Inchmurrin View Traditional Cache
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The southern part of Loch Lomond is fairly shallow and is crossed by the Highland Boundary Fault line. These two factors are the main reason for the collection of islands which make the loch so interesting for waterborne explorers. There are about 30 islands on Loch Lomond, some large, some small and some which are only visible when water levels are low. The best views of the islands are obviously from the highest vantage point - Ben Lomond but I guess because there is no cache there yet there’s no point going up there!
Inchmurrin (St Murrin's island) is the largest inland island in Britain and the most southerly on Loch Lomond, over 2 km long with a maximum height of 89 m. The name Inchmurrin comes from the chapel of St Mirren which is said to have been at the southern end near the castle site. No remains have been found.
The island can be fully explored by visitors. The are many lovely walks and safe beaches for swimming!! (Yes the water does get warm enough).
Inchmurrin boasts the only Hotel located on any of the Islands of the Loch, the Hotel is open from Easter to October. The Island is accessible by boat and several piers are available for Hotel visitors. The Balmaha mail boat also makes regular journeys to the island and passage can be obtained for a small fee, delivering visitors with the daily mail!!!
The current owners of Inchmurrin are the Scott family who have lived here for approximately seventy years. They farm here with a large herd of beef cattle and sheep, growing all their own feed on the island, as well as keeping game birds. Previously the island has been owned by Mr Melville of the India Tyre Manufacturers and before this the Duke of Montrose used the Island as a shooting estate. There is also a fully licensed bar and restaurant on the island. There is a variety of self-catering accommodation and approximately 15 houses, some with permanent residents. A cluster of wooden cabins also exists near the south eastern shore and is apparently frequented by a nudist colony, not that I would really know anything about that of course!
The Island is steeped in history and is reputed to have been visited by Robert the Bruce, King James 4th of Scotland in 1506, Mary Queen of Scots in 1563 and James VI in 1617.
At the southern end stand the ruins of Lennox Castle to which the Earl of Lennox and his family retreated from Balloch in order to escape the plague. There had been a castle on this site at least since 1393. It is built on the shore on a natural rocky outcrop with slopes to the North West and South East and a defensive ditch to the East facing inland.
Today the castle is overgrown and ruined and has that same romantic atmosphere which first inspired the imagination of poets, artists and writers of the 18th and 19th century.
The main block of the castle was composed of 3 rooms, and there are traces of other out buildings and possibly a small courtyard. The arched window was built above an archery or window slit. It was probably built for Duncan, 8th Earl of Lennox whose seat was Balloch Castle at the south end of Loch Lomond, and was probably a hunting lodge for the deer park established on the island by King Robert I in the early 1300's.
Lady Isabella, daughter of Duncan, the 8th Earl of Lennox, married Duke Murdoch of Albany and in 1425 witnessed the execution of her father, husband and two of her sons at the hands of King James I. She was imprisoned in Tantallon castle in East Lothian, but later released and spent the remainder of her days on Inchmurrin.
The approach to the cache is one of the grandest you will find. You can’t pass through the main gates to Ross Park but there is a gate to the side near the road. You’ll have a lovely walk up what was once probably a fantastic driveway. Approach the loch side after a few hundred meters and get a view of Inchmurrin. At the time of setting this cache there were bluebells everywhere and I felt guilty going off the path for fear of treading on them.
Look for silver birch No. 00327
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre snyyra gerr juvpu fgenqqyrf gur fvyire ovepu
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