Butterbridge

Todays post was taken a couple of days ago.  Due to the weather being nice for a change we had a trip up north.  This picture is of Butterbridge, part of an old military road in Glen Kinglas.  This  road was built by English Redcoats not long after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 and was part of the route from Dumbarton to Inverary.  This bridge across the Kinglas Water was completed around the same time.  Every summer, cattle and goats were brought here to graze on high summer pasture or ‘airigh’.  While most of the men remained below on the crofts, women and children spent their time herding the cattle and making butter and cheese.  They stayed on the sheiling in small groups of stone huts.  The tradition died out in the late 18th century but it is remembered in names such as Beinn Ime (gaelic for ‘butter mountain’), which towers over the Glen, and in Butterbridge itself.

This shot was an ideal opportunity to use my new HiTech 10 stop ND filter.  This filter has loads of problems with casts and flare and results can be a bit hit and miss.  When it does work,  the images can be great with blurred water and moving clouds in the sky.  This view is of the bridge itself with Beinn Ime behind.

This next shot is taken from the other side of the water.  I decided to convert this one to mono to really emphasise the cloud formation and the silky water.