Glascharn, Glen Shiel

Glascharn Deserted Settlement (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 14mm, 1/125 sec at f/8, ISO 200, handheld)

I had an excellent day out to Glascharn in Glen Shiel, Lochalsh with Graham Ryland today.  It was not looking very promising when we arrived at Chocolates of Glen Shiel, with heavy overcast and rain.  However, a coffee helped, not least in allowing the rain to pass, and we avoided the temptation of chocolate too.  We headed off on the north side of the river along to the deserted settlement of Glascharn, a long-time objective for me.  It turned out to be a lucky day with a prolonged dry spell, with ever-changing light on the surrounding hills and the empty pastures, where once people lived.

Ruinous croft house, Glascharn (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 14mm, 1/250 sec at f/8, ISO 200, handheld)

Glascharn is one of those places where you know not many folk visit and while it is fantastically peaceful (apart from road noise form the A87 road on the other side of the glen) it resonates of a turbulent and tragic past.  There is evidence of a sizeable community that once lived on this spot and worked what is actually reasonably decent land, albeit pretty rocky, before being cleared to be replaced by Cheviot sheep, that still remain today!  There are some impressive stone walls, including the head dyke which is about six feet high, and another old dyke that heads directly up the slope, now surrounded by bracken, a sign of sheep grazing rather than the more traditional black cattle that would have been raised here once upon a time.

Many of the old structures are buried in this bracken which also reaches a height of around six feet in places, and is all but impenetrable, smothering all other vegetration.  Graham and I agreed that this site would very much merit another visit at the back end of the year when the bracken has died back.

Old Drystone Dykes, Glascharn (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 40mm, 1/200 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200, handheld)

There are a few lovely old alder trees around the site, mostly running along a burn that, while dry at this time of year, shows evidence of a substantial flow in wetter times.  Sadly many of these wonderful old trees are showing signs of dieback, with dead branches in their crowns.

The light was providing some beautiful opportunities for contrasting shadow and light patches, offsetting these trees against the hills really nicely.  These moments were very fleeting and some patience was required to wait for a decent image.

Old Alder Tree, Glascharn (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 46mm, 1/320 sec at f/8, ISO 200, handheld)

Contrasting Light, Glen Shiel (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 97mm, 1/250 sec at f/8, ISO 200, handheld)

Old Alder Trees and Contrasting Backdrop Light, Glascharn (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 75mm, 1/160 sec at f/8, ISO 200, handheld)

This delicate thistle drew my attention with a bright burst of vivid purple flowers against the otherwise largely green landscape.

Thistle (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 150mm, 1/100 sec at f/8, ISO 200, handheld)

On my way to Kintail in the morning I had a little time to spare so went via Carr Brae to see what the view was doing in the overcast weather.  It fortunately cleared away a bit and the view east to Kintail  was brooding and mooody with misty cloud hanging over the distant hills at the end of Loch Duich.  To the west, the light was very different with some blue sky and fluffy white clouds and much more vivid bright greens of the grass and the darker bracken and woodland.

These last two photos were taken with my camera on the Shutterspeed Priority setting by mistake and a high ISO as I was shooting birds last time out.  This caused a little bit of noise in the images and some weird camera settings! Just ignore that.

Mist Covered Mountains of Kintail and Loch Duich from Carr Brae (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 14mm, 1/1000 sec at f/8, ISO 2000, handheld)

Loch Duich Opening Out to Loch Alsh from Carr Brae (Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro lens at 7mm, 1/1600 sec at f/8, ISO 2000, handheld)