Tyndrum
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Tyndrum ( ; ) is a small village in Scotland. Its Gaelic name translates as "the house on the ridge". It lies in Strath Fillan, at the southern edge of Rannoch Moor.
Tyndrum ( ; ) is a small village in Scotland. Its Gaelic name translates as "the house on the ridge". It lies in Strath Fillan, at the southern edge of Rannoch Moor.
Location and facilities
Tyndrum is a popular tourist village, and a noted stop on the A82 for road travellers to refresh at the Green Welly Stop or one of the several other cafés and hotels. There is a filling station. The village is on the West Highland Way, and has a campsite, hotel, bunkhouse and bed and breakfasts to accommodate walkers. Overshadowed by Ben Lui, a Munro, Tyndrum is built over the battlefield where Clan MacDougall defeated Robert the Bruce in 1306, and supposedly took from him the Brooch of Lorn.
Mines
Tyndrum is a former mining centre. The hamlet of Clifton (the row of cottages across the A82 from the Green Welly) is made up of the former mining cottages, and up the hillside beyond them the tailings of a former lead mine can be seen. Historical records indicate that the mine was exploited in several different phases between 1730 and 1928. Opencast mining was carried out from 1741 to 1745 under the orders of Sir Robert Clifton. The Scots Mining Company owned the mineral rights to the area from 1768 to 1791, introducing water-powered crushing machinery. A church was built at Clifton in 1829 by Lady Glenorchy, which was reported in 1846 as being used by the Free Church of Scotland. The site of a gold mine is to the south and west of Tyndrum at Cononish, above Cononish Farm. Work on constructing the mine began in the 1980s but low gold prices forced the closure of the mine before it became fully operational. In October 2011 it was announced that the mine would be reactivated. It was expected to employ 52 people and produce of gold and of silver over the next 10 years, thereby generating an estimated £80 million for the Scottish economy. Following planning difficulties, which featured in the BBC Four programme Tales from the National Parks, and a fall in the price of gold, opening of the mine was again delayed. In an update on the project released by Scotgold in May 20151, total ore reserves are now estimated at of gold and of silver. In July 2023, Scotgold began a review of its activities following disappointing production figures and suspended share trading in September 2023.
References
External links
Tyndrum local community website Gazetteer entry for Tyndrum
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1367852317 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.