Loch Kishorn

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Looking along Loch Kishorn from near Sanachan

Loch Kishorn (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Ciseorn) is a sea loch in the north-west Highlands of Scotland, separating the Applecross pensinula from the Lochcarron area. It is about 1.5 km wide, and 4 km long. There are a cluster of small islands at the mouth of the loch, the largest of which is Kishorn Island.

There are three small settlements strung along the southern side of the loch. It is common to refer to the three collectively as Kishorn.

Sanachan lies a little inland at the head of the loch. It contains a small shop/post office and a Scottish Episcopal chapel. The A896 road passes through Sanachan, and a minor road leads off to the other settlements. Ardarroch lies on the lochside, next to small shingly beach. The final settlement, Achintraid, lies further down the loch. It consists of a line of whitewashed cottages, originally built to house crofters evicted in the Highland Clearances. Achintraid is noted for spectacular views of the Applecross peninsula, with the Corbetts of Sgurr a'Chaorachain and Beinn Bhàn and the pass of the Bealach na Ba being particularly prominent.

South of Kishorn are two small Marilyns: An Sgurr and Bad a'Chreamha.

[edit] Kishorn Yard

View from Achintraid across Loch Kichorn. The Kishorn Yard was located on the far side of the loch

The Kishorn Yard was a fabrication yard for oil platforms at Loch Kishorn. The yard was owned by Howard Doris and was operating from 1975 to 1987. In 1975 work began on the construction yard and dock for the production of oil platforms on the north side of the loch. This lay at the end of a two mile stretch of road built to provide access in just 12 days, and by 1977 over 3,000 people were working here, housed in temporary accommodation on site and in two retired liners moored in the loch: the Rangatira and the Odysseus. The largest project involved the excavation of a huge dry dock, in which was constructed the 600,000 tonne Ninian Central Platform in 1978. Material was supplied by sea and when complete the platform needed seven tugs to tow it to its operating position in the North Sea. The Ninian Central Platform still holds the record as the largest movable object ever created by man. Loch Kishorn is very deep, technically being a fjord, and the yard was therefore well suited to build the concrete Ninian Central Platform.

The Ninian storage platform nearing completion.

Mindful of the controversy surrounding an earlier proposal to develop a yard at Drumbuie, a condition of the planning permission was that the site had to be treated as an island: a self contained village for 2,000 workers was created, and all deliveries would arrive by sea, rather than by road. A depot for transferring deliveries from rail to sea was built at Stromeferry, on the Kyle of Lochalsh Line. These conditions, though slightly relaxed by the end of the yard's life, had the intended effect of not altering the surrounding area much, though some might have liked it if money had instead been spent on improving the poor, usually single track, roads in the area.

By 1980 the construction yard was diversifying in an effort to escape a downturn in oil exploration and production, but its days were numbered. Two thousand people were still employed in 1984, but bankruptcy in 1986 was followed by closure in 1987 and clearance of most of the buildings on the site.

In 1992 the dry dock was put to use in the construction of the 2,300T bridge footings for the Kyle of Lochalsh to the Isle of Skye bridge.

One lasting impact is the Howard Doris Trust. Amongst other things, it has provided a lot of funding for the Howard Doris Centre in nearby Lochcarron, which provides care for the elderly.