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From the village square take the Glen Road (opposite the village hall),
marked in yellow on the map above, and continue, crossing three
cattle grids, till you reach the end of the tarmac road. This area is shown as
Lurg (An Lurg -- the ridge) on OS 1:25,000. At the end of
the public road cross the Dalchurn Bridge, also known locally as Shepherds
Bridge. This area is known as Dalchurn (Dail a’
Chaorainn -- the meadow of the rowan tree) and up to the right from the
bridge can be seen the remains of the old township that was inhabited until
1874.
Lurgan, Dalchurn and other settlements that you will pass on your way up Glen
Banchor were the original habitations lived in before Newtonmore was founded.
The Glen was heavily populated at the beginning of the 19th century, but
gradually, as their small farms became uneconomic or as the land was let for
sheep farming, the people moved into the new community of Newtonmore, which was
growing in the area, or left the vicinity. The type of houses they lived in at
the start of the 18th century can be seen at the Highland Folk Museum at
Newtonmore. The final big exodus was in 1876 when five families from the
townships of Westerton and Easterton had to leave because the land on which they
lived and worked was let as a sheep farm. Continuing along the road you will see
the remains of Westerton, to the north just before you cross the bridge over the
Allt Fionndrigh (Allt Fionn-ruighe -- the burn
of the white sheiling-ground). Having crossed the bridge you pass Glenballoch,
until recently the last inhabited house in the glen. Turn left to the River
Calder and continue along its bank past Dallballloch (Dail Ballach -- the meadow
of the mottled place) till you reach Carnegies Bothy, marked Dail na Seilg
(Dail na Seilg -- the meadow of the hunting), on the OS 1:25,000 maps.
1. Continue to Cluny,
At Dail na Seilg cross the River
Calder by the footbridge and take the estate track through the Strath an Eilich
(Strath an Eilich -- the valley of the
mill-lade) and reach Cluny on the Laggan Road, 6 miles from Newtonmore. To avoid
having to walk back to Newtonmore along the road, walkers can take the morning
post bus from the Post Office, get off at Cluny Lodge and tackle the walk in
reverse direction. In the summer months there is also a bus to Fort William
which will set you down at Cluny.
2.
Continue to Loch Dubh
For Loch Dubh: turn North-west and either follow the path
from Dalballoch along the north bank of the Allt an Lochain Duibh (Allt an
Lochain Duibh -- the burn of the black
lochan) or the path which converges with it from Carnegies Bothy. Loch Dubh is a
picturesque but sombre lochan under dark cliffs 2 miles from the junction of
Allt an Lochain Duibh and the River Calder.
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