Scottish anchorages

It takes some persistence - which I have never achieved - to sail right up to the head of Loch Leven to find yourself at Kinlochleven, hardly the most attractive village on the West Coast although the mountains around about are stunning. Also it is a bit of a walk from the anchorage to the village itself so all in all apart from scenery, and saying you have done it, there seems not much point in sailing all that way.

The village was built in the early 20th century to house the workers at the hydro-powered aluminium smelter for the alumina which was brought in by sea. The smelter closed in 2000 and the site is now derelict. If you want to discover more then check out the Aluminium Story which has a small but informative display. This whole place rather reminds me of Sheffield, on a smaller scale of course: industry arrives in a beautiful part of the country, a population grows up to service it, industry leaves, and the dwindling population then struggles to reinvent itself, here at the very time the village had been bypassed by the building of the road bridge over the entrance to Loch Leven in 1975. This reinvention has taken the form of an outdoor pursuits centre with one very remarkable feature - the world's biggest indoor ice climbing wall. But the rest can be missed - the not very exciting pub, the boarded up shops, dull domestic architecture and locked churches.

The Ice Factor may look closed up and a bit down at heel in one of the old aluminium plant buildings, but inside you will find not just the 15 metre ice wall (good video on their website) but an ordinary climbing wall too, a bouldering wall, a cafe and a bar. A rather good place for a wet day where you can get climbing instruction too. Outside there is an enormous aerial adventure structure which I have not seen in action.