Ardnamurchan Point

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Ardnamurchan Point across Eilean Chaluim Cille

Ardnamurchan Point is the great headland of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, an isolated peninsula of Argyllshire which extends westward to the westernmost point of mainland Great Britain. The name 'Ardnamurchan' is from the Gaelic Ard na Murchan, meaning "the hill of the great sea".

The single road along Ardnamurchan reaches its end at Ardnamurchan Point, and here stands a lighthouse. The actual westernmost point is a mile to the south at Corrachadh Mòr.

Location

Ardnamurchan Point lies at the western end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula, which, though part of the mainland of Great Britain, extends among the Inner Hebrides with Mull to the south and to the north the open sea in which lie the Small Isles. Corrachadh Mòr, a mile to the south of the Point is the most westerly point on the island of Great Britain, though it is just a few yards further west than Ardnamurchan Point.[1] The nearest settlement is the small village, Achosnich.

The point lies seven miles south of the island of Muck, with Eigg and Rùm a few miles further to the north. Coll is situated nine miles to the west, and Mull is five miles south.

The Lighthouse

Cultural references

The contemporary composer Judith Weir has written an 8-minute piece for two pianos called Ardnamurchan Point.[2] The location is featured in Shipping Forecast broadcast by BBC Radio 4 (on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency), where it is used in the forecast as the name of one of the Inshore coastal areas of the United Kingdom.

Outside links

References

  1. "Ardnamurchan Point". Undiscovered Scotland. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/kilchoan/ardnamurchanpoint/index.html. Retrieved 18 September 2009. 
  2. Broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Saturday Classics programme, 2 March 2013