It is a stretch of the A82 where it's almost impossible as a driver to focus on the road.
Best experienced in the early morning light, Glencoe's almost other-worldly beauty leaves visitors and natives spellbound at every twist and turn of the road.
But there is a stain on this glorious landscape. The former white-washed home of prolific child sex offender Jimmy Savile has lain derelict since his death in 2011 and permanently graffiti-scrawled since the enormity of his crimes came to light.
However, there is an alternative history for the cottage at Allt-na-Reigh that has been lost but is one that its new owners plan to honour.
A revised application has been lodged with Highland Council to demolish the building and build a private residence that the Glencoe community "can be proud of".
It will be renamed Hamish's House in honour of Sir Hamish McInnes, the celebrated mountaineer who was responsible for pioneering the wider mountain rescue movement in Scotland.
READ MORE: Glencoe cottage 'reclaimed' from grim past to honour celebrated mountaineer
Near to the cottage is the workshop where he perfected the first all-metal ice axe, the MacInnes Massey, and later the Terrordactyl, and the MacInnes stretcher, the lightweight folding alloy stretcher used world-wide in mountain rescue.
The new owners, which include retail tycoon Harris Aslam, plan to install a plaque to honour the achievements of the 'Father of Mountaineering'.
Mountaineer Hamish McInnes on Everest (Image: freelancer)
The latest application for a private residence has been revised after objections were raised by Mountaineering Scotland that the elevated design was too 'imposing'.
However, what was almost universally supported was the need to demolish the cottage and it's a bit of mystery to me why this was not done years ago by Highland Council.
READ MORE: The coins that may have been buried as Glencoe massacre began
Allowing it to remain, even restored and refurbished would mean the property would continue to detract from one of the world's loveliest views.
Some have said the property could have been rebuilt to house a museum dedicated to the mountaineer but it is likely that funding would have been a barrier.
Helen Fairlie, chairwoman of Glen Etive and Glencoe Community Council, said it would take a long time for people to "move away from the unfortunate bit of its history" and she is right.
However, the welcome inclusion of a monument to Hamish McInnes will ensure the memorable part of Allt-na-Reigh's history is preserved.
Demolition of 'stain' on Glencoe's glorious landscape can't come soon enough
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04.11.2023
It is a stretch of the A82 where it's almost impossible as a driver to focus on the road.
Best experienced in the early morning light, Glencoe's almost other-worldly beauty leaves visitors and natives spellbound at every twist and turn of the road.
But there is a stain on this glorious landscape. The former white-washed home of prolific child sex offender Jimmy Savile has lain derelict since his death in 2011 and permanently graffiti-scrawled since the enormity of his crimes came to light.
However, there is an alternative history for the cottage at Allt-na-Reigh that has been lost but is one that its new owners plan to honour.
A........
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