Morar

This article is about a village on the west coast of Scotland. For other uses, see Morar (disambiguation).
Morar
Scottish Gaelic: Mòrar

The Sands at Morar
Morar
 Morar shown within the Lochaber area
Population 257 [1]
OS grid referenceNM677929
   – London 532 mi (856 km)  
Council areaHighland
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Mallaig
Postcode district PH40
Dialling code 01687 462
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 56°58′10″N 5°49′18″W / 56.969457°N 5.82157°W / 56.969457; -5.82157

Morar (/ˈmɔərər/; Scottish Gaelic: Mòrar) is a small village on the west coast of Scotland, 3 miles (5 km) south of Mallaig. The name Morar is also applied to the wider district around the village.

Morar has a railway station on the West Highland Line and is on the A830, part of the Road to the Isles, between Fort William and Mallaig. It is famous for Morar Beach, known as the "White Sands of Morar", which featured prominently in the film Local Hero, as well as in Breaking the Waves. Loch Morar, the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, is nearby, as well as the short River Morar which flows from the loch to the sea.

Morar was a favourite winter travel destination of the noted English composer, Sir Arnold Bax (1883–1953), during the 1930s. He worked on his Third Symphony and each subsequent symphony during his visits to the Station Hotel there.

History

The Battle of Morar was a Scottish clan battle fought in 1602, between the Clan MacDonald of Glengarry and the Clan Mackenzie.

Many houses in the area were used as training schools by the Special Operations Executive during World War II.[2] The Land, Sea and Islands Centre[3] in Arisaig has a display on the connection between SOE and the area and has published a book on the subject.[4]

Morar Beach served as a location in the 1983 film Local Hero. It was also used in filming Highlander (1986) as the location for the scene in which Ramirez and Connor race along the beach. In the 1995 movie, Rob Roy Morar was used as the location for one of Rob Roy's homes.[5]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ Archived December 21, 2004, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Commando Country, Stuart Allan, National Museums Scotland 2007, ISBN 978-1-905267-14-9
  3. ↑ "Land, Sea & Islands Centre, Arisaig". Arisaigcentre.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
  4. ↑ Special Operations Executive: Para-Military Training in Scotland during World War 2, David M Harrison, Land Sea and Islands Centre, Arisaig
  5. ↑ http://static.visitscotland.com/pdf/highlands-movie-map.pdf Map of movie locations in Scotland
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