PICTURES: Cnoc nan Each bridge on Assynt Foundation's Glencanisp Estate is upgraded, improving access to landholding
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The Assynt Foundation has upgraded a strategically important footbridge on its community owned Glencanisp Estate.
The Cnoc nan Each bridge is one of only four designated access points directly onto the Assynt Foundation’s 44,000 acre landholding.
It crosses the Culag River between Loch Druim Suardalain and Loch Culag, and was originally built to give access to a shepherd’s house and croft at Cnocnaneach.
The croft was worked until the 1970s with the Fleming family the last to live there.
There is also a historic round house at Cnocnaneach, the shieling of a cleared settlement and the 18th century farm of Knockneach.
A spokesman for the Assynt Foundation said: “The aim was to repair and upgrade the bridge to help maintain good access to parts of the Assynt Foundation estate and its historic built heritage and also to allow more native woodland planting to go ahead in the area.”
The repaired bridge also allows walkers access to the summit of the 169 metre high Cnoc nan Each.
Work on the bridge, which is flanked by a ford that provides vehicle access during fair weather, was carried out on Friday, March 11, by Assynt Foundation staff, volunteers and contractors.
Workers had to haul two huge tree trunks into place to form the horizontal struts for the bridge, and then had to balance on them to order to install planking on top.
The hard-working team comprised Dell Ross, Hamish Dickson, Stuart Belshaw, Keith Mackenzie and Lewis MacAskill.
The project was delivered through the Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape Partnership with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
