Meeting report
The Applecross Peninsula (v.-c. 105) is roughly triangular in shape and lies on the coast of Wester Ross opposite the islands of Raasay and Skye. One of its many charms is its relative isolation from the rest of the Highlands, due to the need to cross one of the highest road passes in Scotland, the Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle) which rises to over 2000 feet in a series of very steep hairpin bends – a breathtaking journey from Kishorn, and from the pass revealing a magnificent panorama of the peninsula and views to the Inner Hebrides.
Until a new coast road was opened in 1975 from Torridon to the north, the pass was the only way in to Applecross, which still retains its aura of secrecy and isolation, though the road is
now creaking under the strains of tourist traffic.
Previously only partly surveyed for bryophytes, and never visited by the BBS, the peninsula offered much scope for this meeting, with coastal woodlands including Atlantic Hazel with their oceanic bryophytes, and several ravines, only two of which had been surveyed in detail (for their hydro-electric potential). Probably the icing on the cake would be the spectacular mountains and big corries, most easily accessed from the Bealach na Ba and also by a longer walk into Coire na Poite to see the special oceanic montane liverworts.
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