Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve, Scotland
This is Britain’s oldest NNR, near Loch Maree in the Scottish Highlands
Beinn Eighe is a multi-peaked mountain at the southern end of Loch Maree in the northwest Scottish Highlands. It is also Britain’s oldest National Nature Reserve, established in 1951 with the primary aim of preserving ancient pinewood. However, the area incorporated within the 48 square kilometres of the reserve stretches from the loch to the top of the mountain and offers interest to everyone from the determined “Munro bagger” to those, of all ages, with less energy but a desire to learn about the natural environment of this part of Scotland.
The Visitor Centre, close to the village of Kinlochewe, is in an old crofter’s cottage (mind your head!) and it offers a multimedia presentation of the geology, industrial history, plants, and wildlife of the area. The display is designed with children very much in mind, so there are touch-screen quizzes, handles to turn, holes to place a hand in and guess what is being touched, and other interactive ways to gain knowledge, as well as standard displays and printed information.
On a tree outside the back of the cottage, a bird feeder attracts whatever happens to be in the vicinity. However, in order to give you a closer view it is covered by a CCTV camera and…
