Strange incident on the shores of Loch Awe

Like Thomas Middleton from Dalavich (Letters, November 1), I, too, am intrigued by these stories about the strange happenings around Loch Awe.

I grew up around Loch Awe at my grandparents’ cottage, where we spent most school holidays and on occasion attended Mrs Clark’s school house in Ford village.

I was always fishing as a young boy in the burn that feeds Loch Awe at the Ford end. The fishing was very good there during the 1970s. I used to catch big bags of perch, eels, jack pike, rainbow and brown trout and was used to being on my own around Loch Awe from a very early age.

We were always told the stories as children including the one about the old chapel of Killieneuer at the foot of the loch.

Like Mr Middleton, I only mention now an event that occurred to me and my erstwhile partner, Jessica Seal, while driving up the Dalavich side of the Loch in 1996 because of these more recent stories.

I am not someone who makes stories up and knew the loch from a very early age. I was a ghillie at Slatach Estate, Glenfinnan, at the time and we were out for a drive on a day off work. It was night, showery and there was a bit of mist but the driving conditions were fine and there was no other traffic on the road.

About half way up the loch, a massive bull stepped on to the middle of the road and blocked our way. As it was such a big creature, I thought it was best to stop the car and wait patiently for the beast to move. The bull wasn’t threatening in any way but was not in any hurry to move either. After about five minutes, the