In 2018, Steve and I spent a week in Ardarroch, close to the southern end of the spectacular mountain pass that is Bealach na Ba. Infamous in cycling circles for being the longest ascent in Scotland, cycling up this long hill was how I chose to celebrate my 50th birthday. During our week we spent a lot of time talking about how we would love to spend more time in the West Highlands and so began the search for the perfect plot!
For the last two days of our holiday we ventured further south and stayed in the fabulous Winterton B&B in Crinan Ferry, run by Stephanie and Adrian. It was there, flicking through one of their magazines, that we first read about Roderick James Architects, in an article about one of the houses Roderick had built on the Morvern peninsula.
The peninsular of land that sticks out above Mull – comprising Movern, Ardnamurchan and Moidart – wasn’t an area that either of us had been to before or indeed knew anything about. Needless to say, after a few weeks back at work, we were soon heading north again, this time to stay in Morvern – meeting Roderick and his wife, Amanda, at their spectacular home. And then we headed over to Ardnamurchan and fell in love with the spectacular scenery whichever direction you look, the wildlife, the opportunities for walking, cycling and sea kayaking, and the remoteness.
In March 2019, I remember vividly turning on my phone and a Rightmove alert popped up about a plot that had just come on the market in Glenmore Bay. We knew this was one worth looking at, and up we ventured again and there it was, our spectacular plot.
On the visit when we first saw our plot we stayed at Salen House B&B. Our host Ella told us that whenever she comes back over to Ardnamurchan on the Corran ferry she always feels like she’s coming back into Narnia – that’s definitely a feeling that we share.
Not sure at what point I found this film on YouTube, but George and Juliet show lots of the things that we love about the area too: