Torrin
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|---|---|
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  Torrin Location within the Isle of Skye | |
| OS grid reference | NG5720 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PORTREE |
| Postcode district | IV49 |
| Dialling code | 01471 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Torrin (Scottish Gaelic : Na Torrain) [1] is a settlement on the island of Skye in Scotland.
The crofting and fishing village of Torrin lies on the eastern shore of Loch Slapin, 5 miles (8 kilometres) southwest of Broadford (An t-Àth Leathann), [2] on the road to Elgol (Ealaghol). There is a mixture of Victorian white-washed cottages and modern flat-pack houses, and the village has good views of Blaven and Loch Slapin.
Torrin sits on dolomites, informally referred to collectively as the "Durness Limestone". [3] There is an abundance of trees and varied plant flora, including more than a dozen species of orchids. [4] Much of the area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest [5] and a Special Area of Conservation. [6]
There are five working crofts in Torrin with cattle and sheep. The common grazing extends north onto the surrounding red granite hills Beinn Dearg Mhòr (709m) and Beinn Dearg Bheag (584m) and beyond the head of Loch Slapin. [4]
Skye marble has been extracted from Strath Suardal for centuries. Martin Martin recorded quarries on the south side of the valley in 1703. [7] Torrin has a quarry at each end of the village to extract magnesium-rich marble and limestone to produce lime. Marble from Torrin was used in Armadale Castle and Iona Abbey. [8] The first and smaller quarry opened in 1951 at Cnoc Slapin on the shore of Loch Slapin. The extracted rock was used primarily in the production of agricultural lime. Now abandoned, the area was partially landscaped at the end of 2001, reducing its visual impact. [4]
Glasgow paint manufacturer William Thomson Forsyth started the main quarry at the Broadford end of Torrin in 1960. He leased the land, producing around 3,500 tonnes of product per year by 1965. Today the quarry is owned by Leiths Group and employs 5 people. Marble is mined and crushed on site, producing agricultural lime, ready-mix concrete products and decorative stone. [4]
The earlier Ben Suardal quarry on the Broadford road closed in 1914. [4]
The population peaked in the 19th century at around 120 people, dropping to 40 in 1989 and more recently rising to 65, over a third of whom speak Scottish Gaelic. [4]
The old school closed in 1961. It served as a training base for the Royal Marine Commandos during the 1940s was then used as an outdoor centre and is now a bunkhouse accommodation. [9] The small Torrin church closed in the 1970s, fell into disrepair, and is now a holiday home. [10]
At Cill Chriosd (Christ's Church or "Kilchrist"), halfway to Broadford, are the stark remains of the parish church of Strathaird, including the cleared villages of Boreraig and Susinish. [11] The location is thought to have been a site of Christian worship dating back to the 7th century, when St Maelrubha preached from nearby Cnoc na-Aifhreann ("Hill of the Mass"). The present ruins probably replaced the first medieval stone church in the 16th century. [7] Cill Chrìosd was replaced by a new parish church in Broadford in 1840. [7]
In June 2001 the Torrin Management Committee opened Am Bothan (the Gaelic name for a small hut or shed), a shop providing essential groceries, a selection of local crafts, a children's play area and a cafe. [4]
A narrow-gauge line, built in 1907, ran for 3+1⁄2 miles (5.5 kilometres) from the quarry at Suardale to Broadford pier. It transported Skye marble from the nearby village of Kilbride (Cille Bhrìghde). The railway closed in the early 20th century and the track bed remains as a public footpath. A number of old railway remains can be seen.[ citation needed ]
In 2006 it was announced that an "entrance to the Underworld" had been discovered at the High Pasture Cave excavations, near Torrin. [12] [13] A natural shaft some 6 metres deep was discovered, which led into a cave, both of which appeared to have been used between 1200 BC and 200 BC (Mid Bronze Age to Late Iron Age). [14] After this date the shaft was deliberately backfilled with structured deposits, suggesting some sort of propitiation ritual comparable to some of the underground structures at Mine Howe on Orkney.
The 1942 film, In Which We Serve starring Noël Coward featured a fictional destroyer, HMS Torrin.
The Cuillin is a range of mostly jagged rocky mountains on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The main Cuillin ridge is also called the Black Cuillin to distinguish it from the Red Cuillin, which lie to the east of Glen Sligachan.
Sleat is a peninsula and civil parish on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan MacDonald of Sleat. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic Slèite, which in turn comes from Old Norse sléttr, which well describes Sleat when considered in the surrounding context of the mainland, Skye and Rùm mountains that dominate the horizon all about Sleat.
Blà Bheinn or Blàbheinn, also known as Blaven, is a mountain on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is usually regarded as an outlier of the Black Cuillin range. It is a Munro with a height of 929 metres (3,048 ft). North of the summit is the ridge of Clach Glas, which leads to the peaks of Garbh-bheinn and Sgùrr nan Each. It is mainly composed of gabbro, a rock with excellent grip for mountaineers and scramblers.
The Torridon Hills surround Torridon village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is usually applied to the mountains to the north of Glen Torridon. They are among the most dramatic and spectacular peaks in the British Isles and made of some of the oldest rocks in the world. Many are over 3,000 feet high, so are considered Munros.
Glenelg is a scattered community area and civil parish in the Lochalsh area of Highland in western Scotland.
Kyleakin is a village situated on the east coast of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. The village is along the strait of Kyle Akin, opposite the northwest Scottish mainland town of Kyle of Lochalsh. Kyleakin is within the parish of Strath, also known as Strath Swordale.
Kinlochewe is a village in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It is in the parish of Gairloch, the community of Torridon and Kinlochewe and the Highland council area. It lies near the head of Loch Maree in its magnificent valley, and serves as a junction between the main Ullapool road north, and that which heads west to the coast at Loch Torridon. Loch Maree was at one time also known as Loch Ewe, hence the village's apparently confused name.
Broadford, together with nearby Harrapool, is the second-largest settlement on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Lying in the shadow of the Red Cuillin mountains, Broadford is within the parish of Strath. A long meandering village historically consisting of a few buildings on either side of the Broadford River, the many small townships around the wide sweep of the bay have grown together and Broadford now stretches for 1+1⁄2 miles around the southern side of Broadford Bay.
Boreraig is a deserted township in Strath Swordale on the north shore of Loch Eishort in the parish of Strath, Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Chno Dearg is a mountain in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands. It overlooks Glen Spean to the north and Loch Treig to the west. With a height of 1,046 metres (3,432 ft), it is classed as a Munro.
Kilmarie or Kilmaree, is a village in the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Its most notable feature is the village church and graveyard. The graveyard has a significant number of tombstones from highland clans, in particular Clan MacKinnon. Nearby is Kilmarie House, former residence of Jethro Tull member Ian Anderson.
Heasta, Heast, or the anglicised form Heaste, pron. /heɪst/, is a small settlement on the island of Skye, Scotland. It is located on the west coast of the island five miles south of Broadford extending down to the north shore of Loch Eiseort, facing out to the Atlantic to the south west and is in the Scottish council area of Highland.
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the country. Although Sgitheanach has been suggested to describe a winged shape, no definitive agreement exists as to the name's origin.
Inverness-shire or the County of Inverness, is a historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Highlands and some of the Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county by land area. It is generally rural and sparsely populated, containing only three towns which held burgh status, being Inverness, Fort William and Kingussie. The county is crossed by the Great Glen, which contains Loch Ness and separates the Grampian Mountains to the south-east from the Northwest Highlands. The county also includes Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in both Scotland and the United Kingdom.
Strathaird is a peninsula on the island of Skye, Scotland, situated between Loch Slapin and Loch Scavaig on the south coast.
Cill Chriosd or Kilchrist is a ruined former parish church of Strath, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. It was constructed around the 16th century, replacing an earlier medieval church on the same location, and was used until 1840 when the parish church was relocated to Broadford. It lies on the B8083 Broadford to Torrin and Elgol road.
The Skye Marble Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge industrial railway on the Isle of Skye, Scotland which operated from 1910 to 1912.
Kilbride is a small township in Strath Swordale, Isle of Skye, Scotland.
High Pasture Cave is an archaeological site on the island of Skye, Scotland. Human presence is documented since the Mesolithic, and remains, including Iron Age structures, point to ritual veneration of either the landscape or deities associated with the place. The cave system extends to about 320 metres of accessible passages
The geology of the Isle of Skye in Scotland is highly varied and the island's landscape reflects changes in the underlying nature of the rocks. A wide range of rock types are exposed on the island, sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous, ranging in age from the Archaean through to the Quaternary.