The Great Glen Way - A Walking Guidebook

Guidebook to walking the Great Glen Way, a 117km (73 mile) low-level route from Scotland's coast to coast, between Fort William and Inverness. The route includes easy, level stretches alongside the Caledonian Canal, as well as stretches over rougher terrain. The route is an ideal introduction to long-distance walking.

The Great Glen is a remarkable geographic feature, running ruler-straight from coast to coast through the Scottish Highlands. Loch Ness, Loch Lochy and little Loch Oich are neatly arranged through the glen, while steep and forested slopes rise towards splendid mountains to north and south. Man has not missed the opportunity to run a road through this low-lying glen, and the Caledonian Canal was cut through the glen linking its three lochs with the coast. Walkers are now blessed with the provision of a waymarked trail through the glen, running for 117 kilometres (73 miles) from Fort William to Inverness via Fort Augustus. It was officially opened on 30th April 2002 by Prince Andrew, Earl of Inverness. As a low-lying trail, most walkers could complete it at most times of the year, and there is always ready access to accommodation, food, drink and transport services.

The Great Glen Way provides an easy and scenic route through the Highlands, where walkers can admire the rugged mountains without having to climb them. Much of the route runs concurrent with the Great Glen Mountain Bike Trail, but there are several paths that are only for the use of walkers. Take the time to delve into the long and turbulent history of clan rivalry, strife and warfare. Marvel at the engineering associated with military roads, railway lines and the Caledonian Canal. Keep an eye peeled for a glimpse of the celebrated Loch Ness Monster!

GEOLOGY

If the Great Glen has a fault, then it is the Great Glen Fault! Even a casual glance at a map of Scotland reveals the true scale and extent of the Great Glen; a suspiciously ruler-straight trench running north-east to south-west. The underlying cause is geological, as the Great Glen lies on a major fault line. The fault has an incredibly long history, having become active some 400 million years ago. However, the rocks either side of it are considerably older! The fault is termed a ‘wrench fault’ and the land on either side has been displaced over a staggering 105 kilometres (65 miles) or more. It is an interesting exercise to trace out a map of Scotland, cut with scissors along the Great Glen, then slide the northern half of the map that distance along the line of the fault. All other geological events being equal, that is what Scotland would look like if the Great Glen Fault had never existed!

Geologists have studied the granite bedrock near the villages of Foyers and Strontian, and although there is some dispute, many have concluded that they are essentially the same. However, these ancient granite emplacements lie on opposite sides of the Great Glen far distant from each other, ripped apart by the Great Glen Fault. The line of the fault is still considered active and it can give an occasional slight judder. Slight shock waves have been known to disturb the surfaces of the lochs, and structural damage has been caused in the past in Inverness. Earthquakes include one in 1816 that was felt throughout Scotland, with other notable events recorded in 1888, 1890 and 1901.

The power unleashed during such incredible movements has crushed an enormous band of rock along both sides of the fault. In places, the crushed and weakened rock can be up to 1.5km (1 mile) broad. During the Ice Ages, when huge glaciers formed in the Highlands, the already weakened line of the Great Glen Fault was deepened considerably by the inexorable power of slowly moving glaciers. The broken rock along the line of the fault was more easily ground, crushed and moved than the solid rock of the mountains alongside, so that the Great Glen was carved considerably deeper than other Highland glens. As a result, low-lying hollows flooded when the ice melted, some 10,000 years ago, and have remained flooded ever since. The highest part of the Great Glen is occupied by the relatively shallow Loch Oich, while heading south-west, Loch Lochy is broader and deeper. Heading north-east, Loch Ness is broader and deeper again, with its lowest levels being around 180m (600ft) below sea level!

BRIEF HISTORY

The history of the Scottish Highlands often seems remote from the history of the Lowlands. The Highlands were often inhabited by people with distinct cultural differences to those found further south. The Romans pushed into the area, but retreated. The Picts held sway for centuries, but were later eclipsed by the ‘Scots’, who came from Ireland. A thriving Gaelic civilisation existed in the Highlands throughout several centuries when Scottish history was wrought largely in terms of strife and warfare against England. Cromwellian troops subdued the Highlands in the 17th century, but there were notable rebellions in the 18th century, before the region was finally ‘tamed’. The timeline history in the appendix to this guidebook focuses more on events in the Great Glen and the Highlands, and less on events in Edinburgh or on the Scots/English border.

THE CALEDONIAN CANAL

The low-lying Great Glen, with its three convenient lochs, was considered an ideal location for a coast-to-coast canal as early as 1726. However, Scotland was quickly embroiled in strife, and no further plans were considered until well after the Jacobite rising of 1745. Following a number of surveys, a serious proposal was put forward in 1802, and Thomas Telford was engaged to design and oversee construction. Although the Caledonian Canal is said to measure 96.5 kilometres (60 miles), only 35.5 kilometres (22 miles) is actually man-made. The cut sections of the canal were engineered between 1803 and 1822; the first government-funded transport project in Britain. There are four aqueducts, ten bridges and 29 locks.

The Caledonian Canal was created primarily to allow safe passage for naval vessels at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, but was not really used by the military until the Great War. As a through route for trading vessels, allowing a short cut through Scotland, the canal boosted the local economy. Large commercial craft still use the canal, but these days most vessels are leisure craft, plying through some of the most splendid canal-side scenery anywhere in the world. As the locks are operated by employees of British Waterways Scotland, they have set daily operating hours. Also, as there is a 5-knot speed limit on the canal, even the most determined cruisers should allow a minimum of 14 hours sailing, spread over two and a half days, to negotiate the Caledonian Canal.

Those with an interest in cruising through the Great Glen should contact: Caledonian Canal Office, Seaport Marina, Muirtown Wharf, Inverness, IV3 5LE ((01463-233140).

(continued...)