I've just seen an advert for Loch Dhu whisky and it called to mind a story that Granny Dunbar told me many years ago but to put you in the picture I need to give you a location
At the junction of the Inverness road and Moss Side road and inside the v formed there and in the Achereidh wood there was, up to the beginning of the war, a pond of roughly twenty feet in diameter.
Granny related that one day a lady was travelling from Delnies to Nairn in a pony and trap and when something frightened the pony it bolted into the pond. The trap overturned and both the pony and the lady were drowned.
Very close to that place there were two dwellings known Loch Dhu cottages. Bearing in mind that ‘Loch Dhu’ in Gaelic is ‘Dark Lake’ I wonder was it because of the proximity of the pond that the cottages were given that name or was it as a result of the incident? Didn’t have the presence of mind to ask Granny!
For as far back as I can remember there was a dyke starting at the point of the V and going along the Inverness road towards Tradespark. Was that built as a result if the incident?
Whilst I am reflecting on that area I remember that Sir Alan Cobham’s Circus came to Nairn on more than one occasion in the thirties. The circus used the field behind the cottages I mention and gave aerobatic displays and the like. One could book a short flight for five shillings or maybe half a crown or even possibly for both prices depending how long one wanted the flight to last.
For something really exciting an autogiro would take off and rise to “higher than a house” before landing
Hamish
At the junction of the Inverness road and Moss Side road and inside the v formed there and in the Achereidh wood there was, up to the beginning of the war, a pond of roughly twenty feet in diameter.
Granny related that one day a lady was travelling from Delnies to Nairn in a pony and trap and when something frightened the pony it bolted into the pond. The trap overturned and both the pony and the lady were drowned.
Very close to that place there were two dwellings known Loch Dhu cottages. Bearing in mind that ‘Loch Dhu’ in Gaelic is ‘Dark Lake’ I wonder was it because of the proximity of the pond that the cottages were given that name or was it as a result of the incident? Didn’t have the presence of mind to ask Granny!
For as far back as I can remember there was a dyke starting at the point of the V and going along the Inverness road towards Tradespark. Was that built as a result if the incident?
Whilst I am reflecting on that area I remember that Sir Alan Cobham’s Circus came to Nairn on more than one occasion in the thirties. The circus used the field behind the cottages I mention and gave aerobatic displays and the like. One could book a short flight for five shillings or maybe half a crown or even possibly for both prices depending how long one wanted the flight to last.
For something really exciting an autogiro would take off and rise to “higher than a house” before landing
Hamish
Is the houses in Lochdhu Gate built upon what was once the dark lake? I am doing research for school, on where we live, and as I live in Lochdhu Gate, it would be something interesting to include in my essay.
ReplyDeleteI have been doing a lot of research on when the lake was dried up, but I am finding nothing. Do you have any information on the dark lake that I could find helpful for my essay?
Thank you.
Chloe.