Scotland’s Castle Corridor

By: David C. Weinczok

There is a place on the west coast of Scotland where the driving forces of history are condensed into a single voyage. For the vast majority of human history waterways have served not as barriers but as connectors, linking communities across distances both near and vast. Imagine, for a moment, a Scotland without rail lines, motorways, or airports. Doing so flips our understanding of movement entirely on its head; suddenly, the easiest and safest way to get from one place to another – say, from Inverness to Dumfries or from Kirkwall to Edinburgh – is not by going overland, but by taking to the seas. Places of power were built to control these seaborne superhighways, and cultures rich with lore grew out of their opportunities and perils. Few areas instil this understanding more deeply than the Castle Corridor.  

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