2013-08-03 S9 JB 65279#
On our way from Thurso to Ceannabeinne, Scotland, UK (on or near the Atlantic coast)
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Ceannabeinne
Ceann na Beinne
Ceannabeinne is the township at the end of a chain of hills stretching north from
Cranstackie (801m). The area divides Loch Eriboll from the Kyle of Durness. The pink
coloured rock is Lewisian gneiss, commonly found in North West Sutherland. It is often
overlain with peat which produces wet, boggy unfertile land. The boulders stewn across
the landscape were deposited here when the ice that covered the land melted away
some 10,000 years ago. Contrast this with the greenness of the offshore island, Eilean
Hoan, an outcrop of Durness limestone, the same spectacular rock as the impressive
Smoo Cave 2km to the west of here.
The golden sandy beach here is knoen as
Tràigh Allt Chailgeag or the ‘Beach of the Burn
of the Old Woman’.
Legend has it that an old woman was gathering peat to
take home fort her fire.
As she drank from the swollen burn, she stumbled and
fell in. Her body was carried downstream to the beach
where it was found the next day.
The remains that you can see, just up the hill, were once the small farm of
‘Clais Charnach’. The white cottage, overlooking the the beach was built in 1827 and was
once Ceannabeinne School serving the neighbouring community.
In 1842 all the homes in this area were forcibly cleared of people to make
way for sheep farming. This led to a series of events known as the Durness Riots.
Discover more about these events on the Ceannebeinne Township Trail, 1km west of here.
+++++
Text (C) The Highland Council
2013-08-03 S9 JB 65279#
On our way from Thurso to Ceannabeinne, Scotland, UK (on or near the Atlantic coast)
++++++
Ceannabeinne
Ceann na Beinne
Ceannabeinne is the township at the end of a chain of hills stretching north from
Cranstackie (801m). The area divides Loch Eriboll from the Kyle of Durness. The pink
coloured rock is Lewisian gneiss, commonly found in North West Sutherland. It is often
overlain with peat which produces wet, boggy unfertile land. The boulders stewn across
the landscape were deposited here when the ice that covered the land melted away
some 10,000 years ago. Contrast this with the greenness of the offshore island, Eilean
Hoan, an outcrop of Durness limestone, the same spectacular rock as the impressive
Smoo Cave 2km to the west of here.
The golden sandy beach here is knoen as
Tràigh Allt Chailgeag or the ‘Beach of the Burn
of the Old Woman’.
Legend has it that an old woman was gathering peat to
take home fort her fire.
As she drank from the swollen burn, she stumbled and
fell in. Her body was carried downstream to the beach
where it was found the next day.
The remains that you can see, just up the hill, were once the small farm of
‘Clais Charnach’. The white cottage, overlooking the the beach was built in 1827 and was
once Ceannabeinne School serving the neighbouring community.
In 1842 all the homes in this area were forcibly cleared of people to make
way for sheep farming. This led to a series of events known as the Durness Riots.
Discover more about these events on the Ceannebeinne Township Trail, 1km west of here.
+++++
Text (C) The Highland Council