Camusterrach

Camusterrach at Low Tide with the K'ung Fu-tse Moored in the Foreground

If the Applecross Peninsula has a focal settlement it is Camusterrach. Lying nearly two miles south of Applecross village, it is home to the peninsula's school, to its two churches, and, if you cheat a little and include Ard-dubh on the opposite shore of the sea loch it faces, to its most significant harbour.

Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland Interior of the Free Church of Scotland

Camusterrach blends seamlessly into Camusteel, immediately to its north. It comprises a string of largely white harled buildings scattered around a harbour that drains completely at low tide.

The Bow of the K'ung Fu-tse

East Side of the Village from the South

The rubble pier here was built in about 1800, but much of today's fishing activity takes place from the less tidally dependant slipway at Ard-dubh.

At the head of the bay lies the T-shaped Free Church of Scotland, a relatively plain building built in 1895 with an asbestos roof and an attractive interior. Nearby is the Applecross Parish Church, originally built as a Free Church in 1845.

When we last visited the centre of attention was the K'ung Fu-tse (Confucius), moored in the harbour. This is a 46 foot aluminium hulled 3-masted ocean-cruising junk, and far from the sort of vessel usually seen in western Scottish waters. It was built in 1973 for his own use by US naval architect Tom Colvin, and was purchased by Scottish owners and sailed from Florida to Leith in 1990.

In October 1998 she was sold again: we are unclear how she comes to be adding interest to this remote corner of Wester Ross!

Camusterrach from the South