Loch Maree is in the Parish of Gairloch in Wester Ross. The loch, one of the finest in the country, is twelve miles long and extends from Kinlochewe to near Poolewe. Most of the loch is less than a mile wide, but it broadens to about two miles opposite Slattadale and has several small islands. One of the small islands in the loch, Isle Maree, has the ruins of a chapel established by the Irish monk Maelrubha in the 7th Century. The south-east shore of the loch is dominated by Slioch which stands at 3,220ft. The south-west shore makes up part of the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve. Loch Maree is noted for its sea-trout fishing.
The hotel is about half way along the loch on its shore. In 1877, Queen Victoria spent six nights there and enjoyed her visit. She said she hoped to return one day. A plaque commemorates her visit and about a mile north of the hotel lie the Victoria Falls in Slattadale Forest.
In August 1922 five visitors to the Loch Maree Hotel died of botulism poisoning after eating duck paste sandwiches. Though the deaths were deemed accidental, the hotel still holds the unenviable label of having been the location of the worst botulism food poisoning tragedy in Britain.
Click to enlarge the image, read the text then answer the following questions.
Questions
- "The scenery on either side of it (Loch Maree) is about the most utterly savage and terrific". Taken from 'Anderson's Guide to the Highlands'. Would this description put you off visiting Loch Maree or not? Give reasons for your answer
- What might attract tourists to Loch Maree today (give at least three attractions)?
- How did the falls at Slattadale get their name?
- What damaged Loch Maree Hotel's reputation?
- Look up a dictionary or a 'search engine' such as Yahoo or Google and see what you can find out about 'botulism'.