Willie’s View: Escape To Loch Rannoch
Not a lot remains of the abandoned township of Annat. It sits high on a sunny hillside above Loch Rannoch.
Just a rickle o’stanes beside the tumbling Annat Burn. I stopped off to pay it a visit this morning. I was on a walk along the old Right of Way that leads through the hills to Loch Garry and Dalnaspidal.
After the collapse of the Clan system in the wake of Culloden, all of inhabitants that once lived in these over twenty homesteads were to be evicted in 1830.
Every so often, locals can spot a strange light or fire-ball skimming over Loch Rannoch. It then rises to hover over the village of Annat.
Whatever causes this unexplained phenomenon, it serves as a reminder.
For the folks of Rannoch, it’s a marker of that sad day in 1830 when the place was abandoned.
Almost two centuries on and nature is reclaiming the grey stone walls.
My walk today took me on a fine 6.5 mile circuit.
Deep into the quiet hidden hill country that extends immediately north of the loch I went.
Sheep, lambs, Highland cattle, deer and stags – I’m glad to say the only other walking creatures I encountered had four feet.
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