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Starts: 09:30
Matalan Car Park at the Inshes Shopping Centre, Inverness
Contact Anne Coombs if you plan to attend annecoombs1@gmail.com.
A NOSAS day trip is proposed to visit sites in the Strathnairn and Stratherrick area South of Inverness. Download full Handout. The main focus had been to re-visit the probable Pictish barrow cemeteries at Brin and Whitebridge, in advance of the excavation of the Tarradale barrow cemetery in September. These sites were previously studied by NOSAS in 2015 but it is thought this might be a useful trip for those who haven’t seen these sites previously and as a refresher for those who have. Unfortunately due to the presence of cows in the field at Brin, this trip has had to be postponed until the 20th October. The opportunity will also be taken to visit other sites in the area, as time allows on the themes of Pictish settlement and burial through the ages - namely Essich, Carn Glas Chambered Cairn, Dunlichity Church, Creagan an Tuirc and Caisteal an Duin Riabhiach Fort.
Logistics
Because of restricted parking at some of these sites, it is proposed that numbers be restricted to c6 car loads. It is therefore recommended that we rendezvous for 9.30 am at the Matalan Car Park at the Inshes Shopping Centre, Inverness to organise car shares. We will then go up the Essich road, the earliest of the Wade Military Roads past Essich Farm before going left onto the Bunachton road to visit a well-preserved roundhouse with another 18thC boundary stone before walking out to Carn Glas Chambered Cairns. Driving on from Carn Glas we will stop briefly to visit Dunlichity Church, before going on to Brin. (A comfort stop will be available here, courtesy of the Mackenzie/Tucker families. Donations are asked for the Mackenzie Trust.) Depending on the weather, a lunch stop is then planned at the RSPB Car Park beside Loch Ruthven. In the afternoon we will travel on to Whitebridge to view the upstanding barrow cemetery here, before returning via Torness to Caisteal an Duin Riabhiach Fort and then back past Loch Ashie, returning to Inverness.
There will not be time to stop at Essich Farm itself and the visit to Caisteal an Duin Riabhaich will be optional depending on the time available. These notes are provided for further reference and should be read beforehand as there will be no handouts on the trip itself!