Loch Treig is a deep freshwater loch situated in a steep-sided glen 20km east of Fort William, in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland.[1] While there are no roads alongside the loch, the West Highland Line follows its eastern bank.
Loch Treig was originally a natural freshwater loch over 400 feet deep.[1] In 1929, Loch Treig was made into a reservoir, retained behind the Treig Dam, forming part of the Lochaber hydro-electric scheme, which required diversion of the West Highland Railway.[2] The increase in water level following the construction of the dam submerged the hamlets of Kinlochtreig and Creaguaineach at the loch's southern end, which were stopping points on a cattle drovers' road along the Road to the Isles, which linked up Lochaber and the Inner Hebrides to markets in Perthshire in the south.
Ken Smith (b. 1947), a self-described hermit, has lived alone in a rough cabin on the shore of Loch Treig for forty years.[3] He was profiled in the documentary The Hermit of Treig (2022), and wrote the memoir The Way of the Hermit (2023).[3][4] Laura Miller opined in 2024, he "may be the most famous living hermit in Great Britain".[5]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Loch Treig". Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER). Retrieved 29 September 2023.
- ^ "Loch Treig, Dam". Canmore. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
- ^ a b Kelly, Stuart (14 June 2023). "Book review: The Way Of The Hermit, by Ken Smith with Will Millard". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ Ide, Wendy (27 March 2022). "The Hermit of Treig – splendid isolation in the wilds of Scotland". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ Miller, Laura (1 June 2024). "Alone and Unafraid". Slate. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
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