This photograph is by copyright holder Sue Anderson of Island Focus. It shows Loch Eck, in Scotland’s first National Park which includes part of Argyll.

Loch Eck is a beautiful freshwater ribbon loch running north-south down the east side of the Cowal peninsula. It keeps company for its entire 7 mile length with the A815 to Dunoon. The loch is surrounded by steeply rising mountains which add to its drama and its sense of sanctuary.

And talking of sanctuary, the west side of the loch is the location for the legendary Paper Cave – in Coire an Tee – where the Campbells are said to have hidden their family deeds and documents for safety in the conflicts of the 17th Century.

The Coylet Inn, on the east shores of the loch, is a 17th century coaching inn held to be one of the prettiest in Scotland. It is where British actors Emma Thompson and Greg Wise held their wedding reception when they had a house in nearby Tighnabruaich. With little jetties and moorings in the loch across the road from the Inn, there’s something of a ‘Swallows and Amazons’ atmosphere about the place. The junction between land and water is an easy and seductive one.

Loch Eck is also home to the powan, a rare species of freshwater whitefish, part of the salmon family and  endemic to Loch Eck and to Loch Lomond, with which it shares the National Park.

Copyright: Sue Anderson, www.islandfocus.co.uk. Images may not be reproduced without prior permission from Sue Anderson.

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