Village
Strontian is the gateway to the Ardnamurchan Peninsula and
appears as a series of white-painted houses around a bay near
the head of Loch Sunart, a 20 mile long sea-loch. The main part
of the village is modern in appearance and is grouped around
an attractive green dominated by impressive trees. On crossing
the Strontian River the road to Polloch leads through the settlements
of Ariundle and Scotstown, which stretch north along the glen.
The village’s name derives from the Gaelic for Point
of the Fairies.
Amenities & surrounding area
The village is a local centre in an otherwise large and sparsely
populated area of Western Scotland. It comes complete with a
very new and well-equipped High School and Community Centre,
several shops, hotels, a petrol station, Tourist Information
Centre, and a caravan and camping site and numerous B&B’s.
Hotels in the immediate area include the 3-Star Kilcamb Lodge
Hotel overlooking Loch Sunart to the west of the village and
the 2-Star Strontian Hotel on the east side of Strontian.
The skyline on both sides of the glen around the village are
framed with magnificent specimine trees which were planted as
part of a Victorian estate ‘improvement’. Although
seriously decimated in a winter storm in 1992, a number of the
original trees remain as impressive monuments whilst replacement
trees have been planted to secure these woodlands for the next
generation. A fine network of paths exists throughout these
community woodlands, particularly on the eastern side of the
village.
Just a mile from the village centre is Ariundle National Nature
Reserve. This covers a surviving fragment of a great forest
that once covered the lowland atlantic fringe and mostly comprises
of oakwoods.
Village History
Strontian became an established village after 1724, providing
accommodation for lead miners working in the galena ore mines
that are found higher up the mountain near the Polloch road.
The mines reached their peak in 1730, when they employed 600
men, but then went into decline, although they were revived
by the Napoleonic wars.
In 1787, the mineral ‘Strontianite’ was recognised
in the mines. Three years later, Adair Crawford isolated a new
element from this compound, which was named Strontium, in honour
of the place it was discovered. Today strontium is used in alloys,
drug therapy and - perhaps most visibly – as a compound
that produces the vivid reds in fireworks.
The lead mines went on to have a chequered history, opening
and closing on several occiasions. The most recent chapter saw
barytes being mined in the 1980’s for use in North Sea
oil exploration.
In addition to his more celebrated canal works, Thomas Telford
was responsible for a number of roads and churches across the
Highlands. The road from Corran to Acharacle is one (Acharacle
church is a Telford church too). As a reminder of the isolated
nature of life in the area, Strontian was also a regular stopping
point for steamers providing services to Tobermory on Mull.
Leaving Strontian in the direction of Acharacle, the next bay
along the loch was the scene for a celebrated episode in the
history of the area. The was the mooring place of ‘The
Floating Church’. In 1843, a local landowner refused permission
to build a Free Presbyterian Church in the area. The congregation
banded together to purchase a suitable vessel on Clydeside,
had it converted into a church, and then towed it up the west
coast of Scotland. The church served its purpose for more than
30 years.
This area of Sunart is dominated by Beinn Resipol, whose 845m
summit actually lies some way back from the few roads that exist.
On clear days it appears as a serated ridge of rock standing
on the western skyline when entering the village.
Strontian is a great base for you holiday, stocking most of
the provisions you need, but with plenty of natural beauty of
its own too.
Fort William
Just half an hour away across the Corran Ferry is Fort William,
the regional centre of the south-west Highlands. In addition
to supermarkets and retail outlets, its long pedestrian High
Street offers a wide range of shops and stores, catering for
the day-tripping tourist though to the serious rock-climber
or fisherman.
