View allAll Photos Tagged forms
Ben Nevis and Glen Coe is a national scenic area (NSA) covering part of the Highlands of Scotland surrounding Ben Nevis and Glen Coe, in which certain forms of development are restricted. It is one of 40 such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. The Ben Nevis and Glen Coe NSA covers 903 km2 (349 sq mi) of land, lying within the Highland, Argyll and Bute and Perth and Kinross council areas. A further 19 km2 (7.3 sq mi) of the NSA are marine, covering the sea loch of Loch Leven.
National scenic areas are primarily designated due to the scenic qualities of an area, however NSAs may well have other special qualities, for example related to culture, history, archaeology, geology or wildlife. Areas with such qualities may be protected via other national and international designations that overlap with the NSA designation. Glen Coe is designated as a national nature reserve, and there are several Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas within the NSA. Although the national scenic area designation provides a degree of additional protection via the planning process, there are no bodies equivalent to a national park authority, and whilst local authorities can produce a management strategy for each one, only the three national scenic areas within Dumfries and Galloway have current management strategies .
The idea that areas of wild or remote character such as Ben Nevis and Glen Coe should be designated to protect the scenic qualities of their landscapes grew in popularity throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1931 a commission headed by Christopher Addison first proposed the creation of a national park in Scotland. Following the Second World War a committee chaired by Sir Douglas Ramsay to consider the issue proposed that five areas should receive a level of protection: Glen Coe-Ben Nevis-Black Mount was one of the areas listed. The area thus became one of five designated "national park direction areas", in which planning decisions taken by local authorities could be reviewed by central government under certain circumstances.
A 1974 report by the Countryside Commission for Scotland (CCS) entitled A Park System for Scotland recommended that the Glen Coe-Ben Nevis-Black Mount area should be designated as one of four proposed "Special Parks", considering the area of national importance due to its natural beauty and amenity value, however this recommendation was not acted on. Following a further review of landscape protection in 1978, it was suggested that additional areas, alongside the existing direction areas should receive protection, and in 1981 the direction areas were thus replaced by the 40 national scenic areas, which were based on the 1978 recommendations, and included the Ben Nevis and Glen Coe area.
A further report into protection of the landscape of Scotland was published by the CCS in 1990. Entitled The Mountain Areas of Scotland - Conservation and Management, it recommended that four areas were under such pressure that they ought to be designated as national parks, each with an independent planning board, in order to retain their heritage value. The four areas identified were similar to those proposed by the Ramsay Committee, and included Glen Coe-Ben Nevis-Black Mount. The government did not however choose to establish national parks and so the status of the Ben Nevis and Glen Coe area was not altered. Following the passage of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000, national parks were established in the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, two of the areas identified by the Ramsay committee, however the status of the other three Ramsay areas, including Ben Nevis and Glen Coe, was again not altered. In 2013 the Scottish Campaign for National Parks proposed seven areas deemed suitable for national park status, one of which was the Ben Nevis and Glen Coe area.
Although named after Ben Nevis and Glen Coe, the national scenic area covers a much wider area of land, as detailed below. Much of the northern part of the NSA lies within the Lochaber region.
Glen Nevis (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Nibheis) lies in the north of the national scenic area, and runs south from Fort William. It is bordered to the south by the Mamore range, and to the north by the highest mountains in the British Isles: Ben Nevis (Scotland's highest mountain), Càrn Mor Dearg, Aonach Mòr, and Aonach Beag. It is home to the second highest waterfall in Scotland, Steall Falls. Below the waterfall is a steeply walled and impressive gorge.
The Mamores form an east–west ridge approximately fifteen kilometres in length lying between Glen Nevis to the north and Loch Leven to the south. Ten of the ranges are classified as Munros. The hills can be accessed from both Glen Nevis and the former aluminium smelting town of Kinlochleven.
Glen Coe (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Comhann) is a glen of volcanic origins, in the heart of the national scenic area. A review of the national scenic areas by Scottish Natural Heritage in 2010 made reference to the "soaring, dramatic splendour of Glen Coe", and "the suddenness of the transition between high mountain pass and the lightly wooded strath" in the lower glen. It also described the journey through the glen on the main A82 road as "one of the classic Highland journeys". The main settlement is the village of Glencoe located at the foot of the glen. The glen is regarded as the home of Scottish mountaineering and is popular with hillwalkers and climbers.
Glen Etive (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Èite) lies to the south of Glen Coe. The River Etive (Scottish Gaelic: Abhainn Èite) rises on the peaks surrounding Rannoch Moor, with several tributary streams coming together at the Kings House Hotel. From the Kings House, the Etive flows for about 18 km, reaching the sea loch, Loch Etive. The river and its tributaries are popular with whitewater kayakers and at high water levels it is a test piece of the area and a classic run. Glen Etive has been used as the backdrop to many movies, among them Braveheart and Skyfall.
The Black Mount is situated between Glen Orchy and Glen Coe, to the east of Glen Etive, forming the southernmost part of the national scenic area. Its four Munros are Stob Ghabhar, Stob a' Choire Odhair, Creise and Meall a' Bhuiridh. The hills of Ben Inverveigh and Meall Tairbh are located between Black Mount and the Bridge of Orchy. The Black Mount Deer Forest includes moorland, the mountain, as well as several rivers, burns, lochs, and tarns.
Much of the western part of Rannoch Moor (Scottish Gaelic: Mòinteach Raineach/Raithneach), an expanse of around 50 square miles (130 km2) of boggy moorland to the west of Loch Rannoch in Scotland, is included in the national scenic area. The A82 road crosses western Rannoch Moor on its way to Glen Coe and Fort William, as does the West Highland Line, which reaches Fort William via Glen Spean rather than Glen Coe. When the line was built across the moor, its builders had to float the tracks on a mattress of tree roots, brushwood and thousands of tons of earth and ashes. Corrour railway station, the UK's highest, and one of its most remote being 10 miles (16 km) from the nearest public road, is located on this section of the line at 1,339 feet (408 m). The line takes gentle curves totalling 23 miles (37 km) across the moorland.
A number of other conservation designation are defined within or overlapping with the NSA: Glen Coe is designated as a both national nature reserve (NNR), and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) due to wide variety of montane habitats found within the glen. Glen Coe, along with most of the southwestern portion of the NSA including Glen Etive and the Black Mount, forms part of the Glen Etive and Glen Fyne Special Protection Area (SPA), which is protected due to its breeding population of golden eagles.
Rannoch Moor is also designated as an SAC, and is particularly famous as being the sole British location for the Rannoch-rush, named after the moor. It also has populations of otters and freshwater pearl mussels. The River Tay rises on the moor within the NSA, and is designated as a separate SAC for its entire length. The Ben Nevis massif is also an SAC, as are the woodlands at North Ballachulish in the westernmost part of the NSA. The final SAC within the NSA protects the woods on the western side of Loch Etive, in the southwestern extremity of the area.
The Highlands is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The term is also used for the area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east. The Great Glen divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Scottish Gaelic name of A' Ghàidhealtachd literally means "the place of the Gaels" and traditionally, from a Gaelic-speaking point of view, includes both the Western Isles and the Highlands.
The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for the next 160 years, the natural increase in population was exceeded by emigration (mostly to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and migration to the industrial cities of Scotland and England.) and passim The area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. At 9.1/km2 (24/sq mi) in 2012, the population density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole.
The Highland Council is the administrative body for much of the Highlands, with its administrative centre at Inverness. However, the Highlands also includes parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.
The Scottish Highlands is the only area in the British Isles to have the taiga biome as it features concentrated populations of Scots pine forest: see Caledonian Forest. It is the most mountainous part of the United Kingdom.
Between the 15th century and the mid-20th century, the area differed from most of the Lowlands in terms of language. In Scottish Gaelic, the region is known as the Gàidhealtachd, because it was traditionally the Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland, although the language is now largely confined to The Hebrides. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Scottish English (in its Highland form) is the predominant language of the area today, though Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic speech to a significant extent. Historically, the "Highland line" distinguished the two Scottish cultures. While the Highland line broadly followed the geography of the Grampians in the south, it continued in the north, cutting off the north-eastern areas, that is Eastern Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, from the more Gaelic Highlands and Hebrides.
Historically, the major social unit of the Highlands was the clan. Scottish kings, particularly James VI, saw clans as a challenge to their authority; the Highlands was seen by many as a lawless region. The Scots of the Lowlands viewed the Highlanders as backward and more "Irish". The Highlands were seen as the overspill of Gaelic Ireland. They made this distinction by separating Germanic "Scots" English and the Gaelic by renaming it "Erse" a play on Eire. Following the Union of the Crowns, James VI had the military strength to back up any attempts to impose some control. The result was, in 1609, the Statutes of Iona which started the process of integrating clan leaders into Scottish society. The gradual changes continued into the 19th century, as clan chiefs thought of themselves less as patriarchal leaders of their people and more as commercial landlords. The first effect on the clansmen who were their tenants was the change to rents being payable in money rather than in kind. Later, rents were increased as Highland landowners sought to increase their income. This was followed, mostly in the period 1760–1850, by agricultural improvement that often (particularly in the Western Highlands) involved clearance of the population to make way for large scale sheep farms. Displaced tenants were set up in crofting communities in the process. The crofts were intended not to provide all the needs of their occupiers; they were expected to work in other industries such as kelping and fishing. Crofters came to rely substantially on seasonal migrant work, particularly in the Lowlands. This gave impetus to the learning of English, which was seen by many rural Gaelic speakers to be the essential "language of work".
Older historiography attributes the collapse of the clan system to the aftermath of the Jacobite risings. This is now thought less influential by historians. Following the Jacobite rising of 1745 the British government enacted a series of laws to try to suppress the clan system, including bans on the bearing of arms and the wearing of tartan, and limitations on the activities of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Most of this legislation was repealed by the end of the 18th century as the Jacobite threat subsided. There was soon a rehabilitation of Highland culture. Tartan was adopted for Highland regiments in the British Army, which poor Highlanders joined in large numbers in the era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1790–1815). Tartan had largely been abandoned by the ordinary people of the region, but in the 1820s, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe. The international craze for tartan, and for idealising a romanticised Highlands, was set off by the Ossian cycle, and further popularised by the works of Walter Scott. His "staging" of the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the king's wearing of tartan resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish woollen industry. Individual clan tartans were largely designated in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity. This "Highlandism", by which all of Scotland was identified with the culture of the Highlands, was cemented by Queen Victoria's interest in the country, her adoption of Balmoral as a major royal retreat, and her interest in "tartenry".
Recurrent famine affected the Highlands for much of its history, with significant instances as late as 1817 in the Eastern Highlands and the early 1850s in the West. Over the 18th century, the region had developed a trade of black cattle into Lowland markets, and this was balanced by imports of meal into the area. There was a critical reliance on this trade to provide sufficient food, and it is seen as an essential prerequisite for the population growth that started in the 18th century. Most of the Highlands, particularly in the North and West was short of the arable land that was essential for the mixed, run rig based, communal farming that existed before agricultural improvement was introduced into the region.[a] Between the 1760s and the 1830s there was a substantial trade in unlicensed whisky that had been distilled in the Highlands. Lowland distillers (who were not able to avoid the heavy taxation of this product) complained that Highland whisky made up more than half the market. The development of the cattle trade is taken as evidence that the pre-improvement Highlands was not an immutable system, but did exploit the economic opportunities that came its way. The illicit whisky trade demonstrates the entrepreneurial ability of the peasant classes.
Agricultural improvement reached the Highlands mostly over the period 1760 to 1850. Agricultural advisors, factors, land surveyors and others educated in the thinking of Adam Smith were keen to put into practice the new ideas taught in Scottish universities. Highland landowners, many of whom were burdened with chronic debts, were generally receptive to the advice they offered and keen to increase the income from their land. In the East and South the resulting change was similar to that in the Lowlands, with the creation of larger farms with single tenants, enclosure of the old run rig fields, introduction of new crops (such as turnips), land drainage and, as a consequence of all this, eviction, as part of the Highland clearances, of many tenants and cottars. Some of those cleared found employment on the new, larger farms, others moved to the accessible towns of the Lowlands.
In the West and North, evicted tenants were usually given tenancies in newly created crofting communities, while their former holdings were converted into large sheep farms. Sheep farmers could pay substantially higher rents than the run rig farmers and were much less prone to falling into arrears. Each croft was limited in size so that the tenants would have to find work elsewhere. The major alternatives were fishing and the kelp industry. Landlords took control of the kelp shores, deducting the wages earned by their tenants from the rent due and retaining the large profits that could be earned at the high prices paid for the processed product during the Napoleonic wars.
When the Napoleonic wars finished in 1815, the Highland industries were affected by the return to a peacetime economy. The price of black cattle fell, nearly halving between 1810 and the 1830s. Kelp prices had peaked in 1810, but reduced from £9 a ton in 1823 to £3 13s 4d a ton in 1828. Wool prices were also badly affected. This worsened the financial problems of debt-encumbered landlords. Then, in 1846, potato blight arrived in the Highlands, wiping out the essential subsistence crop for the overcrowded crofting communities. As the famine struck, the government made clear to landlords that it was their responsibility to provide famine relief for their tenants. The result of the economic downturn had been that a large proportion of Highland estates were sold in the first half of the 19th century. T M Devine points out that in the region most affected by the potato famine, by 1846, 70 per cent of the landowners were new purchasers who had not owned Highland property before 1800. More landlords were obliged to sell due to the cost of famine relief. Those who were protected from the worst of the crisis were those with extensive rental income from sheep farms. Government loans were made available for drainage works, road building and other improvements and many crofters became temporary migrants – taking work in the Lowlands. When the potato famine ceased in 1856, this established a pattern of more extensive working away from the Highlands.
The unequal concentration of land ownership remained an emotional and controversial subject, of enormous importance to the Highland economy, and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The poor crofters were politically powerless, and many of them turned to religion. They embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian revival after 1800. Most joined the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. The religious change energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords; it helped prepare them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the Highland Land League. Violence erupted, starting on the Isle of Skye, when Highland landlords cleared their lands for sheep and deer parks. It was quietened when the government stepped in, passing the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886 to reduce rents, guarantee fixity of tenure, and break up large estates to provide crofts for the homeless. This contrasted with the Irish Land War underway at the same time, where the Irish were intensely politicised through roots in Irish nationalism, while political dimensions were limited. In 1885 three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, which listened to their pleas. The results included explicit security for the Scottish smallholders in the "crofting counties"; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and the creation of a Crofting Commission. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained their votes.
Today, the Highlands are the largest of Scotland's whisky producing regions; the relevant area runs from Orkney to the Isle of Arran in the south and includes the northern isles and much of Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll, Stirlingshire, Arran, as well as sections of Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. (Other sources treat The Islands, except Islay, as a separate whisky producing region.) This massive area has over 30 distilleries, or 47 when the Islands sub-region is included in the count. According to one source, the top five are The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Aberlour, Glenfarclas and Balvenie. While Speyside is geographically within the Highlands, that region is specified as distinct in terms of whisky productions. Speyside single malt whiskies are produced by about 50 distilleries.
According to Visit Scotland, Highlands whisky is "fruity, sweet, spicy, malty". Another review states that Northern Highlands single malt is "sweet and full-bodied", the Eastern Highlands and Southern Highlands whiskies tend to be "lighter in texture" while the distilleries in the Western Highlands produce single malts with a "much peatier influence".
The Scottish Reformation achieved partial success in the Highlands. Roman Catholicism remained strong in some areas, owing to remote locations and the efforts of Franciscan missionaries from Ireland, who regularly came to celebrate Mass. There remain significant Catholic strongholds within the Highlands and Islands such as Moidart and Morar on the mainland and South Uist and Barra in the southern Outer Hebrides. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw somewhat greater success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In the 19th century, the evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.
For the most part, however, the Highlands are considered predominantly Protestant, belonging to the Church of Scotland. In contrast to the Catholic southern islands, the northern Outer Hebrides islands (Lewis, Harris and North Uist) have an exceptionally high proportion of their population belonging to the Protestant Free Church of Scotland or the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides have been described as the last bastion of Calvinism in Britain and the Sabbath remains widely observed. Inverness and the surrounding area has a majority Protestant population, with most locals belonging to either The Kirk or the Free Church of Scotland. The church maintains a noticeable presence within the area, with church attendance notably higher than in other parts of Scotland. Religion continues to play an important role in Highland culture, with Sabbath observance still widely practised, particularly in the Hebrides.
In traditional Scottish geography, the Highlands refers to that part of Scotland north-west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which crosses mainland Scotland in a near-straight line from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. However the flat coastal lands that occupy parts of the counties of Nairnshire, Morayshire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire are often excluded as they do not share the distinctive geographical and cultural features of the rest of the Highlands. The north-east of Caithness, as well as Orkney and Shetland, are also often excluded from the Highlands, although the Hebrides are usually included. The Highland area, as so defined, differed from the Lowlands in language and tradition, having preserved Gaelic speech and customs centuries after the anglicisation of the latter; this led to a growing perception of a divide, with the cultural distinction between Highlander and Lowlander first noted towards the end of the 14th century. In Aberdeenshire, the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands is not well defined. There is a stone beside the A93 road near the village of Dinnet on Royal Deeside which states 'You are now in the Highlands', although there are areas of Highland character to the east of this point.
A much wider definition of the Highlands is that used by the Scotch whisky industry. Highland single malts are produced at distilleries north of an imaginary line between Dundee and Greenock, thus including all of Aberdeenshire and Angus.
Inverness is regarded as the Capital of the Highlands, although less so in the Highland parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire which look more to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and Stirling as their commercial centres.
The Highland Council area, created as one of the local government regions of Scotland, has been a unitary council area since 1996. The council area excludes a large area of the southern and eastern Highlands, and the Western Isles, but includes Caithness. Highlands is sometimes used, however, as a name for the council area, as in the former Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern is also used to refer to the area, as in the former Northern Constabulary. These former bodies both covered the Highland council area and the island council areas of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.
Much of the Highlands area overlaps the Highlands and Islands area. An electoral region called Highlands and Islands is used in elections to the Scottish Parliament: this area includes Orkney and Shetland, as well as the Highland Council local government area, the Western Isles and most of the Argyll and Bute and Moray local government areas. Highlands and Islands has, however, different meanings in different contexts. It means Highland (the local government area), Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles in Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern, as in Northern Constabulary, refers to the same area as that covered by the fire and rescue service.
There have been trackways from the Lowlands to the Highlands since prehistoric times. Many traverse the Mounth, a spur of mountainous land that extends from the higher inland range to the North Sea slightly north of Stonehaven. The most well-known and historically important trackways are the Causey Mounth, Elsick Mounth, Cryne Corse Mounth and Cairnamounth.
Although most of the Highlands is geographically on the British mainland, it is somewhat less accessible than the rest of Britain; thus most UK couriers categorise it separately, alongside Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and other offshore islands. They thus charge additional fees for delivery to the Highlands, or exclude the area entirely. While the physical remoteness from the largest population centres inevitably leads to higher transit cost, there is confusion and consternation over the scale of the fees charged and the effectiveness of their communication, and the use of the word Mainland in their justification. Since the charges are often based on postcode areas, many far less remote areas, including some which are traditionally considered part of the lowlands, are also subject to these charges. Royal Mail is the only delivery network bound by a Universal Service Obligation to charge a uniform tariff across the UK. This, however, applies only to mail items and not larger packages which are dealt with by its Parcelforce division.
The Highlands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. Smaller formations of Lewisian gneiss in the northwest are up to 3 billion years old. The overlying rocks of the Torridon Sandstone form mountains in the Torridon Hills such as Liathach and Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross.
These foundations are interspersed with many igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and the Cuillin of Skye. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstone found principally along the Moray Firth coast and partially down the Highland Boundary Fault. The Jurassic beds found in isolated locations on Skye and Applecross reflect the complex underlying geology. They are the original source of much North Sea oil. The Great Glen is formed along a transform fault which divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands.
The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to which the plateau has been subjected in various places.
Climate
The region is much warmer than other areas at similar latitudes (such as Kamchatka in Russia, or Labrador in Canada) because of the Gulf Stream making it cool, damp and temperate. The Köppen climate classification is "Cfb" at low altitudes, then becoming "Cfc", "Dfc" and "ET" at higher altitudes.
Places of interest
An Teallach
Aonach Mòr (Nevis Range ski centre)
Arrochar Alps
Balmoral Castle
Balquhidder
Battlefield of Culloden
Beinn Alligin
Beinn Eighe
Ben Cruachan hydro-electric power station
Ben Lomond
Ben Macdui (second highest mountain in Scotland and UK)
Ben Nevis (highest mountain in Scotland and UK)
Cairngorms National Park
Cairngorm Ski centre near Aviemore
Cairngorm Mountains
Caledonian Canal
Cape Wrath
Carrick Castle
Castle Stalker
Castle Tioram
Chanonry Point
Conic Hill
Culloden Moor
Dunadd
Duart Castle
Durness
Eilean Donan
Fingal's Cave (Staffa)
Fort George
Glen Coe
Glen Etive
Glen Kinglas
Glen Lyon
Glen Orchy
Glenshee Ski Centre
Glen Shiel
Glen Spean
Glenfinnan (and its railway station and viaduct)
Grampian Mountains
Hebrides
Highland Folk Museum – The first open-air museum in the UK.
Highland Wildlife Park
Inveraray Castle
Inveraray Jail
Inverness Castle
Inverewe Garden
Iona Abbey
Isle of Staffa
Kilchurn Castle
Kilmartin Glen
Liathach
Lecht Ski Centre
Loch Alsh
Loch Ard
Loch Awe
Loch Assynt
Loch Earn
Loch Etive
Loch Fyne
Loch Goil
Loch Katrine
Loch Leven
Loch Linnhe
Loch Lochy
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
Loch Lubnaig
Loch Maree
Loch Morar
Loch Morlich
Loch Ness
Loch Nevis
Loch Rannoch
Loch Tay
Lochranza
Luss
Meall a' Bhuiridh (Glencoe Ski Centre)
Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary at Loch Creran
Rannoch Moor
Red Cuillin
Rest and Be Thankful stretch of A83
River Carron, Wester Ross
River Spey
River Tay
Ross and Cromarty
Smoo Cave
Stob Coire a' Chàirn
Stac Polly
Strathspey Railway
Sutherland
Tor Castle
Torridon Hills
Urquhart Castle
West Highland Line (scenic railway)
West Highland Way (Long-distance footpath)
Wester Ross
Living, breathing, and cast in stone
With the kind permission of Svend DK, I have created this diptych from cropped versions of two of his photos.
Please do not copy or blog this diptych
Form 5 Confirmation Mass 2021
English session 1
16 Confirmants
Celebrated by Father Andrew Wong
F5Confirmation: Anointing with Chrism Oil
Eleanor Catherine Tan Shu Qi
Chaillot | 13 Avenue du Président Wilson
L'Usage des Formes exhibition
Palais de Tokyo, Paris
March 20 - May 17, 2015
The Station was designed in 1859 by C. H. Driver ( also designed he embankment and Abbey Mills pumping station) and is one of the last remaining examples of this form of architecture. The distinguishing features are the ridge and furrow platform canopies and the original cast iron mouldings. There are now only 3 active platforms at the station. The fourth platform is now overgrown and inaccessible to the public but the surviving but disused loading shed and original ticket office are located in the carpark. A model of the station in its former glory can be found upstairs at the Wellingborough Museum.
A new form of urban landscape--or should I say "still life." Riding along the Hudson River in the lower reaches of my neighborhood, I saw this graffiti innovation: a see-through variety. Spray paint applied to a sheer netting that's protecting a construction site created this transparent graffiti.
For those of us who made assumptions on what graffiti was, and where it should occur, this is an 180 degree turn. Graffiti now can be done on cloth, mosquito netting, and any other 'soft' surface... Long live the revolution!
Washington Heights, Upper Manhattan
New York, NY USA
-----
For the group six word story.
PGB Photographer & Creative - © Philip Romeyn - Phillostar Gone Ballistic 2021 - Photo may not be edited from its original form. Commercial use is prohibited without contacting me.
The Ford Motor Company formed a new mid-priced Marque in 1939 to sit between Ford and Lincoln. The new marque was named 'Mercury'. 1939 marked the first model year, the model, named 'Eight' was fitted with a 3.9 L version of the Flathead V8 engine.
The Eight rode on a 116 in wheelbase, and had its own unique body, not shared with Ford or Lincoln models (this ended in 1941 when the body was shared with the Ford model).
Mercury's natural competitors were Oldsmobile, De Soto, Buick and Dode, along with mid-priced independent makers such as Hudson and Studebaker.
Shown is the Club Coupe model, in essence a two-door sedan, though at the time, that description would have meant a longroof vehicle, like the Ford Tudor.
Rock forms coming up from the ground look like teeth. Alabama Hills has many interesting features if you look for them. Located in Lone Pine, CA.
"The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant railway vehicles such as Mallard, Stirling Single, Duchess of Hamilton and a Japanese bullet train. In addition, the National Railway Museum holds a diverse collection of other objects from a household recipe book used in George Stephenson’s house to film showing a "never stop railway" developed for the British Empire Exhibition. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001.
As of 2019 the museum is about to embark on a once-in-a-generation site development. As part of the York Central redevelopment which will divert Leeman Road, the National Railway Museum will be building a new entrance building to connect the two separate parts of the museum together. At the same time, the space around the museum will be landscaped to provide public spaces.
In 2020 architectural practice Feilden Fowles won an international competition to create the museum’s new £16.5 million Central Hall building—a key element of the museum’s Vision 2025 masterplan.
York is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in North Yorkshire, England. The population of the council area which includes nearby villages was 208,200 as of 2017[citation needed] and the population of the urban area was 153,717 at the 2011 census. Located at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss, it is the county town of the historic county of Yorkshire. The city is known for its famous historical landmarks such as York Minster and the city walls, as well as a variety of cultural and sporting activities, which makes it a popular tourist destination in England. The local authority is the City of York Council, a single tier governing body responsible for providing all local services and facilities throughout the city. The City of York local government district includes rural areas beyond the old city boundaries. It is about 25 miles north-east of Leeds and 34 miles north-west of Kingston upon Hull. York is the largest settlement in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire.
The city was founded by the Romans as Eboracum in 71 AD. It became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and later of the kingdoms of Deira, Northumbria and Jórvík. In the Middle Ages, York grew as a major wool trading centre and became the capital of the northern ecclesiastical province of the Church of England, a role it has retained. In the 19th century, York became a major hub of the railway network and a confectionery manufacturing centre, a status it maintained well into the 20th century. During the Second World War, York was bombed as part of the Baedeker Blitz. Although less affected by bombing than other northern cities, several historic buildings were gutted and restoration efforts continued into the 1960s.
The economy of York is dominated by services. The University of York and National Health Service are major employers, whilst tourism has become an important element of the local economy. In 2016, York became sister cities with the Chinese city of Nanjing, as per an agreement signed by the Lord Mayor of York, focusing on building links in tourism, education, science, technology and culture. Today, the city is a popular tourist attraction, especially for international visitors from America, Germany, France and China. In 2017, York became UK's first human rights city, which formalised the city's aim to use human rights in decision making." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.
The curve of the branch, matching the spread of the sunset, ideal.. and the poplar branches are full of buds. They don't know about February....
www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Fort-Monroes-L...
Fort Monroe, Virginia (also known as Fortress Monroe) is a military installation located at Old Point Comfort on the tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads on the Chesapeake Bay in eastern Virginia in the United States.
In 1634, the area became part of Elizabeth River Shire, and was included in Elizabeth City County when it was formed in 1643. The area including Fort Monroe became part of the independent city of Hampton when Elizabeth City County and the Town of Phoebus agreed to consolidate with Hampton in 1952.
Fort Monroe was completed in 1834, and is named in honor of U.S. President James Monroe. Completely surrounded by a moat, the six-sided stone fort is the only one of its kind left in the United States.
In 1609, Captain John Smith and the colonists of the Virginia Company who established the Jamestown Settlement on the James River in 1607 recognized the strategic importance of the site for purposes of coastal defense and built Fort Algernourne at the location of the present Fort Monroe. Throughout the Colonial period, fortifications were manned at the location from time to time.
Early 19th century
Following the War of 1812, the United States again came to realize the importance of protecting Hampton Roads and the inland waters from attack by sea, and construction was begun in 1819 on what would become the largest stone fort ever built in the United States. The fort features a moat completely surrounding the inner structures. As a young 1st Lieutenant and engineer, Robert E. Lee was stationed there from 1831 to 1834, and played a major role in the final construction of both Fort Monroe and its opposite, Fort Calhoun, later renamed Fort Wool, a man-made island across the navigational channel from Old Point Comfort in the middle of the mouth of Hampton Roads.
When construction was completed in 1834, Fort Monroe was referred to as the "Gibraltar of Chesapeake Bay." The fort accomplished this mission by mounting an impressive complement of the most powerful artillery of the time, 32-pounder guns with a range of over one mile. In conjunction with Fort Calhoun (later Fort Wool), this was just enough range to cover the main shipping channel into the area.
American Civil War 1860/61
Fort Monroe played an important role in the American Civil War. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. Four months later, on April 12, 1861, troops of that state opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston's harbor. Five days later, Virginia became the eighth Southern state to withdraw from the Union, and join the newly formed Confederacy.
President Abraham Lincoln had Fort Monroe quickly reinforced so that it would not fall to Confederate forces. It was held by Union forces throughout the Civil War and several sea and land expeditions were launched from there by Union forces.
A few weeks after the Battle of Fort Sumter in 1861, US General-in-Chief Winfield Scott proposed to President Lincoln a plan to bring the states back into the Union: cut the Confederacy off from the rest of the world instead of attacking its army in Virginia. His plan was to blockade the Confederacy's coastline and control the Mississippi River valley with gunboats. In cooperation with the Navy, troops from Fort Monroe extended Union control along the coasts of the Carolinas as Lincoln ordered a blockade of the southern seaboard from the South Carolina line to the Rio Grande River on April 19, and on April 27 extended it to include the North Carolina and Virginia coasts.
On April 20 the Union Navy burned and evacuated the Norfolk Navy Yard, destroying nine ships in the process, leaving only Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort as the last bastion of the United States in Tidewater Virginia. Occupation of Norfolk gave the Confederacy its only major shipyard and thousands of heavy guns, but they held it for only one year. CS Brigadier General Walter Gwynn, who commanded the Confederate defenses around Norfolk, erected batteries at Sewell's Point, both to protect Norfolk and to control Hampton Roads.
The Union dispatched a fleet to Hampton Roads to enforce the blockade, and in 1861 on May 18 and May 19, federal gunboats based at Fort Monroe exchanged fire with the Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point. The little-known Battle of Sewell's Point resulted in little damage to either side. Several land operations against Confederate forces also were mounted from the fort, notably the Battle of Big Bethel in June 1861.
Fort Monroe is also the place at which, on May 27, 1861, Major General Benjamin Butler made his famous “contraband” decision, by which escaping slaves reaching Union lines would not be returned to bondage. The order resulted in waves of enslaved people fleeing to Union lines around Fort Monroe, which was Butler's headquarters in Virginia.
In March 1862, the naval Battle of Hampton Roads took place off Sewell's Point between the first ironclad warships, CSS Virginia and USS Monitor. While the outcome was inconclusive, the battle marked a change in naval warfare and the end to wooden fighting ships.
Later that spring, the continuing presence of the Union Navy based at Fort Monroe enabled Federal water transports from Washington DC to land unmolested to support Major General George B. McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign. Formed at Fort Monroe, McClellan's troops moved up the Virginia Peninsula during the spring of 1862, reaching within a few miles of the gates of Richmond about 80 miles to the west by June 1. For the next 30 days, they laid siege to Richmond. Then, during the Seven Days Battles, McClellan decided to fall back to the James River well below Richmond, ending the campaign. Fortunately for McClellan, during this time, Union troops regained control of Norfolk, Hampton Roads, and the James River below Drewry's Bluff (a strategic point about 8 miles south of Richmond).
In 1864, the Union Army of the James under Major General U.S. Grant was formed at Fort Monroe, and the Siege of Petersburg during 1864 and 1865 was supported on the James River from a base at City Point (now Hopewell, Virginia). Maintaining the control of Hampton Roads at Fort Monroe and Fort Wool was crucial to the naval support Grant required for the successful Union campaign to take Petersburg, which was the key to the fall of the Confederate capitol at Richmond. As Petersburg fell, Richmond was evacuated in 1865 on the night of April 2-April 3. That night, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet escaped Richmond, taking the Richmond and Danville Railroad to moving first to Danville and then North Carolina. However, the cause was lost, and Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered what was left of the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House the following week.
After the last Confederate cabinet meeting was held on April 26, 1865 at Charlotte, North Carolina, former Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured at Irwinville, Georgia and placed under arrest. He was confined in an unheated, open casemate at Fort Monroe for two years. Some historians have speculated that his treatment in captivity was intended to be fatal. In poor health, Davis was released in May, 1867 on bail which was posted by prominent citizens of both northern and southern states, including Horace Greeley and Cornelius Vanderbilt who had become convinced he was being treated unfairly. The federal government proceeded no further in its prosecution due to the constitutional concerns of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase.
Over time the armament at Fort Monroe was improved, taking advantage of new technologies. In addition, the fort controlled several sub installations around Hampton Roads, making the area one of the most heavily defended in the United States.
The Jamestown Exposition held in 1907 at Hampton Roads, featured an extensive naval review, including the Great White Fleet. Beginning in 1917, the former exposition site at Sewell's Point became a major base of the United States Navy. Currently, Norfolk Navy Base is the base supporting naval forces operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean. It is the world's largest Naval Station; in fact, based on supported military population, it is the largest naval installation in the world.
Fort Monroe and Fort Wool stood guard during World War I and World War II, and successfully protected Hampton Roads and the important military and civilian resources located inland.
By World War II, Fort Monroe served as headquarters for an impressive array of coast artillery guns ranging from 3-inch rapid fire guns to 16-inch guns capable of firing a 2,000 pound projectile 25 miles. In addition, the Army controlled submarine barriers and underwater mine fields. But this vast array of armaments was all made obsolete by the development of the long-range bomber and the aircraft carrier after the second World War.
After the operational armament was removed, Fort Monroe received a mission that it still maintains to this day. Since World War II, it has served as the major headquarters for training soldiers for war. In 1973, Fort Monroe became home to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), which combines the training of soldiers with the development of operational doctrine and the development and procurement of new weapons systems.
Fort Monroe supports a daytime population of about 2,096, including 1,105 people in uniform, 1,991 civilian and contract employees, and about 814 family members residing on post.
In addition to continuing to serve as an active military installation, Fort Monroe has become a popular historical site. The Casemate Museum, opened in 1951, depicts the history of Fort Monroe and Old Point Comfort, with special emphasis on the Civil War period. It offers a view of Confederate President Jefferson Davis' prison cell. Also shown are the quarters occupied by 1st Lt. Robert E. Lee in 1831-34, and the quarters where President Abraham Lincoln was a guest in May 1862.
Nearby, Fort Monroe's companion guardian of Hampton Roads, Fort Wool, located at Rip Raps is also available for tours.
Note: Fort Wool is located adjacent to one of the man-made islands of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and is accessible only by water. The availability of public tours of both Fort Wool and Fort Monroe are subject to Homeland Security Alert conditions.
Base Realignment and Closure, 2005
The information on this page may change as a result of the 2005 U.S. Base Realignment and Closure Program (BRAC 2005).
The Department of Defense released a list on 13 May 2005 of military installations recommended for closure and/or realignment--among them is Fort Monroe. The list has been approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and will be submitted to Congress and President Bush, who must then approve it by 23 September.
It is unclear as to what will become of the base after closing. Given the historic significance of the base, it is inevitable that substantial parts of it will be turned into another of the many historical sites located throughout the greater Hampton Roads area.
However, the city of Hampton has recently received numerous proposals for high-end residential and commercial development on the site once Fort Monroe is decommissioned. Because of the scarcity and desirability of waterfront property, the fort area is prime development property. Development will be facilitated by the fact that most of the land on which the fort stands was loaned by the state of Virginia to the federal government, and will revert to the state once Fort Monroe closes.
This receiver is obviously very similar to the Panasonic R-72 "TOOT-A-LOOP", however it is very well built with quality materials and still works occupying three 1.5V AA batteries. It is known as "The Bag" among Spanish collectors and in vintage advertising it claims to be the transformable transistor radio that can acquire a variety of original and decorative forms.
The chassis has six transistors: two germanium (AC-188) for the final transformerless audio amplification stage, and four silicon transistors (115A X 2, 115B and 109) for the other stages of this superheterodyne.
Internacional Radio Televisión S.A. It began its journey on December 15, 1948 in Barcelona, installing its commercial offices on 227 Rosellón Street, being the founder Don José Gómez Serrano, who was one of the founders of Iberia Radio SA, to later constitute INTER ELECTRONICA and INTERNACIONAL RADIO Y TELEVISION, whose presidency he held until the acquisition of the company by GRUNDIG, then becoming, with an honorary character, that of INTER GRUNDIG, S.A. so far his death on August 30, 1978.
This company manufactured a wide variety of tube receivers, televisions, transistor radios and even cassette players.
Aircoach was formed in 1999 by a former Bus Eireann employee. First bought 90% of the company in 2003 before finishing the job in 2005. It specialises in running scheduled intercity services as well as Airport transfer duties at Dublin Airport.
Seen at Dublin Airport operating car park duties is Mercedes-Benz Citaro ARTIC 11079 - 08-D-69972.
On this photograph you can see:
... The Sun; sphere of constantly igniting gas that stretches 1.4 million kilometers in diameter, which was at that time nearly 149 000 000 km away from the lens of the camera
... the atmosphere of the Earth which is painting the Sun red... if we take the approximate thickness of the atmosphere of 100 km that contains 99,9% of the particles and since we are looking at the Sun which is 6 degrees above the horizon; you are looking at approximately 500 km of atmosphere
... and two gentle life forms that are about 0,003 km away from the lens of the camera; an approx. 0,008 km high plum and cherry tree that are just about to blossom at the beginning of the spring
-> Apropriate music:
Here’s Rare_Form21 soaking in the last of the summer weather in his Malibu Ken shorts. I was so worried he would look exactly like my Tenzin but I got a completely different vibe from him and I think he’s absoultely gorgeous.
And I touched up the paint on Turquoise, Barbie’s 1989 pet border collie and brushed out his fur. I didn’t plan on it but it seems Rare Form’s claimed Turquoise for himself.
All photos in this gallery are all rights reserved. If you want to use any of them, please send an email before. Thanks for collaboration.
One important aspect of Readernaut is the ability to create "notes" on a particular book. Notes can be anything from a review or character analysis to a quote or simple comment.
Designing the form and functionality for Notes has been challenging because it needs to be very flexible and adaptive to peoples habits and practices.
Gloucester Cathedral, Crucible 2 exhibition - exhibit No. 75 “Tree form and circle in polished bronze” by Leonard Mccomb
Happy Feathery Friday!
Forgot about that....
No I did not use the flood tool to achieve this. This actually was shot in bright sunlight, and brought way down on the brightness scale...and there you go...you have this as the result.
A beautiful graceful swan affirming he was no longer the ugly duckling...
This and all other images are copyrighted, and may not be used, in any form without express permission of dreamscapepictures
I could spend all day photographing these marvelous birds. They are so quick and so vocal and it's a real experience to get close and hear all the chatter!
London Buslines was formed to bid for bus services being put out to tender by London Buses as part of the tendering of London bus services. It was owned by coach company proprietor Len Wright and began trading on 13/07/1985, when it became the first private operator to operate a London Buses service, the 81 from Hounslow to Slough using a motley collection of former LT DMS's. Fleet improvement was made over the following years and this Lynx was new in 06/1987. It is seen here in Hounslow Bus Station, in 05/1989 loading for a run on the 81 to Slough. There were six of these Lynx(751-6: D751-6DLO) in the batch and were the fledgling operator's first new vehicles.
The camera being a Praktica MTL3.
I would request, as with all my photos, that they are not copied or downloaded in any way, shape or form. © Peter Steel 1989.
Loch Fyne is a sea loch off the Firth of Clyde and forms part of the coast of the Cowal peninsula. Located on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It extends 65 kilometres (40 mi) inland from the Sound of Bute, making it the longest of the sea lochs in Scotland. It is connected to the Sound of Jura by the Crinan Canal. Although there is no evidence that grapes have grown there, the title is probably honorific, indicating that the river, Abhainn Fìne (river Fyne), was a well-respected river.
In the north the terrain is mountainous, with the Arrochar Alps, Beinn Bhuidhe, Glen Shira, Glen Fyne, Glen Croe, Arrochar, Tyndrum and Loch Lomond nearby.
It is overlooked by the Tinkers' Heart, an old travellers' monument. It was a place for weddings to traditionally take place.
Transport
Roads
The loch has several roads surrounding it. The A83 goes round the head of the loch then travels down the west coast of Loch Fyne, from Ardrishaig to Tarbert along the Knapdale coast. Leaving the A83 north of Cairndow the A815 travels down the east shore of Loch Fyne along the Cowal peninsula coast to Strachur, where to continue down the east shore the A886 leads to Newton. Where you turn off onto the B8000 which carries on down the east shore to Millhouse, where you can go to Portavadie or Kames (direct) or via the Ardlamont peninsula, a longer route to Kames.
Ferries
At the mouth of Loch Fyne between Portavadie on the Cowal peninsula, on the east shore of the loch. A vehicle ferry traverses the loch to Tarbert on the Kintyre peninsula on the west shore.
Crinan Canal
The Crinan Canal connects Loch Fyne at Ardrishaig and the Sound of Jura at the hamlet of Crinan itself, giving a shortcut for smaller vessels out to the Hebrides saving the longer route of going around the Kintyre peninsula. The canal was built between 1794 and 1801 when the canal was opened, under the supervision of John Rennie. In 1816 Thomas Telford redesigned parts of the canal to remedy technical issues with water supplies for the canal. There are fifteen locks along the canal's 9-mile (14 km) length.
History
World War II
During the Second World War, HMS Quebec (a shore establishment) also known as the "No 1" Combined Operations Training Centre (CTC) was centred a few miles south of Inveraray and used the shores of the Loch Fyne and surrounding coastline. It trained personnel in the techniques involved in the use of landing craft and the setting up of a beachhead. The No1 CTC was manned and trained personnel from all three services, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and the Army, troops of the allies were also trained. This important military facility was set up in October 1940, around 250,000 personnel passed through the training centre by 1944. The main site is now occupied by Argyll Caravan Park.
Nature and conservation
Dolphins, seals and otters inhabit the loch, and basking sharks can appear in its waters during the summer months. A Ross's gull was present at the loch in early 2007.
In 2014 Loch Fyne was declared a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area (NCMPA). The designation covers the entire loch northwards from a point near Otter Ferry.
Fisheries
Loch Fyne has a reputation for its oyster fishery, and as a consequence, the loch has given its name to the once locally owned Loch Fyne Oysters and to the associated Loch Fyne Restaurants. It is also notable for its herring-fishing industry, and hence the famous Loch Fyne Kipper, originally caught using the drift-net method. In the mid-19th century, Loch Fyne was the centre of the battle between the traditional drift-net fishermen and the new trawl-net fishermen who sprang up around Tarbert and Campbeltown in 1833
Sport and leisure
Diving
Loch Fyne is a popular area for sport diving. Off the coast at St Catherines, is a boulder field and a wrecked speedboat. At Kenmore Point is Stallion Rock, a single rock that rises from the sea bed.
Sight seeing
It is also a popular tourist destination with attractions such as
Inveraray Castle, Dunderave Castle, Kilmory Castle, Minard Castle and the nearby ruins of Castle MacEwen and Old
Castle Lachlan around the shores of Loch Fyne.
Crarae Garden
Crarae Garden located 10 miles south of Inveraray, the National Trust gardens overlook Loch Fyne.
Inveraray Bell Tower
The Loch is overlooked by the 126 feet (38 m) high Inverary Bell Tower, visible from much of the Loch, and is a popular tourist attraction.
Inveraray is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, and on the A83 road. It is a former royal burgh, the traditional county town of Argyll, and ancestral seat to the Duke of Argyll.
During the Second World War the Combined Operations Training Centre, located close to the town, was an important military facility.
The town's coat of arms depicts a net cast out over the ocean, entangled in which are five herrings and the Latin motto "SEMPER TIBI PENDEAT HALEC" (possible English translation: "may a herring always hang to thee").
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, in his 1909 book A Complete Guide to Heraldry, notes the following:
There is no doubt of its ancient usage. ...and the blazon of the coat, according to the form it is depicted upon the Corporate seal, would be for the field: "The sea proper, therein a net suspended from the dexter chief and the sinister fess points to the base; and entangled in its meshes five herrings," which is about the most remarkable coat of arms I have ever come across.
In 1747, William Adam had drawn up plans for the creation of a new Inveraray. By 1770, little had been done, and the fifth Duke set about rebuilding the town in its present form. Some of the work on the rebuilt Inveraray was done by John Adam. The Inveraray Inn (formerly known as the New Inn, Great Inn, Argyll Arms Hotel and Argyll Hotel) on Front Street being his, as well as the Town House. Much of the rest of the town, including the church, was designed and built by the celebrated Edinburgh-born architect Robert Mylne (1733-1811) between 1772 and 1800.
The end product was an attractive town which included houses for estate workers, a woollen mill, and a pier to exploit herring fishing, which was to grow in later years to play a major role in the town's economy. The finished product is one of the best examples of an 18th-century new town in Scotland, and the vast majority of the properties in the centre of Inveraray are considered worthy of protection because of the town's architectural significance.
In addition to the castle, the Georgian Inveraray Jail in the burgh is now a museum. Other attractions include the Argyll Folk Museum at Auchindrain. The Celtic Inveraray Cross can also been seen in the town. The Clyde puffers VIC 72, Vital Spark. The Bell Tower dominates the town, and contains the second-heaviest ring of ten bells in the world. The bell tower is open to the public, and the bells are rung regularly.
In autumn 2014, PBS premiered a series, Great Estates of Scotland. Inveraray was featured in one episode, as was the present Duke of Argyll, head of the Campbell clan.