Glen Kinglass Hermit

Glen Kinglass
© Patrick Mackie

Glen Kinglass was home to a hermit during the 1950s, who lived on the road connecting Butterbridge in the east with Cairndow in the west, on the eastern shores of Loch Fyne, Argyll and Bute.

Glen Kinglass has steep and forested sides, and carries the A83 road next to the River Kinglass which empties into the loch near Cairndow.

The hermit is believed to have started out in a simple shelter formed under some rocks, but which gradually expanded as more materials were found and added. Over the years he became something of a tourist attraction, and passing visitors would stop and give him food and money. while national newspapers would a occasionally featured stories about him.

A new road was built through the glen during the 1960s, forcing him to move as his makeshift home was on the new route. By way of compensation, he was given a four wheeled roadsman's caravan, and he moved to the head of Loch Fyne, where he remained for the rest of his life.

This account contrasts with that of an elderly lady from the 1990s, who decided to live in her Austin Metro in a layby near Glenbranter. Deemed by the authorities to be a nuisance, she was eventually sectioned and moved to Lochgilphead Hospital under Mental Health Legislation.

External links

Aerial views

^{Live Search Maps is now called Bing Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth is now called Bing Maps for Enterprise, June 2009.}

Map

Recent Page Trail: Secrets/AABatteryBlantyreferme >> Secrets/CunardQueens >> Secrets/Chernobyl >> Secrets/RAFWigtown >> Secrets/DuninoAirfield