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Once again we enjoyed near perfect weather for a walk. It
was a little overcast and had been frosty the night before
but there was not a breath of wind and the rain held off.
The explorers were: David John, Iain, Jennifer, John Donaldson,
Kathryn, Robbie and Robert plus Doreen, Frances and Sheila.
There had been warnings earlier that this was going to be
a very tough expedition, and so it turned out, but everyone
made it in good form and even had enough energy to go country
dancing afterwards! The route was from Mingarry bridge straight
up the hill through Mingarry Wood to the top of the hill,
where most of the explorers did a short detour to sound the
rocking stone. Then we crossed the high ground beside the
Lochan Garbh Claich before descending into the glen of the
mill burn.
As we navigated our way through the rocks and fallen branches
by the burn, the explorers examined all of the large stones
trying to identify the limestone once used for lockets and
the altar pillars of Mingarry Chapel. Along the burn they
found two small buildings, one of which had a small concealed
room at the back. There were also caves but there was no time
to examine them.
Low down the burn there were signs of small dams and indications
of the construction of at least one still, but the most remarkable
structure was a long wall which once had a trough on it to
take water to the mill.
At the bottom of this wall the explorers had time to examine
the mill, and John took some measurements.
Some of the team rested by the mill while the rest went down
the beach with Frances to see if they could reach the small
island. They found some stepping stones but were unable to
get across and several explorers got fairly muddy trying!
Then we took a breather before climbing the big hill back
up to the Lochan Garbh Claich again and making our way back
down to the struck tree in High Mingarry where David John
had left some foxglove plants for collection.
The Pictures
Jennifer did a small picture of a tree with bits of branches
falling off and leaves lying on the ground under it. lain
did several view from the walk, including his impression of
the mill when it was in use. Robbie showed a plan of the small
building showing several explorers investigating it. Robert
did a picture showing the notable features of the trip: the
party, the rocking stone, the small building, the struck tree
and the mill. Kathryn showed herself and David John standing
by the stream while I told them about the special rock.
John
Dye
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