Help! Which Shieldaig?

[kathyc]

I've been looking at multimap and mappoint and any other mapping site I can find online in hopes that there really only is one Shieldaig in Ross and Cromarty, but each map keeps showing me two, one just off Loch Torridon and the other slightly north near Gairloch. Not having been to that part of Scotland, I don't know if one is more of a sizeable village than the other and therefore more likely to have been the home of the temperance hotel where my great great grandmother worked around the turn of the last century.

The evidence I have potentially points to either: my g grandmother left home to work at Poolewe, closer to the more northern Shieldaig, but there are ties in the older generation to Torridon, closer to the Shieldaig by Loch Torridon.

Can anyone with knowledge of the area tell me anything about why there are two places with the same name so close together? I'm leaning towards the Loch Torridon location for my family history because of the proximity to Torridon, but would love some idea of whether this is more likely to be what is meant by Shieldaig in the family information I have.

Thanks very much!
Kathy

[sporran]

Hello Kathy,


I have been on holiday a few times to those fabulous parts of Scotland. The Shieldaig by Loch Torridon is the one that automatically springs to mind. However, a search on "Shieldaig Lodge" will give information about a Victorian shooting lodge at the place south of Poolewe. Despite the logical stupidity of the idea, shooting parties and drinking seem to be best friends, but a temperance hotel is still a possibility.

The Shieldaig by Loch Torridon has a house "Temperance Cottage" and a Temperance Brae, so it seems more likely.


Regards,

John

[kathyc]

Hello John,

Thanks so much for your reply. The existence of Temperance Cottage in the Shieldaig near Torridon is encouraging. I had a look at the lodge you mentioned. It does look like there's not much else there compared the the village at Shieldaig. I think I'm going to focus on the one near Torridon for the time being.

Kathy

[Isabel H]

Hello Kathy
Shieldaig near L. Torridon had a temperance hotel which is now a guest house called Rivendell. If you look it up on the web you will see what it looks like nowadays. When I can find it I'll send you an old picture.
Isabel

[kathyc]

Isabel,

Thanks! I'll definitely look it up.

Kathy