holidays and bunkhouse accommodation. The headland beyond the Centre hides a past which features illicit whisky distilling and smuggling. A deep, camouflaged cleft in the rock known as the Smuggler's Cave concealed the illegal doings from the eyes of the excisemen across the loch in Shieldaig.
In 1893, the minister of Shieldaig broke away from the establishment Church, joined forces with the minister from Raasay, and formed the nucleus of the Free Presbyterian Church whose presence and influence is still very much in evidence on the west coast today.
Known in Gaelic as A'Chomraich - the Sanctuary - a monastery was established here in 673 by an Irish monk, Maelrubha. As with many other settlements on the west the houses in the village are scattered over a wide area and the population has declined considerably over the past 150 years, largely due to the Clearances. Almost 3,000 people lived in the scattered communities of Applecross in 1850, now the village is home to only 210.
The Pass of the Cattle, and the villages of Kishorn and Lochcarron:
The drive from Applecross to Lochcarron takes you over the Bealach nam Bo - the Pass of the Cattle. This is a truly stunning, and very steep, road with panoramic views to Skye and the south. Passing Kishorn, where few visible traces remain of the massive oil rig yard that stood here in the 1970's, you arrive in Lochcarron, its houses set along the lochside of the same name. Before you stretches Glen Carron, a magnificent corridor of glacier-carved Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet).
The village is a centre for touring and walking in the Rassal Ash Wood and surrounding hills. Red and roe deer are numeous on the hills and in the forest. Also wildcats and the Pine Marten, Britain's rarest mammal, can be found.
Seals bask on rocky islets near the village and at North Strome you can find the ruins of Strome Castle, one-time stronghold of the MacDonalds of Glengarry until it was blown up by the Kintail Mackenzies. The village is also home to the Lochcarron Weavers, a 9-hole golf course and excellent hotel, B&B and self-catering accommodation.
Modern day serenity belies a stormy past as the village played host to a number of bloody skirmishes between local cattle reivers, the Camerons, and their rivals, the Mackenzies. The village stands at the northern gateway to Torridon.
This then is Torridon - one of Nature's marvels and undoubtedly the most striking skyline in Scotland. Glittering snow-tipped pinnacles, rocky turrets and spires - a massive fortress of mountains which is at once both breathtaking and awe-inspiring. The pace of life slows in the area, as if in respect to this natural wonder. Once experienced, it is never forgotten. And often returned to.
It is difficult to overstate the dramatic grandeur and spectacle of Torridon. Once witnessed you will realise why all who visit consider it one of the world's rarest and most special places. Bordered by Loch Torridon to the north and Loch Carron to the south the area contains Europe's oldest hills. Every corner turned brings views which are truly awesome - glittering lochs, lush woodland...and the mountains, Liathach, Beinn Alligan, Sgorr Ruadh, Maol Chean-dearg - a paradise for climbers, or for anyone with an eye for fabulous beauty.''The grand, wild savage-looking, but most beautiful and picturesque Glen of Torridon opened upon us, with the dark mural precipices of that extraordinary mountain Ben Liathach'' wrote Queen Victoria in 1877. The quality of the scenery hasn't changed since then but nowadays the scattered villages of the peninsula offer a more hospitable welcome with a full range of services, hotel and B&B accommodation. The area has a rich heritage and many of the placenames originate from the Norse occupation 800 years ago - Diabaig (Deep Bay), Shieldaig (Herring Bay) Ardheslaig (Hazel Bay). Torridon itself may be connected with Thorfinn, one of the great Norse leaders.
The village of Torridon nestles amongst some of the finest mountain scenery in Europe. On its west side is the separate settlement of Fasag - a Clearance township created in the 19th century when crofting families were evicted from their own land to make way for sheep.
Am Ploc (The Lump) is a narrow strip of land projecting into the loch by the jetty. It supports what was once an open-air church with a pulpit rock. It may also have been a 'tingvollr' - a Norse parliament and centre of justice.
The National Trust for Scotland's Countryside Centre provides information and audio-visual displays on the mountains and wildlife of the area. Nearby is the Deer Museum with a small indoor display and a herd of wild deer enclosed by a boundary fence in the surrounding fields - an ideal opportunity to witness these magnificent animals at close range in their natural habitat.
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