The village of Ballachulish ( or , from

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

) in

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, is centred on former

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

, and now primarily serves tourists in the area.

Name

The name Ballachulish (from

, ''Baile a' Chaolais'') means "the Village by the Narrows". The narrows in question is Caolas Mhic Phàdraig – Peter or Patrick's son's narrows, at the mouth of Loch Leven. The name Ballachulish (Ballecheles, 1522 – Straits town) was more correctly applied to the area now called North Ballachulish, to the north of Loch Leven, but was usurped for the quarry villages at East Laroch and West Laroch, either side of the River Laroch, which were actually within Glencoe and South Ballachulish respectively.

Overview

As there was no road to the head of Loch Leven until 1927, the Ballachulish Ferry, established in 1733, and those at Invercoe/Callert and ''Caolas na Con'' were essential. The Ballachulish ferry closed in December 1975 when the Ballachulish Bridge finally opened. The principal industry is now

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. The Ballachulish Hotel and Ballachulish House (until recently 010a country house hotel) are located near the narrows at (south) Ballachulish Ferry rather than in the "modern" village some to the east. Ballachulish House was reputed to be haunted, and the drive leading to it was ridden by a

headless horseman The Headless Horseman is an archetype of mythical figure that has appeared in folklore around Europe since the Middle Ages. The figures are traditionally depicted as riders on horseback who are missing their heads. These myths have since inspired ...

. Ballachulish Peninsula extends into the loch. The hamlet of Glenachulish lies in Gleann a' Chaolais, the glen that runs down to the narrows. This is the subject of the Gaelic song
Gleann Bhaile Chaoil
written by John Cameron (1865–1951) and known locally both as the Paisley Bard and by his local nickname ''Iain Cealaidh''. He is often confused with another local bard also called John Cameron, known locally as ''Iain Rob'' (1822–1898). Gleann a' Chaolais is ringed by Beinn a' Bheithir, a massif which contains two

munros A Munro (; ) is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevi ...

- Sgorr Dhearg and Sgorr Dhonuill. In recent years a number of new houses have been built locally along with holiday chalets and an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

. Also the fields of Gleann a' Chaolais have been turned into the 9-hole Dragon's Tooth

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

. Overlooking the narrows is the monument to James of the Glen, "hanged on this spot for a crime of which he was not guilty".

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

based his novel '' Kidnapped'' around the story of the Appin Murder. Whoever was the

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

who did kill ''The Red Fox'' (Colin Roy Campbell of Glenure) is still not known for certain. In 2001, however, Amanda Penman, an 89-year-old descendant of the

Scottish clan chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard ci ...

s of the Stewarts of Appin, alleged that the Appin murder had been planned, in retaliation for the Red Fox's role in the local

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulted from Scottish Agricultural R ...

, by four young Stewart tacksmen without the sanction of James of the Glens. There was a shooting contest among them and the assassination was committed by the best

marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting. In modern military usage this typically refers to the use of projectile weapons such as an accurized telescopic sight, scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle (or a sniper ri ...

among the four, Donald Stewart of Ballachulish.

Transport

In 1903, a branch of the Callander and Oban Railway, from , was opened to Ballachulish. The site of the former railway halt of , the last stop on the line before the Laroch

, was next to Ballachulish House, some inland from the ferry. Traces of the line, which closed in 1966, remain between here and Connel Ferry. The old terminus station at Laroch (Ballachulish) is now a doctor's surgery. The station, and stationmaster's house, at , is now a private house and the station at , some south, has been refurbished in its old traditional Caledonian Railway brown. The station at Kentallen ( south of Ballachulish) included a pier. When the Oban-Ballachulish branch line closed, the station buildings were bought over by Scottie & Bridget Stewart who ran the renowned Kentallen Station Tearooms for more than 15 years until finally retiring in 1974. Afternoon tea served here was a spectacular feast according to visitors' books from the day. This station has now been turned into The Holly Tree Hotel & Leisure Club. The

A82 road The A82 is a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William, Highland, 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 a ...

serves Ballachulish and much of the old railway line has been re-used as part of National Cycle Route 78, once again giving the beautiful views previously seen from the train.

Slate

Slate from the East Laroch quarries, established just two years after the infamous Glencoe Massacre of 1692, was used to provide the roofing slate for much of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

's skyline in the succeeding centuries. It is of good quality but one weakness is the presence of

Iron Pyrite The mineral pyrite ( ), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue ...

in the rock. These crystals quickly rust away when exposed to the weather, leaving clean square holes and a brown rusty streak. Over 75% of the slate cut from the quarries was unusable as roof covering for this and other reasons. In 1955 the quarries closed, leaving waste mountains for the abruptly unemployed and impoverished villagers to sort out. Between 1902 and 1905 the Ballachulish community was badly affected by two protracted conflicts in the slate quarries. The first began in July 1902, involved a twelve months lockout, and lasted eighteen months. The workers objected to the summary dismissal of the medical officer Dr. Lachlan Grant from both his work in the quarries and his post as Medical Officer for the Parish Council District of Ballachulish. They also objected to the unsatisfactory labour contracts, inadequate wages and excessive charges for the powder, coals and other materials supplied by the company. The second dispute started in the summer of 1905 when members of a hostile crowd charged the quarry manager with autocratic, dictatorial and unfair behaviour towards both Dr. Grant and members of the quarrying labour force and the community. A new company was formed in December 1907 and quarrying continued at Ballachulish until 1955.

Sport

Shinty

Shinty Shinty () is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. It is played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland. The sport was formerly more widespread in Scotland and even played in Northern ...

is a popular local sport and the narrows is the traditional boundary of the north–south divide in shinty, with teams north of narrows playing in the North district's competitions and those South playing in their respective competitions. Ballachulish Camanachd Club play in the South Leagues. However, Ballachulish is still considerably far North in relation to most of

. The club has won the Camanachd Cup four times.

Local Highland Games

According to a report in The Oban Times in 1885,

Religion

The former St John's Episcopal Church, which replaced an earlier Episcopal church, is located to the west of the village. Its

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

has an "exceptional collection of 19th-century finely inscribed and carved"

gravestone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

s made from Ballachulish

. The

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

's church was dedicated to St Munda. It was built in 1845 and closed in 2023. Scotland's Churches Trust
Glencoe St Munda's Church, Ballchulish
accessed on 12 October 2024

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Lochaber Slate industry in the United Kingdom