Tyndrum

Distinguish from Tin drum (disambiguation).
Tyndrum
Scottish Gaelic: Taigh an Droma[1]

The main road through Tyndrum
Tyndrum
 Tyndrum shown within the Stirling council area
Population 167
OS grid referenceNN330303
Civil parishKillin
Council areaStirling
Lieutenancy areaStirling and Falkirk
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Crianlarich
Postcode district FK20
Dialling code 01838
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentStirling
Scottish ParliamentStirling
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 56°26′07″N 4°42′36″W / 56.43524°N 4.71009°W / 56.43524; -4.71009

Tyndrum (i/taɪnˈdrʌm/;[2] Scottish Gaelic: Taigh an Droma) is a small village in Scotland. Its Gaelic name translates as "the house on the ridge". It lies in Strathfillan, at the southern edge of Rannoch Moor.

The village is notable mainly for being at a junction of transport routes. The West Highland Line railway from Glasgow splits approximately 5 miles (8 km) to the south at Crianlarich, with one branch heading to Fort William and the other to Oban. Tyndrum has a station on each: Upper Tyndrum on the Fort William line and Tyndrum Lower on the Oban line. Thus unusually there are two stations serving the same small village, only a few hundred yards apart, but about 10 miles (16 km) apart by rail. Indeed, Tyndrum is the smallest settlement in the UK with more than one railway station. This is partly a legacy of the history of the railways in the area, after two separate railways belonging to different railway companies were built through the village. However, the main reason is geography: splitting the line in Crianlarich allows the contours of the glen to be used to avoid very steep climbs heading north or west from Tyndrum. Roads mirror this division: the A82 from Glasgow to Fort William passes through Tyndrum, and the A85 to Oban splits off just north of the village.

Tyndrum is a popular tourist village. It is on the West Highland Way, and has a campsite, hotel, bunkhouse and bed and breakfasts to accommodate walkers.

Overshadowed by Ben Lui, a Munro, Tyndrum is built over the battlefield where Clan MacDougall defeated Robert the Bruce in AD 1306, and took from him the Brooch of Lorn.

Tyndrum is also a former mining centre. The hamlet of Clifton (the row of cottages across the A82 from the Green Welly) is made up of the former mining cottages, and up the hillside beyond them the tailings of a former lead mine can be seen.

The site of a proposed gold mine is 2 miles (3 km) to the south and west of Tyndrum at Cononish, above Cononish Farm. Work on constructing the mine began in the 1980s but low gold prices forced the closure of the mine before it became fully operational.[3][4] In October 2011 it was announced that the mine would be reactivated. It was expected to employ 52 people and produce 154,000 troy ounces (4,800 kg) of gold and 589,000 ozt (18,300 kg) of silver over the next 10 years, thereby generating an estimated £80 million for the Scottish economy.[4] Following planning difficulties, which featured in the BBC Four programme Tales from the National Parks, and a fall in the price of gold, opening of the mine was again delayed.[5][6] In an update on the project released by Scotgold in May 2015, total ore reserves are now estimated at 198,000 ozt (6,200 kg) of gold and 851,000 ozt (26,500 kg) of silver.[7] Work is continuing to update capital and operating cost estimates and include opportunities for savings. This is expected to be complete by the end of July 2015.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland
  2. ↑ "Tyndrum Community woodland". walkhighlands. walkhighlands. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  3. ↑ Kelbie, Paul (2008-06-29). "UK's last gold mine set to reopen : Soaring price of precious metals makes drilling viable after a decade of idleness". UK Guardian. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Bruce, Russell (October 25, 2011). "Scotland gets its first commercial gold mine". Newsnetscotland.com. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Tales from the National Parks - Loch Lomond and the Trossachs". BBC. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  6. ↑ "Falling gold prices delay plans to reopen Cononish mine". BBC News Online. 2013-04-30. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  7. 1 2 "Cononish Gold Project Study Update" (pdf). Scotgold. 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
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