Ballachulish
| Ballachulish | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinates | 56 ° 40 ′ N , 5 ° 8 ′ W | ||
|
|||
| Residents | 666 2011 census | ||
| administration | |||
| Post town | BALLACHULISH | ||
| ZIP code section | PH49 | ||
| prefix | 01855 | ||
| Lieutenancy Area | Inverness | ||
| Council area | Highland | ||
| Civil Parish | Lismore and Appin | ||
| British Parliament | Ross, Skye and Lochaber | ||
| Scottish Parliament | Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch | ||
Ballachulish (Scottish Gaelic Baile a 'Chaolais , pronunciation: [ baləˈxɯːlˠ̪ɪʃ ]) is a town in the United Kingdom on the west coast of Scotland in the Council Area Highland and the former Lochaber district with 666 inhabitants.
location
Ballachulish is located on both sides of Loch Leven , an eastern arm of the bay ( sea loch ) Loch Linnhe , 24 km south of Fort William , 52 km north of Oban , amid disused slate -Steinbrüche.
Nowadays the place is divided into North Ballachulish on the north side of Loch Levens, the former county of Inverness-shire , and on the south bank of South Ballachulish , at the mouth of the River Laroch , formerly in the county of Argyll . Originally the place consisted only of North Ballachulish, while South Ballachulish was closer to today's Glencoe , formerly East Laroch , as West Laroch . Between South Ballachulish and Glencoe stretches the Glen Coe , a valley in the Glen Coe Mountains that gained notoriety in the 1692 massacre of Glencoe . To the west of the village is the more than 1000 meter high Beinn a 'Bheithir , a mountain range with two Munros that is popular with mountaineers due to its view of Loch Linnhe and the surrounding mountains .
traffic
Ballachulish is conveniently located on the A82 , the main route from Glasgow to Inverness . From the south, the A828 joins the A82 at Ballachulish. Since the opening of the Ballachulish Bridge in 1975, the narrow from Loch Leven to Loch Linnhe can be crossed via the A82 without ferry interruptions. The ferry connection, which had been in operation since 1733, lost its importance after the B863 to the head of the lake to Kinlochleven and on to the A82 to Inverness had been completed in 1927 , and was discontinued. In 1903 Ballachulish was connected to the railway network and Ballachulish and Ballachulish Ferry stations , both South Ballachulish, opened. In 1966 the branch line was closed; since then the nearest train station is in Fort William on the West Highland Line . The nearest airport is at Oban .
economy
The economic life on the south bank of Loch Leven was shaped for 2.5 centuries by the local slate quarries. Current branches of industry are primarily tourism and small businesses in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry and fishing). Furthermore, Ballachulish has roughly the usual infrastructure offers of a local sub-center .
Quarries
Commercial mining of slate in quarries around what is now South Ballachulish began as early as 1693/94. During the 18th century, slate mining increased rapidly as the cities grew; the roofs of Glasgow and Edinburgh in particular were covered to a considerable extent with Ballachulish slate. In 1845 20 million slates could be produced.
With the connection of Ballachulish to the British railway network in 1903, the local slate industry took on a further boom, which was soon marred by heavy labor disputes in 1905 and 1907. In the period that followed, the local quarries increasingly lost their competitiveness, mainly because only a quarter of the slate mined was well suited for roofing. In 1955 the quarries were closed. Today they can be explored via two small hiking routes. There are many unusually well-preserved Ballachulish slate tombstones in the St. John's Church cemetery.
More recently, there have been considerations as to whether resuming slate mining could be profitable.
Others
The Appin Murder
Colin Roy Campbell of Glenure was murdered in the Lettermore grove near Ballachulish in 1752 . Campbell served as royal administrator for the expropriated property of the local clan Stewart of Appin , who had fallen out of favor because of their involvement in the Jacobite uprising in 1745 . That same year, James Stewart of the Glen was executed for the murder, well known in Scotland as Appin Murder , at Ballachulish Ferry, despite proven non-participation in the murder. Stewart's body remained hanging on the gallows for 18 months to deter any tendency to rebellion. The Appin murder repeatedly inspired poets; a well-known result is Stevenson's novel Abducted . To this day, these events have preoccupied scholars and amateur historians as well as citizens who want to achieve a rehabilitation of James Stewart. A memorial at the place of execution and a plaque on the murder site commemorate the judicial murder .
Shinty
In Ballachulish, the older, Scottish-Celtic variant of hockey has a long tradition. The local Shinty club Ballachulish Camanachd Club was founded in 1893 and is one of the most famous in Scotland. Between 1899 and 1912 the BCC was able to win the Camanachd Cup four times , the most important Shinty competition; In 1902 and 1948 they became vice-cup winners after losing the final. In 2013 the club won the championship in the third class South Division Two (from 2014 fourth class).
Web links
- Official website of the municipality
- Location information with history section in the Gazetteer for Scotland (Engl.)
- Items to place on Undiscovered Scotland (Engl.)
- Articles about the quarries on Undiscovered Scotland (Engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census
- ↑ Ballachulish Slate Quarries. Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved September 7, 2013 .
- ↑ The Quarry. Ballachulish Community Council, accessed January 24, 2014 .
- ^ Gazetteer for Scotland: Ballachulish , accessed January 24, 2014
- ^ The Scotsman (October 3, 2005): The Appin murder: who killed Red Fox? , accessed January 24, 2014
- ↑ Ballachulish Community Council: Shinty Club , accessed on January 24, 2014. Note : The data comes partly from various articles on the English language Wikipedia.