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The road that runs high above Loch Ewe's eastern shore provides an ever changing sequence of attractive views of the loch. During the summer months there is a constant stream of traffic going in both directions on this road, mostly tourists.
Care has to be taken as tourists are surprised by sudden changes of scene revealing different parts of the loch, the island and the western shore. Stopping unexpectedly, or travelling extremely slowly to enjoy the beautiful landscape on view from their car, along a road that continually twists and turns is accepted by the locals as something that is good for our local economy.
Of course human nature being what it is if you are in a hurry to get somewhere to attend to some business it can be frustrating to be stuck behind a queue of mobile homes. However, if the roads were empty in summer as they are in winter we really would have something to grumble about, our local economy, heavily dependent on tourism, would certainly be in bad way.
On this occasion it was my turn to stop and enjoy the view over Loch Ewe, the Isle of Ewe, and beyond to the Mellon Charles peninsula. It was late afternoon in the late autumn and on days like this I cannot imagine that there is anywhere else on planet Earth that is more beautiful.
North-west Highland Place Names
The landscape of the North-west Highlands and the Gaelic language are intimately connected. Other languages have contributed to the richness of our place names, notably Norse, but the North-west Highlands have for centuries been a Gaelic landscape. In listing the meanings of place names I have relied on authoritative sources wherever possible. For further information about sources please refer to North-west Highland Place Names in the main menu.
Isle Ewe; Gaelic is Eilean Iu. See Loch Ewe for further information.
Loch Ewe; Professor Watson said “that he had taken iu, with hesitation, from the Irish eo, thus ‘Loch of the yew tree’; the fact that Tobar na h-Iu in Nigg showed the article is practically decisive in favour of iu being there at least a Gaelic word. No Pictish name is accompanied by the Gaelic article. But the Ewe may be a Pictish name derived from the same root, or from a totally different one.”
Mellon Charles; Gaelic is Meallan Thearlaich, Charles’s Little Hill.
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