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Historical paths lead to what could be Scotland’s remotest bothy





OUT AND ABOUT WITH RALPH: Former stables was converted into a shelter after falling into a ruin. Ralph heads out to revisit the building he helped repair some 20 years ago

The remote Seilachen bothy.
The remote Seilachen bothy.

It is probably the remotest bothy on the mainland, under the twin summits of Ben Armine in the heart of that huge empty quarter between Kinbrace and Lairg.

A network of old stalkers’ paths crosses the area, but they have not become bulldozed tracks as on many estates. High in an upland glen four paths meet, various routes to the remote Loch Choire and Ben Armine Lodges or heading west towards the Crask and Lairg.

Late in the 19th century a stables was built here, providing shelter for ponies used during deer-stalking. A hundred years later the building was falling into ruin but in 2005 Bernard and Betty Heath organised a major renovation, turning the old stables into the simple Seilachan bothy.

It was a heroic effort by a couple in their mid- or late-seventies with the estate quad-biking in tons of materials from Loch Choire. I too made several treks across the area to help in a small way with the work, walking and biking from all corners of the compass.

It is a long four or five miles on foot from the bothy to Loch Choire or Ben Armine Lodge, then at least nine more miles of private track to the public road.

Ben Armine country, looking towards Ben Klibreck and Ben Loyal.
Ben Armine country, looking towards Ben Klibreck and Ben Loyal.

My first visit was many years ago, when the building was still ruinous. I took the early train to Kinbrace and ran (I was fit then!), out to Badenloch, down the long track south of Truderscaig then up over Ben Armine and down to Seilachan.

Another eight miles’ jogging took me to Dalnessie Lodge, with a long 10 miles of tracks and roads remaining to reach Lairg station and the late train back home. A 32-mile crossing of this great wilderness I have never forgotten – you can still do it today!

On another two occasions a group of us did a circuit from Kinbrace by bike, down Kildonan, over Glen Loth, up Strath Brora and out to Ben Armine Lodge, the track in those days very rough. Nine miles of mostly wheeling followed, passing Seilachan and on over the hill to Loch Choire, then a good smooth track back out to Badenloch and Kinbrace and again the late train home.

A recent visit, my first for over 15 years, was a much easier trip. Leaving the car near Sciberscross I used the e-bike to cycle the long miles out to Ben Armine Lodge, the track now much improved. After initial forestry plantations you enter increasingly remote country of rolling peat moors and low hills, following the Black Water for many miles.

Looking back to Ben Armine.
Looking back to Ben Armine.

I left the bike in a high upland glen beyond the lodge as a golden eagle soared over the hills across the river and a pair of greenshanks called in their musical minor key. The landscape was still one of wintry yellows and browns, the burns and rivers very low after the long dry spell. But the first golden plovers had arrived, their mournful peep from a tussock or musical ‘tlui tlui’ are some of my favourite bird calls.

A good path carries on along the Black Water, slowly climbing the long glen. There are forks off to Dalnessie and Loch Choire and the path becomes rougher and more overgrown. At long last the bothy appeared in the distance, the river was easy to cross but can be a major obstacle or even impassable in spate.

To my relief the building was still in good condition, and the roof ridges I’d spent a whole day nailing into place 20 years ago were still well fastened. My wrists have suffered ever since!

It was an amazingly peaceful place to sit in the sun and eat lunch, the river rippling below, a single buzzing carder bee, probably seeking dwarf willow, and a high skein of migrating geese.

The long track to Ben Armine Lodge.
The long track to Ben Armine Lodge.

I took an alternative path back, climbing high over the shoulder of Ben Armine. This route is little used and much of it overgrown or vanished into the bog. Some of the peat is 10 or more feet deep, but for some reason this landscape is outside the Unesco designated area.

I cut down over the moor to where I’d left the bike, the weather now turning grey with that cold wind of early spring picking up. The long, long track out to Sciberscross and the relative civilisation of upper Strath Brora shows just how remote is Ben Armine Lodge, never mind Seilachan.

It was Easter Monday and after leaving Sciberscross farm I’d seen not a soul. Not even a footprint or a bicycle tyre track. It is good that there are still some truly wild places left in Scotland.


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