Water of Rannoch
The landscape of Rannoch has been shaped by water, either in the form of ice or as liquid water.
The ice disappeared about ten thousand years ago and since then liquid water has been the dominant force. For much of the time we do not observe change but look up to the hills (or even better climb up into the hills) and you will see the V-shaped valleys of the burns which have been crafted by flowing water.
In the shorter term many of us will have see floods and landslips.
Sometimes it rains and rains as if urging us to build an ark and if this precipitation coincides with melting snow the results can be spectacular.
There have been occasions when both roads leading out of Kinloch Rannoch have been cut off by flood water. Dunalastair Water rose and rose to engulf both the Schiehallion Road and the road to Tummel Bridge. On one occasion Brown’s garage ferried cars past the floods on the back of a trailer towed through the fields between Drumchastle Farm and Drúmglas. One of the hazards of trying to drive through a flood that is too deep is getting water into the air intake. This is especially disabling for a diesel car and engines have been ruined in floods near East Tempar and on the straight near Dalriach. A particularly striking image was a motorist emerging from the sunroof of his flooded car at East Tempar.
In July of (I think) 1980 there was a spectacular flash flood originating on the east side of Craig Varr. The heavens opened and the road near Balinloan became eighteen inches deep in water cascading into the fields and flowing on to the river. I was driving East and had to wait about thirty minutes until the waters subsided. It was short lived but the effects were dramatic. The water surged through the rubbish dump above Balinloan and swept a motley collection of plastic bottles, timber and rocks down onto the road and into the fields and into the fringes of Dunalastair Water. I expect archaeologists will find this human detritus as a layer in future times. If you examine the burn that conducts water off Craig Varr on the east side you will see that it passes through a deep V-shaped gulley. It is clear that water has had its erosive effect on the glacial deposits here ever since the ice retreated.
More recently Schiehallion’s north face has received a couple of slashes from flash floods. I have been up to have a look at the gullies, which at their deepest, are about ten feet deep. The rock debris has spread as a fan at the bottom of the steepest slope. If you look carefully you can see similar gullies to the east from earlier floods that have been healed over with heather growth.
One February when rain melted the winter snow accumulation the level of Dunalastair Water rose to the extent that it was necessary to walk along the roadside dykes to get from West Tempar to Bridge Cottage. At that time the footbridge was still in position and the raging water reached to halfway up the bridge with driftwood building up against the bridge. This battering was probably one of the first nails in the coffin of the bridge.
Landslips have seared memories in local minds.
The famous landslip on the A9 north of Dunkeld surrounded the car of a German tourist and he and his family had to escape through the windows. Fortunately the water-lubricated sediment did not engulf the car entirely. On that day we were returning from Perth and could not get back on the A9. We were diverted along the Road from Dunkeld to Crieff and had to weave through further landslips to get to Aberfeldy. The Avenue beyond Wade’s Bridge was flooded by the rampaging Tay and so the only route back to Rannoch was via Kenmore.
The A9 landslip originated up the hill to the east and took out the back road to Dunkeld for months.
Many will remember two more dramatic landslips. One at the Fortingall end of Glen Lyon saw the road disappear entirely into the ravine. The other saw the road from Coshieville to Tomphubil plunge into the gorge of the Keltney burn. Both required major engineering to reinstate. If you peer over the edge at these two points now, you will be immediately be impressed both by the engineering skills and the stomach churning drops. The Kelneyburn Gorge is decorated with one or two wrecked cars to emphasise the precipitous nature of the terrain.
The West Highland line has not been immune. There was a landslip onto the line where it passes Loch Trieg and here a goods train was derailed and the engine complete with its lone driver rolled down the steep slope towards the loch. Fortunately the driver was not badly hurt and was rescued but the engine remained in its undignified location for many months before it could be lifted with a crane.
Last but by no means least I remember a spate of the Carie Burn where the normally benevolent trickle was transformed into a roaring sediment-laden monster. Large rocks were moved and could be heard clunking into each other with menacing force. To fall in would have meant instant death and a rapid transit to the North Sea.