This handbook is not an exhaustive study on tourism/visitor trends, populations and socio-economic trends of the area. Our intention is to provide a resource of ideas, methods and possibilities to the development of the Oban to Fort William Cycleway.
We will exploring local communities along the way, examining ideas and landscapes and providing a map of artists and expertise, concepts and designs that will illustrate the “Big Idea” behind the Path.
First Steps
The first scoping trip took place in a stormy February 2008. This trip was made on a bike and using trains fro Newcastle to Fort William and returning From Oban to Newcastle.
Part of the purpose behind the visit was to meet with Scottish Natural Heritage in Fort William to discuss another project I was working on in Glen Roy. During the discussions it became evident that the recently designated Geo Park status given to Glen Roy was an important new element alongside the existing National Nature Reserve.
It was important for a number of reasons:
- It brought Geology to the forefront
- Geology shapes the landscape
- Geology affects communities
- Geology creates communities
- Geology can provide a link
The Fort William area with the nearby super volcano of Glen Coe Provides a rich mix of different landscapes and economies from coal to aluminium. There are small pockets of individual distinctiveness along the short distance including deposits of Garnets. This theme of geology is one of those happy coincidences as even as early as the tender stage I felt that Geology could provide a “signature brand” for the naming of the path.
During that same visit I also met with a local artist and proprietor of the Lime Tree Gallery and restaurant, Dave Wilson. He and I had a long discussion about the artistic possibilities that the path could provide and geology was once again a strong theme.
Dave had worked with a local school, where they had constructed the two pillars wither side of the steps to the entrance to the gallery and restaurant.
These pillars used layers of different stone, including sandstone, quartz, glass and aluminium ingots made in the Fort William Smelter. In the middle of the layers, the children had placed images, drawings, shells etc. In a way they had created a vertical timeline. He, along with the SNH-Fort William people are also keen cyclists and so the notion of a Geo-Path was cemented in my mind.
The Brand - Option 1
In first considering the management plan I felt it was important to look for the “big idea”. This has developed into an interconnected theme of “geology – journeys – stories”. I have felt from the beginning that there was an opportunity to tell a story through poetry.
The brand “Geo-Path – Journeys through time and place” is proposed to tell the tale of landscape – people – history. The idea stems from the designation of the Geo Park in Fort William. This has been extended to bring to life the landscape and how it has shaped the commerce, history and wildlife over the years. So from early history we have the story of the Birlinn or Highland Galley and its role in combating the Vikings. The Birlinn due it having a fixed rudder was able to manoeuvre through the inlets and lochs of the west coast. They basically fought a skirmish war with hidden caches of weapons and food on islands, so they could quickly make base, pick up supplies and then be off again.
So the Geo-Path allows us to create a journey along the coast between Oban and Fort William using the Access Controls and interpretation/seating as mechanisms for this idea.
The access control post (gift posts) is in the shape of the prow of the Galley with slots/holes in to allow visitors to put items of interest into them (cache). Should you like something you find in the gift posts then you can take it as long as you replace it with something you have found yourself. This is coupled with a story gate. This gate is a canvas for telling stories. The idea is to take a workshop to schools and work with the children on creating “story fish”. These fish can then be taken and made into metal plaques for attaching to the gates.
