Banavie
Encyclopedia
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
of Scotland. One of the closest villages to Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William....
, it is about 4 km north east of Fort William town centre, next to Caol
Caol
Caol is a village near Fort William, in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is about 2.5 km north of Fort William town centre, on the shore of Loch Linnhe, and within the parish of Kilmallie....
and Corpach
Corpach
Corpach is a large village north of Fort William, in the Scottish Highlands. The canal lock at Corpach Basin on Loch Linnhe, east of the narrows leading to Loch Eil, is the western sea entrance of the Caledonian Canal...
.
It has been suggested that Banavie is one of the possible birth places of Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
. One theory is that Patrick was the son of a Roman tax collector and born at Banavie around AD 389. His family had come with the Romans who had invaded the West Highlands and Islands. The 19th century work 'History of Celtic Placenames' by William J. Watson
William J. Watson
Professor William J. Watson was a toponymist, one of the greatest Scottish scholars of the 20th century, and was the first scholar to place the study of Scottish place names on a firm linguistic basis....
notes: "St Patrick was born at Banna-venta, an early town south of the Grampians." A similar placename, Bannavem Taburniae, is mentioned in one of the only two known authenticated letters by St Patrick.
It was formerly where the Camanachd Association
Camanachd Association
The Camanachd Association is the World governing body of the Scottish sport of shinty. The body is based in Inverness, Highland, and is in charge of the rules of the game...
, the ruling body of shinty
Shinty
Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...
was based, but this has now been moved to Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
.
Banavie railway station
Banavie railway station
Banavie railway station is a railway station on the West Highland Line serving the village of Banavie, although it is much closer to Caol. To continue on to the next station at , trains must pass over the Caledonian Canal at Neptune's Staircase, a popular tourist attraction.- History :Banavie...
is on the highly scenic West Highland Line
West Highland Line
The West Highland Line is considered the most scenic railway line in Britain, linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban on the west coast of Scotland to Glasgow. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of independent travel magazine Wanderlust in 2009, ahead of the iconic...
. The signalling centre at the station uses radio communications to control train movements on the West Highland Line
West Highland Line
The West Highland Line is considered the most scenic railway line in Britain, linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban on the west coast of Scotland to Glasgow. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of independent travel magazine Wanderlust in 2009, ahead of the iconic...
. It covers a big area from Fort Wiiliam to Mallaig and from Fort William to Helensburgh including the branch line to Oban.
The Caledonian Canal
Caledonian Canal
The Caledonian Canal is a canal in Scotland that connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. It was constructed in the early nineteenth century by engineer Thomas Telford, and is a sister canal of the Göta Canal in Sweden, also constructed by...
passes through Banavie, before ascending Neptune's Staircase
Neptune's Staircase
Neptune's Staircase is a staircase lock comprising eight locks on the Caledonian Canal. It is the longest staircase lock in the United Kingdom, and lifts boats 64 feet...
, the longest staircase lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The canal is crossed by two swing bridges, one carrying the railway and the other the A835 road
A835 road
The A835 is a road in the Scottish Highlands linking Inverness to Ullapool and the Far North of Scotland.The A835 starts at Tore on the Black Isle, seven miles north-west of Inverness at a junction with the A9. The A835 crosses the Black Isle to Conon Bridge, where the A832 crosses, linking Muir of...
.
The village has a number of bed and breakfast, guesthouses, self-catering and hotels.
The scenery around Banavie is exceptional with Ben Nevis dominant in the skyline. The Caledonian Canal passes through the village at Neptune's Staircase, which is a set of lock gates that raise vessels into Banavie upper canal area which has a long pontoon for visiting boats and yachts.
The Great Glen Way
Great Glen Way
The Great Glen Way is a long distance footpath in Scotland. It follows the Great Glen, running from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east, covering 73 miles . It was opened in 2002 and is one of Scotland's four long distance routes. The Great Glen Way is generally walked from west to...
long distance path also passes through the village, mostly following the canal tow-path to Gairlochy
Gairlochy
Gairlochy is a clachan, or hamlet, of population approx. 100. It lies on the southern shores of Loch Lochy, a large freshwater loch in the district of Lochaber in the North West Highlands of Scotland. Gairlochy is surrounded by several other small crofting settlements, the largest of which is...
.