Upper Glen Roy

Continuing Ann MacDonnell's brief guide to Glen Roy :- Upper Glen Roy forms part of the eastern boundary of the Braes. It stretches from the watershed between Loch Spey and Loch Roy down to Brae Roy. Following the road after Brunachan and nestling in the trees we come to Braeroy Lodge, once a famous shooting lodge. The tarred road ends here and a rough track takes over which follows the bed of the River Roy as far as Luib Chonnel and through to Badenoch. A few yards beyond the lodge is the Turret Bridge at the bottom of Glen Turret, a once thickly populated area. A mile beyond the lodge is Annat schoolhouse and Annat farmhouse. Wade and the Redcoats are supposed to have encamped at Annat. It was once the home of Domhnall Mòr Og, a Dochanassie Cameron who was famous for his feats of strength …see separate article. Between Annat house and the river are the remains of an old graveyard. It was down through the head of Glen Roy that Montrose came when he made his famous forced march across the hills from Fort Augustus into Glen Spean and along the foothills of Ben Nevis to attack the government troops of the Inverlochy Garrison. According to local tradition, Montrose encamped for the night at Ach a Mhadaidh where he received warning that Argyle’s patrols were out plundering and burning the houses in Bohuntin. After Annat you come to Luib Chonall, now a mountain bothy.

Upper Glen Roy

The principle route eastwards connecting Lochaber and Badenoch ran through here prior to the construction of Thomas Telford's Parliamentary road along Loch Lagganside in 1817. The present road's origin is unclear but is thought to be a spur built by General Wade or his successors. The construction is strikingly similar to their other work. This part of the Glen is deserted now apart from one resident estate worker at Annat. It was once an extremely busy and important communication route used by armies on the march, bands of caterans coming and going on cattle raids, fugitives from various conflicts, priests on their clandestine ministries, merchants and traders, drovers and smugglers. Convenient mountain passes provided access from here to the Cameron lands of Glen Gloy and Dochanassie as well as the Glengarry lands of Aberchalder and Laggan Auchindrom. The Badenoch bridle path connected the Brae Lochaber people with their kinsfolk who had overspilled into settlements on the upper reaches of the Spey in Clan Chattan country. Throughout this area there is plenty evidence of the large scale sheep-farming which flourished over the last two centuries. This was at the expense of the traditional smallholders whose abandoned habitations can still be traced at the more sizeable townships of Upper and Lower Glen Turret as well as the settlements of Luib Chonnail, Leckroy, and Annat. The tracks and river crossings are currently used by the deer-stalking estate. This section culminates at the more recent Victorian Shooting Lodge and associated buildings at Brae Roy originally known as Dalriach.

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