Fairy Bridge/Castle Stalker

The Great Scottish Adventure

Day 5
Fairy Bridge/Castle Stalker

After morning tasks at camp, we headed for the short 2 1/2 mile hike to the Fairy Bridge of Glen Creran. Access was via a very tight single track road. On the way in we came head to head with a huge tractor towing a trailer. We got off to the side of the road as best we could on a small pullout, but even then the tractor had only inches to pass.

The hike was beautiful through the moss and fern covered dense enchanted fairytale forest.Much of the path was overgrown with ferns and sharp thorny bushes.

The bridge itself was a magical place. The origins and date it was built has been lost to time, but is believed to be in the 1500’s. In Celtic folklore, streams and the bridges crossing them are places where the human world and the fairy realm meet. And the locals in the area have long shared tales of unusual lights, faint whispers, and giggling in the wind near the bridge at twilight. Legend says that crossing the bridge with pure intentions brings good fortune or changes your life for the better, while showing disrespect invites fairy mischief…

The upward facing shards of stone give the bridge an ancient medieval and mystical feel. I was eager to get the tripod set up and take some longer exposures to capture the flow of the water. Hopefully I accomplished my goal and came away with some great images!

Onto Castle Stalker located in Appin on a small tidal islet on Loch Laich…

After some anxious backseat driving by myself, and mis-routing by Google, we finally found a little place to park up and walk down to the low tide shoreline for an incredible view of the castle. It stood as a striking four-storey tower rising from the small island, with the Scottish flag raised on the roof, unfurled and blowing in the wind. The dark and ominous clouds were a perfect backdrop for the scene. We found old small rail car tracks, partially buried in the seaweed, leading down from the shoreline directly towards the castle. Presumably used to transfer supplies back and forth to the castle. 

The original structure was built by the Clan MacDougall in 1320. Then the Lordship of Lorn passed to the Stewarts around 1388 and they took ownership. The castle in its current form was built by Lord of Lorn, Sir John Stewart in the 1440’s. Unfortunately, around 1620 in a drunken wager, the castle was lost to the Clan Campbell. Through several battles, it passed hands a couple of times between the Stewarts and Campbells, but eventually returned to the Stewarts when purchased in 1908 by Charles Stewart of Achara.

After the castle we had lunch at a nearby cafe. Then drove through the pouring rain to our campsite for the next two nights in Glencoe.

I am hoping for some moody conditions in the Glen tomorrow for landscape photography, without the pouring rain of course!

Only time will tell…