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Issue 28 - Drumochter

History & Heritage

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Scotland Magazine Issue 28

Scotland Magazine Issue 28
September 2006

 

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Drumochter

This issue, Andy Hall photographs the favourite place of Alastair Mackenzie, star of BBC television series Monarch of the Glen

Drumochter (Issue 28)
Most people recognise Drumochter as a high point on the A9 from Inverness to Perth, but to actor Alastair Mackenzie of Monarch of the Glen, it is much more significant than a signpost on one of Scotland’s most beautiful roads.

In A Sense of Belonging to Scotland: Further Journeys, Alastair describes the “Swollen burns rushing down the hills and well-trodden paths forging deep into the wilderness.” When he asked me to take a shot for him, Alastair explained that he was born 10 miles south of Drumochter. Monarch of the Glen, for which he gained worldwide acclaim as Archie, was filmed 20 miles to the north. He asked me to take a shot in autumn, if possible.

When I set off from my home town of Stonehaven it was a lovely sunny morning but as I made my way across the wonderful A924 from Blairgowrie through Kirkmichael to Pitlochry. It is one of my favourite roads in the whole of Scotland, but the clouds gathering in the west filled me with a mixture of anticipation and concern that the incoming storm would win the race to the summit. The most atmospheric pictures are when bad weather is changing to good or vice-versa.

Luckily, I made it to Drumochter just as the rain was about to engulf the glen that Alastair has described so evocatively in the book. Having already done a preparatory walk some months earlier, I knew the place from which I wanted to take the shot.

As is often the case, there is a short period of increased luminescent light before heavy rain.

Thirty seconds after this shot was taken I was soaked to the skin as I scurried back to the car!

Alastair’s description captures the essence of this location. In his conclusion he says: “My heart is in this place. And it changes every time I see it. A shift in the light taking it from beautiful to foreboding in an instant. This is Scotland. And I love it.” As a landscape photographer the key element for me in a successful picture is the quality and direction of the light. At this time of year and at this time of day, Drumochter has it in abundance. Alongside and enhanced by Alastair’s sensitive description, this image is one of the most pleasing in both volumes of A Sense of Belonging to Scotland.

www.andyhall.com