Lochnagar

Infobox Mountain
Name = Lochnagar/Beinn Chìochan
Photo = Lochnagar.jpg
Caption = Lochnagar face seen from Meikle Pap
Elevation = 1155 m (3790 ft)
Location = Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Range =
Prominence = "c." 670 m
Parent peak = Ben Macdhui
Topographic
OS "Landranger" 44
Grid_ref_UK = NO244861
Listing = Munro, Marilyn
Translation = Little loch of the noisy sound/Breast mountain
Language = Gaelic
Pronunciation = peɲˈçiəxən

Lochnagar or Beinn Chìochan is a mountain in the Grampians of Scotland, located about five miles south of the River Dee near Balmoral. It is named after Lochan na Gaire, the 'little loch of the noisy sound', a loch to be found in the mountain's northeast corrie. Today the lochan is popularly called Lochnagar too. The summit is usually referred to as Cac Càrn Beag, meaning "small cairn of faeces" in Gaelic. "Beinn Chìochan" ('breast mountain') is an alternative Gaelic name. [http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/faclair/sbg/lorg.php?facal=Beinn%20Ch%C3%ACochan&seorsa=Gaidhlig&tairg=Lorg&eis_saor=on]

The mountain's principal feature is a north-facing corrie around which most of the subsidiary tops as well as the main peak sit. The mountain is a Munro and is popular with hillwalkers at all times of the year. The most common route of ascent is from Glen Muick. Care should be taken on the summit in poor visibility; the plateau is mostly devoid of obvious features and has steep cliffs on its northern edge.

Lochnagar is located on the Royal Estate at Balmoral, and the mountain itself has royal links. It is the setting for a children's story, "The Old Man of Lochnagar", originally told by Prince Charles to his younger brothers, Andrew and Edward, and published in 1980 with royalties going toward The Prince's Trust.

A malt whisky distillery located near the Balmoral estate on the south side of the River Dee produces the Royal Lochnagar Single Malt whisky.

It is a site for breeding Dotterel ("Charadrius morinellus") and this has led it to be designated as a Special Protection Area.

'Lochnagar' is the name of a crater in the Somme created by a massive mine explosion during the First World War. The peak also lends its name to a poem by Lord Byron, and the song based on it.

In the movie Mrs. Brown, John Brown and Benjamin Disraeli hike up Lochnagar to discuss the need for Queen Victoria to return to active involvement with Government.

External links

* Computer-generated summit panoramas [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/GRE/Lochnagar.gifLochnagar] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas.html Index]
* United Kingdom Acid Waters Monitoring Network site [http://www.ukawmn.ucl.ac.uk/site4/index.htm Lochnagar] [http://www.ukawmn.ucl.ac.uk/site4/index.htm Index]