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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Better days in Corpach.

Arriving in Loch Linnhe we almost immediately came to a large pier that runs for nearly 500m out to the deep water channel. It was built to service a large wood pulp mill which operated her from the 1960's until it closed in 1980. At its peak 900 people worked there. There is still a paper mill and a saw mill on the site.

Fort William and Corpach have reinvented themselves as the UK's outdoor capital and each year more people are drawn to the area for its skiing, snowboarding, winter and rock climbing, white water and sea kayaking, mountain biking, sailing etc. However it is not just adventure seekers, cruise ships now come and tie up at Corpach pier. This year, 16th May, the cruise liner MV Spirit of Adventure was given a little assistance to manoeuvre to the pier...
..by the diminutive but shipshape local tug, the Fiona.

Other boats were less shipshape, though there was hope for this old fishing boat as she was tied up at the local boat yard pier.

Sadly this old barge had seen better days. Her rusting plates seemed to blend into the russets of the landscape and the sea weed.