nickbrand

Visited this one last Saturday around sunrise. It lies just south of the busy A82 Oban to Fort William road, and parking can be a bit awkward. Head for Oak Cottage, beside the field with the stone in it, as the field belongs to the owner. A lovely lady, originally from Aberdeenshire but who married a local Cameron man. She told me that the stone had been broken many years ago by a horse using it as a rubbing post, but that her husband’s grandfather enlisted the help of a local stone mason to pin and re-erect it. Permission to visit will readily be granted provided the field is not in crop or being used for livestock. She showed me a marvellous photo she was given by a previous visitor, with the stone framed by a rainbow. It’s a real beauty, and one of the few surviving holed stones.

I had a walk down to this on Sunday morning. It lies behind the Alltshellach Hotel in North Ballachulish. Please ask permission to visit, the owners didn’t know of the existence of this rock, although they do now. From the side door of the hotel follow the track down through the grounds to an old jetty with a couple of iron mooring rings on it. Look south, and you’ll see two iron fence posts on the rocks of the promontory. Head for the western (right-hand) one, taking care as the rocks can be pretty slippery. When you reach the iron pole, look down at your feet....

This is a pretty big stone, around 7-1/2 feet tall, and 4 feet wide. It stands in a commanding position on the south side of Soutra Hill, unfortunately now rather dwarfed by the pylons which march along behind it.

I’ve passed this one a few times but the field was always in crop. It’s a tall, thin stone, around my height (6’), and has pretty good all-round views of the area.

Ha! No bullocks today, only sheep – so over the gate and in. This is a pretty impressive lump of rock, stood on a couple of large flat stones and fenced in. The stone looks genuine enough, with streaks of quartz running through it.

My local informant tells me that the cairn was said to have marked the spot of a battle back in the 1450’s between the Ogilvies and Lindsays, but the stone would appear to have been here from long before that date.

Revisited this today, four years on from my initial visit. The area round the stone has been cleared and walled off, and a small opening in the wall allows easy access. This is a great improvement on previously, when the stone was rather overgrown by various weeds and bushes. A lovely spot with amazing views to the north.

I’ve driven past this many times, and the field was always in crop. Today it wasn’t, so here it is. A simple, unadorned, 2m+ tall stone, known locally as the Grey Stane.