Ardelve ( gd, Àird Eilbh) is a village in

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

, Scotland, on Loch Alsh. It overlooks the

Eilean Donan Castle Eilean Donan ( gd, Eilean Donnain) is a small tidal island situated at the confluence of three sea lochs (Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh) in the western Highlands of Scotland, about from the village of Dornie. It is connected to the mainl ...

, which is in Dornie, also on Loch Alsh, to the east of Skye. A caravan park, several guest houses, a bakery, and pizzeria are located within Ardelve. Willie McRae (18 May 1923 – 7 April 1985) was a Scottish lawyer, orator, naval officer,

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and

anti-nuclear The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...

campaigner. His ancestors lived here and he used the family croft as a holiday home. He died in suspicious circumstances while en route here.

Geography

The road from

Invergarry Invergarry ( gd, Inbhir Garadh) is a village in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Great Glen, near where the River Garry flows into Loch Oich Loch Oich (; gd, Loch Omhaich) is a freshwater loch in the Highlands of Scotland which forms p ...

Invermoriston Invermoriston (''Inbhir Mhoireastain'' in Gaelic) () is a small village north of Fort Augustus, Highland, Scotland. The village is on the A82 road, at a junction with the A887. The village's most visited attraction is the Thomas Telford bri ...

, today the

A87 road A87 or A-87 may refer to: * A87 autoroute, a motorway in western France * A87 road, a road in Highland, Scotland * Dutch Defence, in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, first cited in 1789 * Stuart Highway, a South Australian highway signed as A87 ...

, passes through the village and once terminated at the ferry station (today the road crosses the water by a bridge). It connects the village to Auchtertyre in the west. In 1882 it had a post office and a school. The village is divided into Upper and Lower Ardelve. Important landmarks on the road to Ardelve are the Loch Cluanie, the Seven Sisters of Kintail, the Kintail Lodge Hotel and Loch Duich and Balmacara Gardens of the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland ( gd, Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba), is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organi ...

(4 miles to the west of the village). A forest area with historic linkage to Bonnie Prince Charlie's hiding in 1746, is the Glen Shiel with Glen Affric Forest to the north of the village.

Avifauna

During bird sighting tours to the Loch Alsh and the surrounding areas,

sparrowhawk Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus ''Accipiter''. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to ''Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it f ...

, whimbrel,

house martin ''Delichon'' is a small genus of passerine birds that belongs to the swallow family and contains four species called house martins. These are chunky, bull-headed and short-tailed birds, blackish-blue above with a contrasting white rump, and w ...

sedge warbler The sedge warbler (''Acrocephalus schoenobaenus'') is an Old World warbler in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. It is a medium-sized warbler with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. Sedge warblers are migratory, crossing ...

and grebes have been sighted at Ardelve. Grebes were also sighted at Ardelve Point. Little grebes have also been seen all along the coast from Ardelve to Balmacara Bay. It is also inferred that little grebes seen at Ardelve in July or August could be migrants from the continent or

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

Governance

Ardelve is in the Ross, Skye and Lochaber UK Parliament constituency and the Ross, Skye and Inverness West Scottish Parliament constituency. It is in the Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of the

council area, represented by four councillors.

Attractions

The attractions in the precincts of Ardelve are the Ardelve Point that offers scenic views across to

, about 400 metres off the point, Local Church and the bridge across the Loch.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Lochalsh