Laggan
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Laggan Avenue reflections | |
Location within the Lochaber area | |
OS grid reference | NN294971 |
Council area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | NEWTOWNMORE |
Postcode district | PH20 |
Dialling code | 01809 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
Laggan (Scottish Gaelic : An Lagan) is a small village in the Great Glen, in the Highland region of Scotland. [1] The older, longer Gaelic name is Lagan Achaidh Droma, "hollow at the field of the ridge". [2]
Laggan is often considered to be two separate settlements, North Laggan and South Laggan, about one mile apart, both situated between Loch Lochy and Loch Oich. The Caledonian Canal passes by Laggan, linking these two lochs. Laggan Locks, a flight of two locks, connects the canal to Loch Oich.
The main A82 road between Glasgow and Inverness passes through Laggan, crossing the canal at Laggan Swing Bridge.
The Great Glen Way long-distance footpath passes by Laggan, running alongside the canal and following the old railway line.
The Battle of the Shirts was fought nearby in July 1544 between the Macdonalds of Rannald and Clan Fraser of Lovat in the Great Glen, overlooking Loch Lochy. [3]
The Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway once passed by Laggan. This line opened in 1896, with Invergarry railway station situated at North Laggan. The line closed to passengers in 1933, and to freight in 1947.
Fort Augustus is a settlement in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, at the south-west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands. The village has a population of around 646 (2001). Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism.
The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford.
The A82 is a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William. It is one of the principal north-south routes in Scotland and is mostly a trunk road managed by Transport Scotland, who view it as an important link from the Central Belt to the Scottish Highlands and beyond. The road passes close to numerous landmarks, including Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor, Glen Coe, the Ballachulish Bridge, Ben Nevis, the Commando Memorial, Loch Ness, and Urquhart Castle. Along with the A9 and the A90 it is one of the three major north–south trunk roads connecting the Central Belt to the North.
The Great Glen, also known as Glen Albyn or Glen More, is a glen in Scotland running for 62 miles (100 km) from Inverness on the edge of the Moray Firth, in an approximately straight line to Fort William at the head of Loch Linnhe. It follows a geological fault known as the Great Glen Fault, and bisects the Scottish Highlands into the Grampian Mountains to the southeast and the Northwest Highlands to the northwest.
Loch Lochy is a large freshwater loch in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. With a mean depth of 70 m (230 ft), it is the third-deepest loch of Scotland.
Loch Oich is a freshwater loch in the Highlands of Scotland which forms part of the Caledonian Canal, of which it is the highest point. This narrow loch lies between Loch Ness and Loch Lochy in the Great Glen. It is fed by the River Garry from the west, and feeds the River Oich from its northern end. The Laggan locks separate it from Loch Lochy.
The Great Glen Way is a long distance path in Scotland. It follows the Great Glen, running from Fort William in the southwest to Inverness in the northeast, covering 125 kilometres (78 mi). It was opened in 2002, and is designated as one of Scotland's Great Trails by NatureScot. The Great Glen Way is generally walked from southwest to northeast to follow the direction of the prevailing wind. It can be walked in 5–7 days, or cycled in 2–3 days. The trail is maintained and improved by the Great Glen Ways partnership, which consists of Highland Council, Scottish Canals and Forestry and Land Scotland. About 30,000 people use the path every year, of whom about 4,500 complete the entire route.
Aberchalder is a small settlement and estate at the northern end of Loch Oich in the Scottish Highlands and is in the Highland council area of Scotland. It lies on the A82 road and is situated in two parishes, Boleskine and Kilmonivaig. Fort Augustus is within 5 mi (8.0 km).
The Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway was a branch-line railway built in Scotland, connecting the named places with the main line at Spean Bridge. It opened in 1903.
Sròn a’ Choire Ghairbh is a Scottish mountain situated on the northern side of Loch Lochy, 13 kilometres north of Spean Bridge in the Highland Council area.
Meall na Teanga is a Scottish mountain located in the Highland council area, 11 km (7 mi) north of Spean Bridge.
Invergarry is a village in the Highlands of Scotland, located about 25 miles (40 km) north-east of Fort William. It is in the Great Glen, near where the River Garry flows into Loch Oich.
Ben Tee is a Scottish mountain situated in the Lochaber area of the Highland council area, some 15 kilometres north of Spean Bridge. It is rated as one of the best of Scotland's smaller mountains with Hamish Brown saying:
Ben Tee is such a shapely cone that it is instantly recognisable from anywhere around the Great Glen or along the Garry. Its isolated situation makes it one of Scotland’s finest summit viewpoints.
National Cycle Route 78 runs from Campbeltown to Inverness. It was officially launched as the Caledonia Way in 2016 as part of the wider redevelopment of Scotland's cycle network. It runs from the Kintyre peninsula to the Great Glen and the route varies from on road to traffic-free forest trails and canal paths.
Loch Ness is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately 37 kilometres along the length of the Great Glen southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie". It is one of a series of interconnected, murky bodies of water in Scotland; its water visibility is exceptionally low due to the high peat content of the surrounding soil. The southern end connects to Loch Oich by the River Oich and a section of the Caledonian Canal. The northern end connects to Loch Dochfour via the River Ness, which then ultimately leads to the North Sea via the Moray Firth.
The River Garry in Inverness-shire is a Scottish river punctuated by two long Lochs, in the region of Lochaber. It flows broadly west to east through Glen Garry, starting in a wilderness to the east of Knoydart and ending at Loch Oich in the Great Glen, which forms part of the Caledonian Canal. There are a few tiny settlements within Glen Garry, but the only village of any size near to the river is Invergarry, at its mouth. Loch Quoich at the western end of the watercourse is dammed by the largest mass earth fill dam in Scotland, and supplies water to Quoich hydroelectric power station. Loch Garry is dammed by a much smaller dam in the gorge where the river begins its descent to Invergarry, and supplies water to Invergarry hydroelectric power station, close to the mouth of the river. Both hydroelectric schemes were built in the 1950s, with the aim of stimulating economic regeneration in the area. They have altered the ecology of the river, as both lochs were made considerably bigger as a result of constructing the dams.
Gairlochy(Scottish Gaelic: Geàrr Lòchaidh) is a clachan, or hamlet, of population approx. 100. It lies on the southern shores of Loch Lochy, a large freshwater loch in the district of Lochaber in the North West Highlands of Scotland. Gairlochy is surrounded by several other small crofting settlements, the largest of which is Achnacarry. Also close by is Highbridge, the site of the first skirmish of the 1745 Jacobite uprising.
Invergarry Railway Station is situated in the Highlands of Scotland at the southern end of Loch Oich, on the eastern side, and not far from the Laggan swing bridge over the Caledonian canal. It is about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the village of Invergarry.
The River Spean flows from Loch Laggan in a westerly direction to join the River Lochy at Gairlochy in the Great Glen in the West Highlands of Scotland. Major tributaries of the Spean include the left-bank Abhainn Ghuilbinn and River Treig, the right-bank River Roy and the left-bank river known as The Cour. The river is accompanied by the A86 road for almost its entire length, running from (upper) Loch Laggan west to Spean Bridge. The river is spanned by a bridge carrying the A82 road near its junction with the A86 at Spean Bridge. A minor road bridges the Spean just above the falls at Inverlair. Two further road crossings exist - a private estate road across the short stretch of river between upper Loch Laggan and the Laggan reservoir and a road traversing the top of Laggan Dam. The West Highland Line crosses the river near Tulloch Station and follows its north bank before re-crossing one mile east of Spean Bridge. A branch of the railway formerly continued west beside the river from Spean Bridge, crossing it once again to the west of the village.
The Biggest Little Railway in the World (BLR) was a temporary 71 mile (114 km) 1.25 inches (32 mm) O-gauge model railway from Fort William to the City of Inverness, the two largest settlements in the Scottish Highlands. It has been described as a crackpot project to run a model train the length of the Great Glen Way by an army of madcap enthusiasts, geeks, and engineers in the best spirit of eccentric Britishness.