Lairig an Laoigh
The Lairig an Laoigh (Gaelic: Làirig Laoigh), sometimes called just "Lairig Laoigh", is a mountain pass through the Cairngorms, within the Highlands.
The pass is of glacial origin, dissecting the Cairngorm plateau, and it runs roughly north–south from Speyside to Deeside. At one time it was used as a drove road. Between the public road in the Abernethy Forest and the one at Linn of Dee the trekking distance is 19 miles.
General situation
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The name Lairig an Laoigh means "pass of Lui" or possibly "pass of the calves".[1] In its southerly part it lies in the Mar Lodge Estate, owned by the National Trust for Scotland where Derry Burn flows into Lui Water, a tributary of the River Dee. The northern part is in the Abernethy Estate, owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds where the River Nethy flows north to the River Spey.[2] The whole area is in the Cairngorms National Park.
The Lairig an Laoigh runs roughly parallel to the somewhat grander and far better-known Lairig Ghru which lies some four miles to the west. They both dissect the high granite Cairmgorm plateau.[3] The Lairig an Laoigh reaches 2,400 feet at the watershed between the rivers Dee and Avon and the lairig attains 2,600 feet further north in more open country where it skirts Bynack More before reaching the River Nethy. At its highest point the pass is above 2,500 feet: the height for a peak to be a 'Corbett'.
The Avon and Nethy are tributaries of the River Spey.
Between the lairigs Ghru and Laoigh is the central Cairngorn Plateau on which rise Ben Macdhui and Cairn Gorm; the second and sixth highest mountains in Britain.
The pass (and the nearby Lairig Ghru) is an example of glacial breaching where ice cuts through the watershed between two valleys. With glaciers flowing down the Dee and Spey valleys, it is thought that the Dee became choked so that ice was forced to the north, grinding a route through the granite of the Cairngorms. With a series of glaciations the original valleys remain but breaches right across the watershed are produced.[4]
History
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From about 1766, cattle droving was carried out on a large scale to move cattle from the Highlands to England. Beef cattle from the remote ends of the Highlands were driven through several passes through the Cairngorms, but particularly the Lairig an Laoigh, to reach Braemar and then onwards south often to the Falkirk Tryst where drovers from the south collected them and continued the journey. Droving died out in the late 19th century,[3] rendered redundant by the coming of the railways.
To the north of Derry Lodge is a point on the burn called Derry Dam. A sluice was built here early in the 19th century by Alexander Davidson who used it to help float timber down the glen. Further north the Lochan Uaine is in a high corrie to the west where William Smith, an 18th century deer stalker, wrote a poem which later became a well-known song "Allt an Lochain Uaine".[2]
Trekking routes
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Travelling south to north, the route through the pass goes from just east of Linn of Dee up Glen Lui beside Lui Water as far as Derry Lodge (three miles). At this point Glen Lui veers to the west and Derry Burn (Gaelic: Uisge an Doire, "Water of the Copse") flows down from the north through Glen Derry, the name given to the more southern stretch of Lairig an Loaigh. After another four miles Coire Etchachan Burn flows in from the northwest coming down from Loch Etchachan.[2]
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Continuing north the Laoigh crosses the Dee–Avon watershed at 2,430 feet and descends to the Fords of Avon refuge, another two and a half miles. Here the line of the Laoigh is crossed by the River Avon flowing west–east down from Loch Avon. Ascending again to 2,600 feet the route continues north to Bynack Stable, five and a half miles from Fords of Avon.[2]
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The route then passes just south of Loch a' Garbh-choire and passes Ryvoan Bothy to reach Forest Lodge, the headquarters of the RSPB in Scotland. The nearest public road, somewhat west of Forest Lodge, is four and a half miles from Bynack Stable. An alternative route from Bynack Stable, which involves leaving the Laoigh, is to travel west past Lochan Uaine (a different lochan from the one in the song) to Glenmore Lodge beside Loch Morlich – this shortens the total distance by a mile and a half.[2]
However, from Fords of Avon a different walking route is often taken by turning sharply to the west and following the River Avon upstream. After reaching the north shore at the foot of Loch Avon the route turns north, passes over the The Saddle at 2,648 feet and follows the headwaters of the River Nethy down Strath Nethy to Bynack Stable. This route is possibly more interesting and it is safer in winter. Another consideration: in winter navigation is more straightforward travelling north to south.[2]
Outside links
- Location map: 57°5’4"N, 3°35’36"W
References
- ↑ Watson, Adam: 'Place Names in Much of North-East Scotland' (Paragon Publishing, 2013) ISBN 9781782220695 page 381; 'Lairig an Laoigh'
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Watson, Adam: 'The Cairngorms, Lochnagar and the Mounth' 6th ed. (Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 1992) ISBN 0-907521-39-8; pages 92–101
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Murray, W.H.: 'The Scottish Highlands' (Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 1976) ISBN 090151683X page 91
- ↑ "Cairngorms; Glacial breaches". Cairngorms National Park Authority and Scottish Natural Heritage. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcairngormslearningzone.co.uk%2Flandscape-geology%2Fice-age-times%2Fglacial-landforms-processes%2Fglacial-erosion%2Fglacial-breaches&date=2017-02-11.
