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Taken on a winter's day this is Mellon Udrigle as the tourists rarely see it. It was very cold with snow lying on the grassy banks next to the beach and I was out looking to add to my collection of snow scenes.
However, my walk along the beach brought me to this scene where the houses of Mellon Udrigle were being reflected in the sand and in the foreground the wet sand was picking up the colour of the sky above.
In the summer the beach at Mellon Udrigle is a very pale colour and from the beach are enchanting views over Gruinard Bay to a vast array of Wester Ross and Sutherland mountains. It is also the starting point for excellent walks round this beautiful coast.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.
Gruinard Bay; possibly from the Norse grunnfjörðr meaning shallow firth.
Mellon Udrigle; A hybrid Gaelic/Norse name meaning ‘Udrigle's Hill’. Udrigle is possibly a Norse name, however Professor Watson suggests it may be derived from the Norse útargill, meaning outer cleft or gully.
Sutherland; From the Norse Suðerland, that is ‘South Land’. It may seem odd that the far north of Scotland should have a name which means ‘South Land’, but if you were on Viking raiding party from Norway it would have been an obvious name to choose.
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