|
THE SPEY DAM AND GARVA
BRIDGE
This short tour is especially good in the evening
.... or very early morning, if you're an early riser.
Take the Fort William road
out of Newtonmore as far as Laggan Bridge, where, instead of
following the main road sharp left over the bridge, turn off to the
right along the single track road. The Laggan Shop
can be found here, It's open seven days a week and is well stocked with
provisions, including tasty hot snacks. Carry
on up the single track road, through several sharp bends, and eventually sharp left over a
bridge, with the Spey Dam wall visible upstream to your right, continuing up the hill
until you see the loch in front of you. On your left is the ancient hill fort of
Dun na Lamh - if you feel like a spot of exercise, stop near the
river bridge and walk along the track to the left at the base of the hill (before the road
starts climbing) - follow this round until the obvious track up hill takes you eventually
to the summit of this fort, with superb views all round.
The loch of the Spey Dam
is stocked regularly by the Badenoch Angling Association and
provides good fly fishing, with boats available - strictly fly only, and a permit IS
required, whatever you may have heard about fishing for trout in Scotland...
Permits from Newtonmore Craft Centre, or the Laggan Shop.
Carry on along the length of the loch, and just
beyond the end, where you reach a junction, turn right, over the
narrow bridge, then continue past Garvamore, where the
remnants of the General Wade Barracks can be seen on your right (the roof is covered with
tarpaulin at present, whilst efforts are made to reconstruct the building).
|
