A lovely test page about this gorgeous dog!
Glen Mallie, the eastern and most accessible block, is bounded to the east by the Allt Coire Bhotrais which tumbles down the hillside from the corrie high above in the shadow of Beinn Bhan, and is home to numerous lichens, mosses, and ferns.
A footbridge has been built here to allow easier access to the site. It was built in collaboration with the Woodland Trust and volunteers from Raleigh International who prepared all the logs by stripping the bark and shaping the sections for the walkway. A group of local volunteers then set the bridge components into position above the burn. It became known as the Friendship Bridge to symbolise the partnership between the Woodland Trust and ACF.
The once healthy Caledonian pine wood has suffered many setbacks over the years. A catastrophic fire started in 1942 while the Commandos were training there. The fire burned for several days and destroyed a huge number of native tree species including hundreds of ancient Scots pines, many of whose charred remains still stand as ghostly reminders of this devastating event.
During the 1960s, the then Forestry Commision planted out the remnants of the forest with fast growing non-native species to supply the timber industry. But the trees grew poorly on the available soil and were never economically viable as a commercial forestry plantation.
Glen Mallie, the eastern and most accessible block, is bounded to the east by the Allt Coire Bhotrais which tumbles down the hillside from the corrie high above in the shadow of Beinn Bhan, and is home to numerous lichens, mosses, and ferns.
A footbridge has been built here to allow easier access to the site. It was built in collaboration with the Woodland Trust and volunteers from Raleigh International who prepared all the logs by stripping the bark and shaping the sections for the walkway. A group of local volunteers then set the bridge components into position above the burn. It became known as the Friendship Bridge to symbolise the partnership between the Woodland Trust and ACF.
The once healthy Caledonian pine wood has suffered many setbacks over the years. A catastrophic fire started in 1942 while the Commandos were training there. The fire burned for several days and destroyed a huge number of native tree species including hundreds of ancient Scots pines, many of whose charred remains still stand as ghostly reminders of this devastating event.
During the 1960s, the then Forestry Commision planted out the remnants of the forest with fast growing non-native species to supply the timber industry. But the trees grew poorly on the available soil and were never economically viable as a commercial forestry plantation.
Peatland. Within the Gusach and Glen Mallie woods lie several areas of deep peat, on which typical bog communities have developed. These are bright in summer with yellow tormentil and bog asphodel, the pinks and purples of the heathers and the white nodding heads of cotton grass. Sphagnum mosses of reds. oranges, yellows, whites and greens ensure that the ground stays moist, and contribute to the peat as they decay. The carnivorous red sundews and blue butterworts grow here, taking their share of the midges. Rare dragonflies such as the azure hawker and northern emerald breed in the bog pools. Cuckoos seek out meadow pipit nests here in the spring.
Oligotrophic Loch. Deep, glacial, nutrient-poor water bodies such as Loch Arkaig, contain salmonid fish such as Atlantic salmon, brown (ferrox) trout and Arctic charr. Sandpipers and greenshank breed along the shore, whilst red-breasted merganser, and red-throated and black-throated divers fish on the loch. Dippers forage in the gravelly margins. The shoreline at the Gusach itself supports several unusual plants such as whorled caraway and oblong sundew, with the delicate water lobelia growing in the margins, whilst the rare Irish lady’s-tresses orchid is found nearby.
