The Lagangarbh Hut
Glencoe, Scotland
Lagangarbh Hut is situated north of Buachaille Etive Mor near the River Coupall. It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and has been occupied and maintained by the Scottish Mountaineering Club since 1946. It was extensively refurbished in 1994.
The hut was originally a crofting home, typically with central entrance hall and stairs ahead, two rooms up and down, left and right. The roofing is still the local Ballachulish slate which covered much of Scottish housing. The walls are of thick stone, built to withstand the battering of gales. The Club planted a shelter belt of trees to the west, from whence roar in the prevailing south-westerlies.
That's the factual bit done... now here's the back story (and no laughing in the ranks please!). This was our(my) third location stop on the grand cliché tour of Scotland. I knew parking here could be a bit iffy and that turned out to be the understatement of the day... nay the holiday!. Northbound on the A82, which is a ridiculously fast road with lunatics overtaking from six cars back, and on blind summits and bends, there is only a pitiful piece of wasteland that is boulder strewn, potholed and boggy at best. I could have attempted to park on the nicely tarmacked strip on the southbound side by indicating to cross the oncoming lunatics as well as the speed demons on my tail didn't seem the best option, besides it was full that day... bloody tourists!
So I gingerly pulled onto the wasteland in the hope of finding a space... big mistake... huge mistake! Now, I'm heading down the abyss when suddenly a shagged out old lorry that I hadn't noticed decides he's coming up. What he was doing down there I don't know and this is where the nightmare begins... Nice front-wheel drive cars with wide low-profile tyres are not meant to go off-roading... especially in reverse! Coupled with the fact, I'm a townie at heart with no experience of bouncing around the landscape like I've just mastered the lunar-rover. Even while writing this, I'm having flashbacks and heart palpitations... slipping, sliding, wheel-spinning, one wheel stuck behind a big rock, another in a pothole, engine revving... you've got the picture by now. Eventually, I made it out and found a gravel lay-by some 100 yards further down the road. My only consolation - at least I wasn't followed down by a Chinese tourist coach.
It's only when I got out of the car could I smell the burning - an all too obvious sign. So annoyed, with getting myself into that situation, I only took eight shots, all without tripod or photographic due care and attention since my mind was preoccupied with the thought of a massive repair bill!. It's the best of the bunch and the moody shot I was after, but the quality sucks!
Since that event, this place shall forever be known in the Rousehold as "clutchgate" and as Forrest Gump said - That's all I've got to say about that!
The Lagangarbh Hut
Glencoe, Scotland
Lagangarbh Hut is situated north of Buachaille Etive Mor near the River Coupall. It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and has been occupied and maintained by the Scottish Mountaineering Club since 1946. It was extensively refurbished in 1994.
The hut was originally a crofting home, typically with central entrance hall and stairs ahead, two rooms up and down, left and right. The roofing is still the local Ballachulish slate which covered much of Scottish housing. The walls are of thick stone, built to withstand the battering of gales. The Club planted a shelter belt of trees to the west, from whence roar in the prevailing south-westerlies.
That's the factual bit done... now here's the back story (and no laughing in the ranks please!). This was our(my) third location stop on the grand cliché tour of Scotland. I knew parking here could be a bit iffy and that turned out to be the understatement of the day... nay the holiday!. Northbound on the A82, which is a ridiculously fast road with lunatics overtaking from six cars back, and on blind summits and bends, there is only a pitiful piece of wasteland that is boulder strewn, potholed and boggy at best. I could have attempted to park on the nicely tarmacked strip on the southbound side by indicating to cross the oncoming lunatics as well as the speed demons on my tail didn't seem the best option, besides it was full that day... bloody tourists!
So I gingerly pulled onto the wasteland in the hope of finding a space... big mistake... huge mistake! Now, I'm heading down the abyss when suddenly a shagged out old lorry that I hadn't noticed decides he's coming up. What he was doing down there I don't know and this is where the nightmare begins... Nice front-wheel drive cars with wide low-profile tyres are not meant to go off-roading... especially in reverse! Coupled with the fact, I'm a townie at heart with no experience of bouncing around the landscape like I've just mastered the lunar-rover. Even while writing this, I'm having flashbacks and heart palpitations... slipping, sliding, wheel-spinning, one wheel stuck behind a big rock, another in a pothole, engine revving... you've got the picture by now. Eventually, I made it out and found a gravel lay-by some 100 yards further down the road. My only consolation - at least I wasn't followed down by a Chinese tourist coach.
It's only when I got out of the car could I smell the burning - an all too obvious sign. So annoyed, with getting myself into that situation, I only took eight shots, all without tripod or photographic due care and attention since my mind was preoccupied with the thought of a massive repair bill!. It's the best of the bunch and the moody shot I was after, but the quality sucks!
Since that event, this place shall forever be known in the Rousehold as "clutchgate" and as Forrest Gump said - That's all I've got to say about that!