Glen Affric
Glen Affric (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Afraig) is a glen south-west of the village of Cannich in the Highland region of Scotland, some 15 miles (24 km) to the west of Loch Ness. The River Affric runs along its length, passing through Loch Affric and Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin (Loch Benevean).
History
Glen Affric was part of the Clan Chisholm lands from the 15th to the mid 19th centuries. The lands included regions that would become the Glen Affric deer park and the Guisacham Estate - including the village of Tomich.[1][2] In 1579, Thomas Chisholm, Laird of Strathglass, was imprisoned for being a Catholic.[3] By 1854, Dudley Marjoribanks, later Lord Tweedmouth, had acquired the lairdship of Strathglass and Glen Affric and built an entire village in the region; Tomich. He also built himself a grand hunting lodge - The Glen Affric Estate - where he bred golden retrievers. The Clan Marjoribanks held the estate until the 1930s. A "Lady Islington" acquired the Guisachan Estate in 1939 but let the property go to ruin.[4][5] The Scotland Forestry Commission bought much of the glen in 1951, the remainder being part of a number of sporting estates, such as the Glen Affric Estate with its 10,000 acres[6] and associated deer park.[7][8][9][10]
The Battle of Glen Affric took place in 1721.
Nature
The area is a Caledonian Forest Reserve, a National Scenic Area and a National Nature Reserve. Often described as the most beautiful glen in Scotland, it contains one of the largest ancient Caledonian pinewoods in Scotland as well as lochs, moorland and mountains.
Affric Lodge, the mansion built as a hunting lodge by Lord Tweedmouth, is located on a peninsula in Loch Affric, while a Scottish Youth Hostels Association hostel is further up the glen at remote Allt Beithe.
The Glen Affric Estate, including Affric Lodge, is situated on over 10,000 acres and has its own trout loch.[11][12][13][14]
The glen is part of the Affric/Beauly hydroelectric scheme, constructed by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. Loch Mullardoch, in the neighbouring Glen Cannich, is dammed, and a 5km tunnel carries water to Loch Benevean, which has also been dammed. From there, another tunnel takes water to Fasnakyle power station, near Cannich.
The mountains of Glen Affric are a popular destination with hikers, climbers and mountain bikers.[15]
References
- ^ "Glen Affric and Strathglass". © glenaffric.org 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
Glen Affric was part of the Clan Chisholm lands from the 15th to the mid 19th centuries
- ^ Gibson, Rob. "Highland Cowboys: From the Hills of Scotland to the American Wild West". Luath Press Ltd, 21Mar.,2014 - History. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ "Our Lady and St Bean's Church, Marydale - Strathglass 'Pestered With Popery' & Knockfin". Parish of St Mary, Beauly. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ^ "The Glen Affric Estate". Copyright © 2013 böetic. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
The 10,000 acre Glen Affric Estate is thought to be amongst the most beautiful in Scotland, sited as it is within the Highlands National Nature Reserve...The Lodge is dated Victorian and took about 12 years to be built for Lord Tweedsmouth
- ^ "Glen Affric and Strathglass". © glenaffric.org 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
Guisachan also has a claim to fame as the place where the Golden Retriever breed originates from. Sadly, Guisachan House is now a ruin. The end came in 1939 when the house was purchased by the owner of nearby Hilton Lodge, Lady Islington...
- ^ "The Glen Affric Estate". Copyright © 2013 böetic. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
The 10,000 acre Glen Affric Estate is thought to be amongst the most beautiful in Scotland, sited as it is within the Highlands National Nature Reserve...The Lodge is dated Victorian and took about 12 years to be built for Lord Tweedsmouth
- ^ Gibson, Rob. "Highland Cowboys: From the Hills of Scotland to the American Wild West". Luath Press Ltd, 21Mar.,2014 - History. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ "Forestry Commission Scotland".
The lairds who controlled how land was managed in Affric have had a major influence on the look and life of the place..The Chisholm clan's attempts to sell off the glen's rich timber seem to have had little success...Later, shooting became a fashionable sport – and one for which fashionable people would pay good money. Sir Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks, the first Lord Tweedmouth, was a rich Liberal MP who took a long leasehold on shooting rights over much of Glen Affric in 1846, paying £3,000 per year for the privilege: about £130,000 in today's money...He (Lord Tweedmouth) liked the place so much he later bought the estate at Guisachan (Gaelic for 'the place of the pines'), near Plodda Falls. He built a new mansion house there, as well as a hunting lodge in Glen Affric itself for the weekends...Lord Tweedmouth's love for the glen didn't stop at building fancy houses for himself: he created a whole village at Tomich for the people living in cottages scattered across the estate...the Forestry Commission bought the glen in 1951...
- ^ "The Clan Marjoribanks Society". Independant. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks bought Guisachan House, Tomich, Invernessshire in 1854...
- ^ Lord Tweedmouth Memorial
- ^ Matthews, Spencer. "Confessions of a Chelsea Boy". Macmillan, 1 October, 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ "The Nitty Gritty". The Glen Affric Estate. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ Turbett, Liam. "David Beckham's Haig Club whisky is exactly what's wrong with the Highlands". The UK Independant - Saturday 25 October 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
The Glen Affric estate itself was purchased in 2008 by the Matthews family, owners of the exclusive Eden Rock hotel in the Caribbean and the parents of Made in Chelsea professional posh boy Spencer Matthews.
- ^ Robbins, Tom. "The Eden Rock, the luxury hotel on the French Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy, has launched an outpost in Scotland". 10 May 2013 - The Financial Times Ltd 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
Glen Affric, a Victorian manor on the shores of Loch Affric... a private home of the Matthews family, the owners of Eden Rock,...
- ^ Rob Humphreys; Donald Reid (12 July 2012). The Great Glen Rough Guides Snapshot Scotland (includes Fort William, Glen Coe, Culloden, Inverness and Loch Ness). Rough Guides. pp. 25–. ISBN 978-1-4093-6581-5.