The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
New heritage trail off the beaten track
There are stories of murder, rebellion and polar bears. Of pre-historic settlements and ghosts. The history of Coigach and Assynt in the far north is long and takes time to tell properly.
But it is hoped a new heritage trail that launches on May 21 will encourage visitors to slow down and learn about the area.
The aim is to divert people from the popular North Coast 500, ditch the car and explore the area on foot, by bike and even by kayak.
The Coigach and Assynt Heritage Trail runs from the township of Culnacraig at the base of Ben Mor Coigach to Kylesku in Sutherland.
Using a specially-created map and information leaflet, visitors can plot their way around local points of interest with the help of interpretation monoliths and waymarker posts displaying the trail’s QR code linked to a website.
The trail is part of the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Partnership Scheme, which aims to bring environmental and economic benefits to the
area with National Lottery Heritage Fund support.
The community project has gleaned information from local people who have helped to preserve the stories.
Working with the Coigach Community Development Company and Historic Assynt, Seoras Burnett compiled the information for the heritage trail from local accounts and academic papers. He said: “The trail will allow people to stop and reflect on a rich and complex history which runs through this amazing landscape, from the end of the last Ice Age to the present day.”
Project coordinator Ann Marie Firth-Bernard said the initiative is aimed at both local people and visitors.
She said: “This has been an enjoyable and rewarding project to work on and we’re looking forward to sharing our local history with a wide audience.
“When we were designing the heritage trail we had ‘slow tourism’ in mind, with a view to attracting people away from the rush of the NC500 and exploring the surrounding areas.”
People have been living in the Coigach and Assynt area for millennia.
Until the early 19th Century it was home to multiple farmsteads and a thriving population.
It had a significant role in the Clearances.
More recently, the Assynt crofters bought over the land where they lived in 1993 and became pioneers for the land reform movement.