Glen Croe
Glen Croe (Gaelic: Gleann a' Chrò) is a glen in the heart of the Arrochar Alps, in Argyllshire. The glen is surrounded by large and rugged mountains whose slopes are strewn with huge boulders.
Glen Croe is entirely within the Argyll Forest Park.
Geography
Glen Croe is to be found to the northwest of Loch Lomond and Loch Long, draining into the latter. At the head of the glen is the pass leading to Glen Kinglas. The A83 road runs the length of the glen, passing the viewpoint known as Rest & Be Thankful.
The mountains on either side of the glen are:
History
The old road through the glen is part of the military road that ran from Dumbarton to Inveraray, built in the 1740s under the supervision of Major William Caulfeild. A stone inscribed Rest & Be Thankful was erected around 1749, after this section of road was completed.
From 1949 until 1970, motor racing events, including hill climbs and rally stages took place here.[1]
Gillespie MacIntyre (who wrote as Gilleasbaig Mac an t-Saoir) composed a song called Oran Ghlinne Chro, detailing the sadness he felt when the gamekeeper moved his flock out of the glen to make room for deer and sport hunting in 1914.
Outside links
- Location map: 56°12’0"N, 4°49’0"W
- Engraving of a cavern in Glen Croe by James Fittler in the digitised copy of Scotia Depicta, 1804
References
- ↑ "Rest & be Thankful". Scotland from the Roadside. http://www.ourscotland.co.uk/argyll/restthankful.htm. Retrieved 6 November 2009.