Banavie (; ) is a small settlement near Fort William in the

Highland Council Area Highland (, ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the United Kingdo ...

of Scotland. One of the closest villages to

Ben Nevis Ben Nevis ( ; , ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William. The mount ...

, it is about 4 kilometres ( miles) northeast of Fort William town centre, next to

Caol Caol (Gaelic: An Caol) is a village near Fort William, in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is about north of Fort William town centre, on the shore of Loch Linnhe, and is within the parish of Kilmallie. The name "Caol" is from the G ...

and

Corpach Corpach () is a large village north of Fort William, in the Scottish Highlands. The canal lock at Corpach Basin on Loch Linnhe, east of the narrows leading to Loch Eil, is the western sea entrance of the Caledonian Canal. It is a natural harbou ...

. It has been suggested that Banavie is one of the possible birth places of

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...

. One theory is that Patrick was the son of a Roman tax collector and born at Banavie around AD 389. His family had come with the Romans who had invaded the West Highlands and Islands. The 19th century work 'History of Celtic Placenames' by

William J. Watson William John Watson (17 February 1865 – 9 March 1948) was a Scottish toponymist and was the first scholar to place the study of Scottish place names on a firm linguistic basis. Life Watson was a native Gaelic-speaker, born in Milntown of N ...

notes: "St Patrick was born at Banna-venta, an early town south of the Grampians." A similar placename, ''Bannavem Taburniae'', is mentioned in one of the only two known authenticated letters by St Patrick. It was formerly where the

Camanachd Association The Camanachd Association (in Scottish Gaelic, ''Comann na Camanachd'') is the world Sport governing body, governing body of the Scotland, Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland (council area), Highland, and is in ...

, the ruling body of

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 ...

was based, but this has now been moved to

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

Banavie railway station Banavie railway station is a railway station on the West Highland Line serving the village of Banavie, although it is much closer to Caol, Scotland. It is sited between Corpach and Fort William, from Banavie Junction, just north of Fort Wil ...

is on the highly scenic

West Highland Line The West Highland Line ( – "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of indepen ...

. The signalling centre at the station uses radio communications to control train movements on the

. It covers a big area from Fort William to Mallaig and from Fort William to Helensburgh including the branch line to Oban. The

Caledonian Canal The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. Route The can ...

passes through Banavie, before ascending Neptune's Staircase, the longest staircase

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The canal is crossed by two swing bridges, one carrying the railway and the other the

A835 road The A835 is a road in the Scottish Highlands linking Inverness to Ullapool and the Far North of Scotland. Route The A835 starts at Tore on the Black Isle, seven miles north-west of Inverness at a junction with the A9. The A835 crosses the B ...

. Banavie Pier railway station served the canal paddle steamers until 1939. The station building, platform and station master's house still survive as private dwellings. The village has a number of bed and breakfast, guesthouses, self-catering and hotels. The scenery around Banavie is exceptional with Ben Nevis dominant in the skyline. The Caledonian Canal passes through the village at Neptune's Staircase, which is a set of lock gates that raise vessels into Banavie upper canal area which has a long pontoon for visiting boats and yachts. The

Great Glen Way The Great Glen Way () is a long distance path in Scotland. It follows the Great Glen, running from Fort William in the southwest to Inverness in the northeast, covering . It was opened in 2002, and is designated as one of Scotland's Great Tr ...

long distance path also passes through the village, mostly following the canal tow-path to

Gairlochy Gairlochy ''(Scottish Gaelic: Geàrr Lòchaidh)'' is a clachan, or hamlet, of population approx. 100. It lies on the southern shores of Loch Lochy, a large freshwater loch in the district of Lochaber in the North West Highlands of Scotland. Ga ...

Notable people

Besides St Patrick, Mary Earle (then Mary Cameron) was born here in 1929. She rose to be Professor of Food Technology in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

but she never forgot her links to Scotland.

References

External links

Kilmallie Image Library
{{Lochaber Populated places in Lochaber

Notable people

See also

References

External links