Following the death of the Rev A E Robertson in 1958 there was a desire to remember this legendary man with a suitable memorial.
Tom Weir held a fundraising lecture in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh and raised £200 and it was decided to build a bridge in Kintail across the River Elchaig on the way to the Falls of Glomach (Scottish Hill Track 275).
The bridge was opened on Easter Sunday 1960 when, in the presence of A E Roberston’s widow Mrs Winifred Robertson, The Rev Archibald W. Ross dedicated the new bridge at a ceremony arranged by the National Trust for Scotland and ScotWays.
The Press Release Read: #
12 April 1960
REV. A. E. ROBERTSON MEMORIAL BRIDGE
GLEN ELCHAIG, KINTAIL
Archibald Eaneas Robertson, B.D., died at Edinburgh in June 1958. Formerly Minister of the parish of the Braes of Rannoch, he had been retired for some years. Since 1946 he had been President of the Scottish Rights of Way Society, and he was also a past-president of the Scottish Mountaineering Club. He had an unrivalled knowledge of the Highlands and was the first man to climb all the ‘Munros’ (i.e. peaks over 3,000 feet) in Scotland. No-one had a better knowledge of the old cross-country routes in the Highlands and of their history, and his booklet “Old Tracks, Cross-Country Routes and ‘Coffin Roads’ in the North-West Highlands” ran into six editions. Kintail was perhaps his happiest hunting ground and it is therefore appropriate that the Memorial to his life and achievements should be situated there. It was the suggestion of his widow, Mrs Winifred Robertson, herself a keen climber and walker and his companion on many mountain excursions, that the memorial should take the form of a footbridge over the River Elchaig in Kintail. The bridge has been erected by the Scottish Rights of Way Society with funds largely raised by public subscription, and provision has been made for its future maintenance by a handsome donation from Mrs Robertson [Ed. £200 in 1959]. The bridge was designed by Mr A.D. McKillop, Architect, Inverness, and constructed by Messrs Donald McKerlich & Son, Kyle of Lochalsh. Permission for the erection of the bridge was kindly given by Mrs Douglas, of Killilan, and by The National Trust for Scotland.
The track leading from Glen Elchaig to the Falls of Glomach crosses two rivers, the Elchaig and the Glomach, and when these waters are in spate, both crossings can be somewhat hazardous. There are stepping stones across the Elchaig about 200 yards upstream from the new footbridge but these are frequently submerged. To the south-east of the new bridge, The National Trust for Scotland have cooperated with the Scottish Rights of Way Society by constructing a footbridge over the Glomach. The bridge abutments are on lands presented to the Trust in 1943 by Mrs E.G. Douglas of Killilan, and by the Hon. Gerald Portman on the north and south sides of the river respectively.
The completion of the two bridges will enable members of the public to visit the Falls of Giomach with considerably less discomfort and difficulty than previously. The Falls, which are owned by the Trust, are probably the most impressive in Britain – they are higher than the Niagara Falls – and it is expected that full advantage will now be taken of the improved facilities for visiting them.
The new footbridge over the Elchaig will be dedicated as a Memorial to Mr Robertson at a brief ceremony on the site at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday, 16th April, 1960 (Easter Saturday). The bridge will be dedicated by the Reverend Archibald. Ross, B.D. formerly Parish Minister of Glenlivet and an old friend of the late Mr Robertson.
Immediately after the opening of the Elchaig Bridge, the Trust’s bridge over the Glomach will be formally opened by George Russell, Esq., 0.B.E., W.S., representing his father, A.W. Russell, Esq, 0.B.E. Mr Russell senior who is unable to be present himself, is a founder member of the National Trust for Scotland and was its Secretary during the war years.
National Trust for Scotland press release
Tragedy Strikes. #
In 1979 the National Trust for Scotland wrote to ScotWays requesting £300 to repair the handrails on the approach to the bridge. The previous year an employee of Killilan estate was swept away and drowned trying to reach the bridges in the spring of 1978. ScotWays agreed and also passed over all the remaining funds for the maintenance of the bridge.
Today, the original bridge has been replaced and the main, and shorter, access to the Falls of Glomach is from Morvich.