Image Details
Before I came to live in Wester Ross I took every opportunity I could to escape the pressures of city life and head north for the tranquility I needed. This included winter as well as summer and this image was taken on a cold February day.
My wife and I were staying at a guest house in Gairloch and decided to go to Poolewe and go for a walk from there. We chose to walk along the road/track known as Riverside which leads one along the banks of the River Ewe and eventually to the Inveran Estate.
En route back I became fascinated by the ever changing turbulence in the River Ewe, heightened by heavy rain falls in the preceding days. I spent time selecting a spot that I felt composed well then taking several shots to choose from later. The turbulence changes with such rapidity that one can't be sure about what has been captured, and as this was back in the film days I then had the joy of anticipation.
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.
Gairloch; Gaelic, village named after the loch of the same name, Loch Gairloch, An Gearr-loch, the short loch.
Inveran; In Gaelic it is Inbhirean, meaning the ‘little’ estuary where the waters of Loch Kernsary fall into the northern end of Loch Maree.
Poolewe; Gaelic Poll-iù, ‘the pool on the Ewe river’; Professor Watson states that the village was called by the natives in his time Abhainn Iù, Ewe River. He also said that Ewe, Gaelic iu, he had taken, with hesitation, from Irish eo, ‘Yew Tree’, but concedes that it may in fact be a Pictish name.
River Ewe; The River Ewe, Gaelic, Abhainn lu. Professor Watson said “that he had taken iu, with hesitation, from the Irish eo, 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 River Ewe may be a Pictish name from the same root, or from a totally different one.”
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