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| Wild winds in an ancient woodland | Wild winds in an ancient woodland |
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| This is wild country and it was matched by a wild wind so strong that it not only gave white tops to the waves but also produced an unforgettable spray. | This is wild country and it was matched by a wild wind so strong that it not only gave white tops to the waves but also produced an unforgettable spray. |
| Silvery, ghostly and a few feet high above the turbulent water, the spray covered much of the loch and immediate shoreline. | Silvery, ghostly and a few feet high above the turbulent water, the spray covered much of the loch and immediate shoreline. |
| Loch Maree is often referred to as the most beautiful loch in the Highlands. The woodland on its many islands – a fragment of the original ancient Caledonian pine forest – is the nearest we have left to natural woodland in the UK. It seemed strange now that only the tops of the forest were showing, but such was the effect of the extraordinary spray. Even some of the small waterfalls coming down from the brooding, snow-covered peaks of Slioch on the far side of the loch were being forced almost eerily upwards by the wind. | Loch Maree is often referred to as the most beautiful loch in the Highlands. The woodland on its many islands – a fragment of the original ancient Caledonian pine forest – is the nearest we have left to natural woodland in the UK. It seemed strange now that only the tops of the forest were showing, but such was the effect of the extraordinary spray. Even some of the small waterfalls coming down from the brooding, snow-covered peaks of Slioch on the far side of the loch were being forced almost eerily upwards by the wind. |
| What a contrast to the last time I visited one of the islands, Isle Maree. It had been dead calm then and even the black-throated divers were conspicuous. In terms of numbers, the Loch Maree is the most important of breeding lochs for this very rare bird. They have been helped by artificial floating islands to combat the fluctuating water levels and wave action, as their natural nest – a mere scrape – is almost at the water's edge. | |
| Then on to the purpose of my visit: to see the "wishing", "holy" or "penny" tree. Embedded with coins for at least two centuries, this is as much a lure for visitors as the chapel, attributed to the eighth-century hermitage of Saint Máel Ruba, graveyard and holy well. I could not resist knocking a coin into the tree as it is supposed to bring good luck. Loch Maree is also famous for being the only loch in Britain that contains an island that has a loch and an island itself. | |
| • This article was amended on 8 April 2013. The original said that Isle Maree is the largest of the islands on Loch Maree and also that it is the only island in Britain to contain a loch and an island itself. This has been corrected. |