Corrie Church, Torridon

[john]

For many years, I have been visiting Torridon. Each year, my wife and myself spend at least one week there and wander the area. As I get older, I no longer manage the high tops, but nonetheless it is such a wonderful area for many different types of walking, I still manage to find plenty to do there.

Most of the time that I have stayed there, I have lived in one of the cottages on Torridon House estate. A walk along the track to Alligin passing the old Corrie Church and manse house was always a pleasure. This year, I was horrified to see that the church has been bought by a private developer - a guy called Macrae from Pennsylvania - and is being converted into a private dwelling. All that is now left of this once beautiful and isolated church is the front aspect. The other 3 sides have been demolished and are presently being rebuilt.

Having read the planning permission report, I was amazed that Highland Council considered this building to be of no historic or aesthetic value and placed only one condition on the refurbishment. To retain the 3 stain glassed windows.

There were few objections raised against the development. As you would probably expect in such a quite area. However, the lady who lives next door in the manse received no sympathy whatsoever to her claim that her privacy would be affected!

I was fortunate enough to be able to get inside this old church when they did still run some services there. I left my name in the visitors book and noticed that a few visitors from other parts of the world had actually come there to be married. I dont know any details of those services, but nonetheless, someone from a distant land seemed to have a higher regard for the building that we native Scots have.

It does make you wonder what value we place on things nowadays.

The church as it was

The church as it is now from the side

The church as it stands now from the rear.

The church as it stands now from the front

[Jaxter]

We walked through here when we were in Torridon this summer and didn't really know what was going on (athough we didn't turn right at the church because we didn't see it )

It seems such a shame to destroy something that old in a small community. Sad times At least some of it is being preserved I guess.

[AlisonFox66]

Such a shame .

[Border Reiver]

Quite a number of churches and chapels have been closed and developed into housing in our part of the country, but most have been listed buildings and have been converted very well, with most of the best features retained. It's a sad fact that if the locals don't support their church, it will eventually close and be sold. A rural church in our neighbourhood has just closed because it is riddled with damp and rot and is also a listed building, so would have to be carefully restored. The congregation dwindled from near 80 in the early 1900's to under 10 and there was no way they could afford the £30,000 needed to do the work. That's life I suppose.
The best we can hope for is that planners insist on the character of these buildings being retained when planning applications come in for conversion.

[Hirokazu]

well, this is how it looks today:

It's much bigger than it seems, kind of modern and with a swimmingpool, but does it fit?

[john]

Thanks, I have not been back since posting this topic. Due back in October this year. The property does look sensitively done but it does not enjoy the wildness of the old church. Do you know how much the access has been changed? The road was very rough previously, so has it been surfaced or levelled? And how about access around it? Is it still open to the shore and the memorial which lay beyond the church?

Here is a piece from The Scotsman earlier this year:

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/homes-gardens/infinity-pool-with-loch-view-added-to-converted-highland-church-1-4448578

[mrssanta]

we (my sister and I and two friends) attended a service there once, in about 1981 or 1982. We were made very welcome despite not being quite dressed right - we had hillwalking gear as we were hostelling and climbing hills.

[Hirokazu]

I agree, they were trying to be sensentiv with the surroundings somehow. The access coming from Torridon Estate looks easier for cars now, but there is no asphalt or anything like that, walking is the same. A small path to the memorial is still there, and you might come as well to the loch. There is another new holiday-cottage above the neighbor's house as well, but from there the path to Inveralligan is like it used to be. 2012 was the first year we came at Inveralligin and found that church, but unfortunatly it was closed by then and we were never able to go inside.
I don't think anyone will really live in this really exclusive (see "The Scotman") property, the owner will be there a few weeks a year only - it is a little obscene, isn't it? It would be interesting to know if it will be inhabitated. Will you be staying at Torridon Estate again in October?

[john]

The owner lives in the US, from what I remember. So you are probably correct that the property is used infrequently - unless they plan to let it out. I am surprised that they built a cottage above the bighbouring property. I dont remember reading anything in the plans about this. It is probably on the site of the workmen's base. They had several carivans located there and some heavy equipment.

[Peter Finlay]

Thanks, John, for making people aware of what has been happening to Corry (spelling I was used to!) Church over the last few years. I was the minister there from 1973 - 78 and lived in the manse right beside it. I could see the congregation coming along the little path from Alligin from my kitchen window. Time to get up to the church where we chatted until the service began. Such a place to worship, and such lovely people. The mountains I have to admit were an added attraction for me. Every month I would be up there amongst them, summer and winter. Charlie Rose was the mountain rescue leader and he got me involved. I might have needed their services myself once when I set off at 10pm on a great July night. I reached the summit of the Spidean (Liathach) as the grey dawn light was creating something of unbelievable beauty in the great corrie - Coire na Caime - below. I descended from the east end and carried on via Coire Mhic Nobuil to climb Beinn Dearg. Then I thought - why not Beinn Alligin too? Crazy? Fortunately my black labrador, Fitheach (Raven) thought as much. I was some 200 feet up from the bealach when I realised I was on my own. Below a very puzzled black, intelligent face was looking up at me!

But the poor church! Oh yes! I found this photo of it at night with bright lights and the dark mass of Ben Damph behind. I wrote to my brother saying 'So thankful I did not have to live with this casino beside me when I lived there.'

I have not been able to find out anything about Sandy Macrae's connection with Torridon. Maybe he has saved the church from crumbling into the dust. But did it really need to be saved this way, with a riviera-style so called 'infinity pool' to add to the kind of image as remote as could be from the crofting communities that helped to build the church so many years ago?

I have attached more thoughts on the Scotsman link you give.

[john]

Peter, what a wonderful tale you have there. So great to read it. I will be returning to Torridon next month for my annual visit. I now stay in Annat instead of The Stables Cottage on the Estate.

The first year we visited the estate, I remember services still being held in the church. This would be around 2002. There was a little notice placed at the track junction before the old river bridge. It welcomed visitors to the Sunday service which I think was held monthly at that time.

I was lucky enough to be able to get access to the church and leave my comments in a visitors book. Laterally - around 2007? - services seemed to have stopped but the old bibles were still in the pews. I also remember a comment in the book from a Canadian couple who had crossed the Atlantic to be married in the church not long before our visit.

When I last visited the church before renovation, it was rather dilapidated. The gutters were suffering, as was the roof and porch. It was so sad to see it deteriorate.

You must have been very happy there. The manse is still occupied by a lady, who - as far as I know - has lived there for some years. Goodness knows how she managed to get her car along the track. It was not exactly a Land Rover.

Those mountains are very tempting, and I can understand the temptation. I am suffering from age and lack of motivation now for the big hills. But I have climbed many of the Torridon hills. Wonderful challenges and the light that falls on them in Autumn is almost literally out of this world.

Many thanks for your post. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. A real connection with history!

[Peter Finlay]

Thank you, John, for what you write. It's great to share good things about Torridon! So you're making Annat your base now. Please look out for Margaret and Ian Maclean there. She was the teacher in Kinlochewe and a lovely person. So was Ian. Perhaps one or more of their children live there too now - Anna, Rory and Iain. I don't know if the old shop is still on the go in Annat. It was run by Donnie McKenzie always called Donnie Merchant. He was a member of the Corry church and another lovely person.

Good to hear from you about some of the services still continuing - and the old Bibles on the pews. I do remember them. And weddings! Yes I had one couple from New Zealand who were married there on a wild winter's day. It didn't stop them recommending it to two of their friends who arrived not long after to be wed and they were rewarded with somewhat better weather!

Since my last post I have heard from the new owner of the church, Sandy Macrae. He seems to be a highly qualified doctor who has also worked for some of the big pharma companies. I had mentioned being in Zambia and Malawi before coming to Torridon, and he told me he had been in Uganda working for GSK in connection with a new anti-malarial drug. It was good to hear that as I remember only too well the many young children I saw with their little tummies swollen from enlarged livers from malaria. Any work to end this curse of the tropics is very welcome. I suppose it mitigates somewhat my feelings about what has happened to the church. And from what you say it was only getting into a steadily worse state.

The road to the Church and Manse was just a track. Then it was about good enough for my little low-slung Mini Clubman - very miniature estate car! It was certainly no Land Rover! Hope it can be maintained without being tarred over! The lady in the Manse's mother was the Torridon teacher and she used to help a lot with various things for the church, like a full-scale Easter play we put on in the village hall with all the children from Torridon and Kinlochewe taking part.

I wish you happy days in the hills in October. It can be a lovely month. I remember a fortnight of solid sunshine in the course of which my dog Fhitheach and I climbed Beinn Eighe, Baosbheinn and to cap it all A' Mhaighdean, the most remote Munro. Wonderful! I would do it all again but now I can hardly walk round the lawn some days - 5 vertebral fractures from osteoporosis 7 years ago. Keep clear of it! Enjoy your holiday!

[john]

I have never know a shop in Annat, Peter. There is this rather strange buidling and we have often wondered what it was. It is built into the rocks. I have only ever seen it open a few times and it looks as if it is used as a store for something or other.

The old Post Office in Torridon is now closed. But was taken over a few years back by a woman who now runs it as a store and very good tearoom. It seems very popular and hopefully it will last.

The cottage where we stay now is called Bayview. Of course, that may be a modern name. I am sure it was owned by Mackenzies who left it to their son. He lives with his wife in Sheildaig and, I think, is in the merchant navy? His wife comes from Glasgow. The cottage overlooks the croft on the shore which still operates as a croft.

In the picture you can just see the front of the garden of the cottage and the croft across the road.

It is good to know that the new owner sounds like someone who may value the property and the area. Maybe some day I will bump into him when I walk along the track to Inveralligin. Now I will have something to talk to him about. You certainly got around a bit in your ministry!

I have noticed the lady from the manse's car parked outside a house on the main road adjacent to the school in Torridon, so it may be that her mother is still around. At least back in 2014/15. I believe that the school has closed though. Although, it still looked well equipped the last time I passed. My own wife is a teacher and she envied the resources that were seen in the playground and garden grounds.

We have generally been pretty lucky when it comes to October weather. Recent years have been exceptional and it allows me to get some great photos. The light is spectacular and the sunsets unbelievable. It is a routine for us to sit on a bench overlooking the loch each evening and wait until the darkness falls. Listening to the stags roar in the corries of Liathach and watching the sunset deepen.

I am sorry to hear of the problems with your back. It makes me feel rather lazy. Maybe some day I will become more active. Until then, I make do with the bike!

[jmarkb]

In the picture you can just see the front of the garden of the cottage and the croft across the road.

The shop in Annat has long gone: it was in the smaller stone cottage opposite Bayview, next door to the house in your photo. There's a photo of it in 1981 here:http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1678346 and another from 100 years earlier here: http://www.rossandcromartyheritage.org/Community/Torridon-Kinlochewe/Heritage/History.aspx.

I remember it from childhood visits in my parents' campervan, which would have been in the early-mid 70's: even then it seemed like something from a bygone era!

[john]

Many thanks, jmarkb. That is a very, very interesting Ross and Cromarty link you post. I really enjoyed reading that and seeing the pictures.

In one image, you will see a vintage car and estate workers standing in front of a cottage at Corry. This is the Stables Cottage which is where I stayed each year from 2002 until recently switching to Bayview. For several of those years, the old part of the cottage had classic cars in the garage part of the Stables. They were sold to someone in Norway or Sweden, I think, when the estate started to sell off its assets. I think this was the start of the decline of the estate, to some extent. The estate manager back then told me they had plans to develop the cottages, including the Stables. He was planning to convert those garages into some kind of conservatory extension with an outlook. They also planned to build some cabins in the grounds leading towards the old church at Corry. Sadly, things did not work out and the estate was put on the market. I think they have renovated some of the cottages and they are once more for lease, but at much higher prices. The Stables was very basic, but I liked it as it got you away from modern luxuries for a while!

There is another picture in that set which seems to include Rev Peter Findlay among the congregation at Ploc. Hopefully, he returns to this topic and sees that.

And here is a photo of the shop as it is now: