Loch Kishorn

Loch Kishorn

Loch Kishorn (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Ciseorn) is a sea loch in the north-west Highlands of Scotland, separating the Applecross pensinula from the Lochcarron area. It is about 1.5 km wide, and 4 km long. There is a cluster of small islands at the mouth of the loch, the largest of which is Kishorn Island.

There are three small settlements strung along the southern side of the loch. It is common to refer to the three collectively as Kishorn.

Sanachan lies a little inland at the head of the loch. It contains a small shop/post office and a Scottish Episcopal chapel. The A896 road passes through Sanachan, and a minor road leads off to the other settlements. Ardarroch lies on the lochside, next to small shingly beach. The final settlement, Achintraid, lies further down the loch. It consists of a line of whitewashed cottages, originally built to house crofters evicted in the Highland Clearances. Achintraid is noted for spectacular views of the Applecross peninsula, with the Corbetts of Sgurr a'Chaorachain and Beinn Bhàn and the pass of the Bealach na Ba being particularly prominent.

South of Kishorn are two small Marilyns: An Sgurr and Bad a'Chreamha.

Kishorn Yard

The Kishorn Yard was a fabrication yard for oil platforms at Loch Kishorn. The yard was owned by Howard Doris and was operating from 1975 to 1987. In 1975 work began on the construction yard and dock for the production of oil platforms on the north side of the loch. This lay at the end of a two mile stretch of road built to provide access in just 12 days, and by 1977 over 3,000 people were working here, housed in temporary accommodation on site and in two retired liners moored in the loch: the Rangatira and the Odysseus. The largest project involved the excavation of a huge dry dock, in which was constructed the 600,000 tonne Ninian Central Platform in 1978. Material was supplied by sea and when complete the platform needed seven tugs to tow it to its operating position in the North Sea. The Ninian Central Platform still holds the record as the largest movable object ever created by man.Loch Kishorn is very deep, technically being a fjord, and the yard was therefore well suited to build the concrete Ninian Central Platform.

Mindful of the controversy surrounding an earlier proposal to develop a yard at Drumbuie, a condition of the planning permission was that the site had to be treated as an island: a self contained village for 2,000 workers was created, and all deliveries would arrive by sea, rather than by road. A depot for transferring deliveries from rail to sea was built at Stromeferry, on the Kyle of Lochalsh Line. These conditions, though slightly relaxed by the end of the yard's life, had the intended effect of not altering the surrounding area much, though some might have liked it if money had instead been spent on improving the poor, usually single track, roads in the area.

By 1980 the construction yard was diversifying in an effort to escape a downturn in oil exploration and production, but its days were numbered. Two thousand people were still employed in 1984, but bankruptcy in 1986 was followed by closure in 1987 and clearance of most of the buildings on the site.

In 1992 the dry dock was put to use in the construction of the 2,300T bridge footings for the Kyle of Lochalsh to the Isle of Skye bridge.

One lasting impact is the Howard Doris Trust. Amongst other things, it has provided a lot of funding for the Howard Doris Centre in nearby Lochcarron, which provides care for the elderly.

The Kishorn Commandos

Gordon Menzies of the folk band Gaberlunzie wrote a well known song called "The Kishorn Commandos", the chorus to which is:

:"We're the Kishorn Commandos way up in Wester Ross:"We've never had a gaffer, we've never had a boss:"But we'll build the biggest oil-rig you've ever come across:"Remember we're the Kishorn Commandos"

External links

* - Kishorn Yard
* - Sanachan
* - Ardarroch
* - Achintraid


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Loch class frigate — The Loch class was a class of anti submarine (A/S) frigate built for the Royal Navy and her allies during World War II. They were an innovative design based on the experience of 3 years of fighting in the Battle of the Atlantic and attendant… …   Wikipedia

  • Bad a' Chreamha — Infobox Mountain Name = Bad a Chreamha Photo = Bad a chreamha.jpg Caption = Loch Kishorn from Bad a Chreamha summit Elevation = 395 m (1296 ft) Location = Lochcarron, Scotland Range = Prominence = 255 m Coordinates = Topographic OS Landranger 24… …   Wikipedia

  • Ardarroch — infobox UK place country = Scotland official name= Ardarroch scots name= gaelic name= population= os grid reference=NG835394 map type=Scotland latitude=57.39341 longitude= 5.60313 unitary scotland= Highland lieutenancy scotland= constituency… …   Wikipedia

  • List of ship names of the Royal Navy (I-L) — This is a list of Royal Navy ship names starting with I, J K and LMain A B C D F G H I L M N O Q R T U ZI* Ibis * Icarus * Ickford * Ignition * Ildefonso * Ilex * Ilfracombe * Illustrious * Ilmington * Ilston * Imaum * Immortalite * Imogen *… …   Wikipedia

  • Clive Strutt — Clive Edward Hazzard Strutt is an English composer born 19th April 1942 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England.[1] He was educated at Farnborough Grammar School. Strutt lives on the island of South Ronaldsay in Orkney, Scotland. He studied composition… …   Wikipedia

  • Sanachan — may refer to:*A Japanese manga comic, Sana s Stage : see Kodocha *A settlement on the shore of Loch Kishorn in Scotland: see Loch Kishorn …   Wikipedia

  • Ninian Central Platform — The Ninian Central Platform is an oil platform in the North Sea. When constructed in Loch Kishorn, Scotland in 1978 the 600,000 tonne platform was the world s largest man made movable object before being towed to its current position and… …   Wikipedia

  • An Sgurr (Lochcarron) — An Sgurr is a generic Scottish Gaelic term for a type of hill, and is the name of several other hills. Infobox Mountain Name = An Sgurr Photo = Caption = Elevation = 392 m (1286 ft) Location = Lochcarron, Scotland Range = Prominence = c. 205 m… …   Wikipedia

  • Highlander — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Highland. Highlander Données clés Titre original Highlander Réalisation Russell Mulcahy Scénario Gregory Widen P …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Beinn Bhàn (Applecross) — Infobox Mountain Name = Beinn Bhàn Photo = Beinn bhan.jpg Caption = The corries on the eastern side of Beinn Bhàn Elevation = 896 m (2,938 ft) Location = Highland, SCO Range = Applecross peninsula Prominence = 851 m Ranked 20th in British Isles… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”