0) | 7.7 (45.9) | 9.3 (48.7) | 12.2 (54.0) | 15.4 (59.7) | 17.7 (63.9) | 19.2 (66.6) | 18.8 (65.8) | 16.5 (61.7) | 13.0 (55.4) | 9.7 (49.5) | 7.4 (45.3) | 12.9 (55.2) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.5 (34.7) | 1.5 (34.7) | 2.3 (36.1) | 4.0 (39.2) | 6.4 (43.5) | 9.1 (48.4) | 11.1 (52.0) | 10.6 (51.1) | 8.9 (48.0) | 6.2 (43.2) | 3.6 (38.5) | 1.4 (34.5) | 5.6 (42.1) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 211.7 (8.33) | 158.0 (6.22) | 149.9 (5.90) | 90.7 (3.57) | 84.5 (3.33) | 101.9 (4.01) | 121.2 (4.77) | 131.2 (5.17) | 143.2 (5.64) | 185.2 (7.29) | 181.7 (7.15) | 212.5 (8.37) | 1,771.7 (69.75) |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 31.6 | 59.3 | 91.9 | 142.7 | 178.0 | 152.1 | 140.8 | 133.6 | 102.4 | 76.7 | 43.3 | 27.1 | 1,179.4 |
Source: Met Office [2] |
The village previously had a visitor centre for the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, currently defunct. [3] It also has a restaurant and bed and breakfast, the Oak Tree Inn, a bar and a shop, as well as several smaller accommodation premises nearby due to its position on the West Highland Way and its popularity with daytrippers. It is also the home of St Mocha coffee shop and ice cream parlour.
The Macfarlane and Son Boatyard is found in Balmaha; the boatyard was established over 150 years ago by John Macfarlane and has been in the family ever since. The boatyard currently runs a ferry service over to Inch Cailloch and around the loch for visitors, as well as delivering the mail to inhabited islands. [4]
Further along the road is Milarrochy Bay.
Aberfoyle is a village in the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the council area of Stirling, Scotland. The settlement lies 27 miles northwest of Glasgow.
The West Highland Way is a linear long-distance route in Scotland. It is 154 km long, running from Milngavie north of Glasgow to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, with an element of hill walking in the route. The trail, which opened in 1980, was Scotland's first officially designated Long Distance Route, and is now designated by NatureScot as one of Scotland's Great Trails. It is primarily intended as a long distance walking route, and whilst many sections are suitable for mountain biking and horseriding there are obstacles and surfaces that will require these users to dismount in places.
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands. Traditionally forming part of the boundary between the counties of Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire, Loch Lomond is split between the council areas of Stirling, Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire. Its southern shores are about 23 kilometres (14 mi) northwest of the centre of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. The Loch forms part of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park which was established in 2002.
Luss is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on the west bank of Loch Lomond. The village is within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is a national park in Scotland centred on Loch Lomond and the hills and glens of the Trossachs, along with several other ranges of hills. It was the first of the two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament in 2002, the second being the Cairngorms National Park. The park extends to cover much of the western part of the southern highlands, lying to the north of the Glasgow conurbation, and contains many mountains and lochs. It is the fourth-largest national park in the British Isles, with a total area of 1,865 km2 (720 sq mi) and a boundary of some 350 km (220 mi) in length. It features 21 Munros and 20 Corbetts.
The Trossachs generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the centre of the area, but is now generally applied to the wider region.
Crianlarich is a village in Stirling council area and in the registration county of Perthshire, Scotland, around 6 miles (10 km) north-east of the head of Loch Lomond. The village bills itself as "the gateway to the Highlands".
Balloch is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, at the foot of Loch Lomond.
Inchmurrin is an island in Loch Lomond in Scotland. It is the largest fresh water island in the British Isles.
Killin is a village in Perthshire in the central Highlands of Scotland. Situated at the western head of Loch Tay, it is administered by the Stirling Council area. Killin is a historic conservation village and sits within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. It is the central settlement of the historic region of Breadalbane.
Lochearnhead is a village in Perthshire on the A84 Stirling to Crianlarich road at the foot of Glen Ogle, 14 miles north of the Highland Boundary Fault. It is situated at the western end of Loch Earn where the A85 road from Crieff meets the A84.
Rowardennan is a small rural community on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond in Stirling council, Scotland. It is mainly known as the starting point for the main path up Ben Lomond.
Inchcailloch is an islet on Loch Lomond in Scotland. It is 85 metres (279 ft) at its highest point. It is also known to some as Inchebroida.
Inchfad is an island in the south east of Loch Lomond in Scotland.
Inversnaid is a small rural community on the east bank of Loch Lomond in Scotland, near the north end of the loch. It has a pier and a hotel, and the West Highland Way passes through the area. A small passenger ferry runs from Inversnaid to Inveruglas on the opposite shore of the loch, and also to Tarbet. There is a seasonal ferry that also operates between Ardlui and Ardleish as well, which is a walkable distance from Inversnaid. To reach Inversnaid by road involves a 15-mile (24-kilometre) route from Aberfoyle. Nearby is an alleged hideout of Rob Roy MacGregor known as Rob Roy's Cave. The cave is difficult to access, and is best seen from Loch Lomond, where there is white paint indicating the location of the hideout.
Clairinsh or Clairinch is an island in Loch Lomond, central Scotland.
Strathyre is a district and settlement in the Stirling local government district of Scotland. It forms the south-eastern part of the parish of Balquhidder and was, prior to the 1973 reorganisation of local government, part of Perthshire. It is within the bounds of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. In Gaelic, the district is Srath Eadhair and the village is An t-Iomaire Riabhach or an t-Iomaire Fada.
Milton of Buchanan is a small village in Stirling, Scotland, within the parish of Buchanan. Historically, the village was in the Registration County of Stirlingshire. It was the main village of the parish of Buchanan. However, the village is now a quiet collection of houses along with a school, village hall, and church.
Conic Hill is a prominent hill in Stirling, Scotland.
Loch Lomond National Nature Reserve (NNR) encompasses 430 hectares of land at the southeastern part of Loch Lomond in the council areas of Stirling and West Dunbartonshire, in Scotland. It covers the islands of Inchcailloch, Clairinsh, Torrinch, Creinch and Aber Isle, alongside areas of woodland and wetlands to either side of the mouth of the Endrick Water. NatureScot owns two parts of the reserve - the island of Inchcailloch and part of Gartfairn Wood - and the rest is privately owned. The reserve is managed by a partnership consisting of NatureScot, the RSPB Scotland and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, along with the owners and tenants of the land under agreements. Within this framework NatureScot directly manage the islands of Clairinsh, Inchcailloch, Torrinch and Creinch, and land to the north of the Endrick Water. The RSPB manages the area to the south of the Endrick Water, and the national park manages visitor facilities on Inchcailloch.