Loch Kishorn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kishorn
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Loch Kishorn from near Sanachan |
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 Kishorn
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| Population | 136 |
| OS grid reference | NG785348 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Strathcarron |
| Postcode district | IV54 8X |
| Dialling code | 01520 733 |
| Police | Northern |
| Fire | Highlands and Islands |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
Loch Kishorn (which is called Ciseòrn in Gaelic) is a sea loch, or arm of the sea, located in the beautiful north-west Highlands of Scotland. The name Kishorn is also used to describe a group of small villages and communities found along the shores of this loch.
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About Loch Kishorn
Loch Kishorn is a branch of Loch Carron. It is about 1.5 kilometres (0.9 miles) wide and 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) long. The deepest part of the loch is around 92 metres (302 feet) deep. Two rivers, the Abhainn Cumhag a' Ghlinne and the River Kishorn, flow into the loch from the north.
To the north and west of the loch is the Applecross peninsula. To the east, a piece of land separates Loch Kishorn from the upper part of Loch Carron. At the mouth of the loch, you can see the Garra Islands. The biggest of these is Kishorn Island.
Villages Around the Loch
Several small communities are located near Loch Kishorn. These include Sanachan, Tornapress, Courthill, Achintraid, Ardarroch, and Rhunasoul. People often refer to all these places together as Kishorn.
Sanachan is a little bit inland at the top of the loch. Here, you can find a gift shop called "Patterns of Light" and the "Kishorn Seafood Bar," which has won awards. There is also a fun "Kishorn Selfie Box," which used to be a red telephone box. A Scottish Episcopal chapel is located at Courthill, between Sanachan and Tornapress. The A896 road goes through Sanachan, and a smaller road leads to the other villages.
Ardarroch is right by the loch, next to a small shingly beach. The next village, Achintraid, is further along the loch. It has a line of white cottages. These homes were originally built for crofters, who were farmers forced to leave their land during the Highland Clearances long ago. Rhunasoul is the last village at the end of the small road. Achintraid and Rhunasoul are known for their amazing views of the Applecross peninsula. You can see the Corbetts (which are Scottish mountains between 762 and 914 metres high) of Sgurr a' Chaorachain and Beinn Bhàn. The famous pass of the Bealach na Ba is also very clear from here.
At Tornapress, you will find the "Bealach Cafe and Gallery." This is also where the road to the Bealach na Ba begins.
Nearby Hills and Mountains
East of Kishorn, there are two small hills called Marilyns (which are hills in the UK with a drop of at least 150 metres on all sides). These are An Sgurr and Bad a' Chreamha.
Kishorn Yard: Building Giants
Kishorn Yard is a special construction site located on Loch Kishorn. It is used to build huge structures like oil platforms and other offshore facilities for the oil and gas industry. It also has a port and a dry-dock, which is like a giant bathtub for ships or large structures that can be drained of water. Today, two companies, Ferguson Transport and Leiths, own the yard together.
The yard was once owned by a company called Howard Doris from 1975 to 1987. In 1975, work began to build the construction yard and dry-dock on the north side of the loch. A 2-mile (3.2 km) road was built in just 12 days to reach the site! By 1977, over 3,000 people worked here. They lived in temporary homes at the site and on two large accommodation ships (like floating hotels) docked in the loch. These ships were the former car ferries Rangatira and Odysseus.
Loch Kishorn is very deep, up to 80 metres (262 feet). This made it perfect for building the enormous 600,000-tonne concrete Ninian Central Platform in 1978. Materials for this platform arrived by sea. When it was finished, it took seven tugboats to pull it to its working spot in the North Sea. The Ninian Central Platform still holds the record as the largest movable object ever built by people!
To avoid causing too much change to the local area, a rule was made that the site had to act like an island. This meant a self-contained village for 2,000 workers was created, and all supplies had to arrive by sea, not by road. A special depot was built at Stromeferry to transfer deliveries from trains to ships. These rules helped protect the surrounding area.
By 1980, the construction yard started building other things to deal with a slowdown in oil work. They were building the Phillips Maureen hi-deck at the time. Even though 2,000 people still worked there in 1984, the yard eventually closed in 1987. Most of the buildings were then removed. One good thing that came from the company is the Howard Doris Trust. This trust has helped fund the Howard Doris Centre in nearby Lochcarron, which provides care for older people.
In 1992, the dry dock was used again to build the 2,300-tonne bridge supports for the Skye Bridge. This bridge connects Kyle of Lochalsh with the Isle of Skye.
Today, the 120-metre (394-foot) long quayside (the dock where ships load and unload) is used by Ferguson Transport & Shipping. It acts as a port for supplies for fish farms, wood products, road salt, and fertilizer.
In 2006, another company, Leiths (Scotland) Ltd, started quarrying (digging for stone) at the site. They provided concrete for blocks used in the Raasay Ferry Terminal. Leiths and Ferguson Transport have now created a new company called Kishorn Port Limited. Their goal is to bring the yard and dry dock back to life as a place to build things for the offshore renewable energy industry, like wind turbines.
In January 2017, Kishorn Port Ltd received £500,000 to test and fix the dry dock gates. The East gate had not moved since 1992, and the West gate had not moved since 1982! The dry dock has since been completely emptied and checked. It took almost a week of pumping non-stop to drain all the water, which was about 7 million gallons!
The Kishorn Commandos
Gordon Menzies, from the folk band Gaberlunzie, wrote a famous song called "The Kishorn Commandos." The chorus of the song goes like this:
- 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
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