"example at Aberdeen. Much of the Scottish coastline consists of a machair formation, a dune pasture land formed as sea levels subsided. The east coast has several significant estuaries and other nature reserves including the Ythan Estuary and Fowlsheugh, both of which have been designated as Important Bird Areas. Firths of Scotland include the Solway Firth, Firth of Clyde, and Firth of Lorne on the west coast, and the Cromarty Firth, Moray Firth, Firth of Tay, and Firth of Forth on the east coast. The Pentland Firth is not an inlet, but the strait that separates the Orkney Isles from"
"period Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702. Orkney is separated from the mainland of Scotland by the Pentland Firth, a wide seaway between Brough Ness on the island of South Ronaldsay and Duncansby Head in Caithness. Orkney lies between 58°41′ and 59°24′ North, and 2°22′ and 3°26′ West, measuring from northeast to southwest and from east to west, and covers . Orkney is separated from the Shetland Islands, a group further out, by a body of water called the Fair Isle Channel. The islands are mainly low-lying except for some sharply rising sandstone hills on"
"Glen Orchy Glen Orchy (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Urchaidh) is a glen in Argyll and Bute in Scotland. It runs from Bridge of Orchy to Dalmally. Glen Orchy is about 17 km or 11 miles long, and runs south-west from Bridge of Orchy () to Dalmally () following the River Orchy through the Caledonian Forest. There are no settlements in the glen: just a few isolated buildings. The Eas Urchaidh and Eas a’ Chathaidh are waterfalls within the glen. The continuation westward past Dalmally to Loch Awe is known as the Strath of Orchy. The B8074 road runs the length of"
"Pentland Firth The Pentland Firth (, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth. The name is presumed to be a corruption of the Old Norse ""Petlandsfjörð"", meaning ""the fjord of Pictland"", and is completely unrelated to the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh. Prior to the Norse occupation of Orkney the strait was known as the ""Sea of Orcs"" – a reference to the Pictish tribe who inhabited Orkney. Such was their marine prowess that there are also instances of this name"
"Scottish watershed The Scottish watershed is the drainage divide in Scotland that separates river systems that flow to the east into the North Sea from those that flow to the west and north into the Atlantic Ocean. At a point on the summit of Ben Lomond for example, looking west all water flows to the Firth of Clyde, and looking east all water flows into the Firth of Forth. Similarly Cumbernauld is a point on this line and arguably its Gaelic name has, for hundreds of years, reflected this fact. There is some dispute however about interpretation of the Gaelic"
"was past, and ended up being lost on the shores of Ireland in the following weeks. Fair Isle Channel The Fair Isle Channel, also known as the Fair Isle Gap, is a body of water in northwest Scotland in the North Sea separating the Orkney Islands from the Shetland Islands. It is so named because of the presence of the Fair Isle, one of the Shetland Islands, which is located near its center. The Fair Isle Channel is believed to be one of the bodies of water used by the Spanish Armada in 1588 during its attempt to return to"
"Fair Isle Channel The Fair Isle Channel, also known as the Fair Isle Gap, is a body of water in northwest Scotland in the North Sea separating the Orkney Islands from the Shetland Islands. It is so named because of the presence of the Fair Isle, one of the Shetland Islands, which is located near its center. The Fair Isle Channel is believed to be one of the bodies of water used by the Spanish Armada in 1588 during its attempt to return to Spain following the Battle of Gravelines. Several of the Armada's ships became stragglers once this channel"
"River Sark ""Disambiguation: for other meanings, please see Sark (disambiguation) The River Sark or Sark Water is a river best known for forming part of the western border between Scotland and England. Most of its short length, however, is entirely in Scotland. It flows into the estuary of the River Esk just to the south of Gretna. During the Scottish Wars of Independence, the Scots defeated the English at the Battle of Sark in October 1448. It was a significant victory for the Scots, who had not defeated England since the Battle of Otterburn in 1388. The river has been"
"Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; - 'Lake of the Elms') is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands. Traditionally forming part of the boundary between the counties of Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire, Loch Lomond is split between the council areas of Stirling, Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire. Its southern shores are about northwest of the centre of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. The Loch forms part of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park which was established in 2002. Loch Lomond is long and"
"Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of Great Britain. Orkney is 16 kilometres (10 mi) north of the coast of Caithness and comprises approximately 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, Mainland, is often referred to as ""the Mainland"". It has an area of , making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. The largest settlement and administrative centre is Kirkwall. A form of the name dates to the pre-Roman era and the islands"
"Loch Hourn Loch Hourn () is a sea loch which separates the peninsulae of Kintail to the north and Knoydart to the south, on the west coast of Scotland. Loch Hourn runs inland from the Sound of Sleat, opposite the island of Skye, for 22 km (c. 14 miles) to the head of the loch at Kinloch Hourn. At the entrance, it is 5 km (3 miles) wide, becoming less than 2 km wide for much of its length, with successive narrows in the upper reaches and reducing to a 300-metre-wide basin at the head. Sometimes described as the most"
"Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; , ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of and the width varies from to . It is wide at its narrowest point between Helsingør in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden. Øresund is along with the Great Belt, Little Belt and Kiel Canal one of four waterways that connects the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean via Kattegat, Skagerrak, and the North Sea, and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The"
"and Eurasian otter. Water of Aven The Water of Aven (or A'an) () is a tributary of the Water of Feugh, itself the largest tributary of the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Water of Aven rises at Loch Tennet, where the historic counties of Aberdeenshire, Angus and Kincardineshire meet and flows for approximately 15 km to its confluence with the Feugh near Whitestone. The Water of Aven forms the historic boundary between Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire for its entire length and the lower 4.5 km are designated as part of the River Dee Special Area of Conservation, due to its importance"
"only one in this area. Grows to about 2.9 m with an elongated black shell spotted with white, which tapers to a blunt spike. Migrates to UK waters from the tropics in the summer to feed on jellyfish. There are four other species less frequently encountered in UK waters where they usually occur as stray juveniles carried by currents from warmer seas. Pentland Firth The Pentland Firth (, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth. The name is presumed to"
"Avon Water Avon Water, also known locally as the River Avon, is a river in Scotland, and a tributary of the River Clyde. The Avon Water rises in the hills on the boundary between East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire, close to the head of the Irvine Water. The river flows in a north easterly direction, following the A71 road past Drumclog, and running to the south of Strathaven, where the river enters a more pronounced valley. The Avon flows between the village of Glassford, and Stonehouse to the south, before merging with the smaller Cander Water just south of Larkhall."
"The Minch The Minch (, ', ', '), also called North Minch, is a strait in north-west Scotland, separating the north-west Highlands and the northern Inner Hebrides from Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. It was known as (""Scotland's fjord/firth"") in Old Norse. The Lower Minch (), also known as the Little Minch, is the Minch's southern extension, separating Skye from the lower Outer Hebrides: North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra etc. It opens into the Sea of the Hebrides. The Little Minch is the northern limit of the Sea of the Hebrides. The Minch and Lower Minch form"
"of the dike, lying within part of what had been woodland with a boundary marker nearby (now fallen). This dwelling is not shown on the 1952 OS or at any later date. The Dike runs from NY 3307 7367 to NY 3872 7319 (British national grid reference system) between the rivers Sark and Esk and forms the border between England and Scotland for that length. It is clear from OS maps that since at least 1862 the majority of the length of the Scots' Dike has been afforested. Prior to the First World War (19141918) the section within the Scotsdike"
"Water of Aven The Water of Aven (or A'an) () is a tributary of the Water of Feugh, itself the largest tributary of the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Water of Aven rises at Loch Tennet, where the historic counties of Aberdeenshire, Angus and Kincardineshire meet and flows for approximately 15 km to its confluence with the Feugh near Whitestone. The Water of Aven forms the historic boundary between Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire for its entire length and the lower 4.5 km are designated as part of the River Dee Special Area of Conservation, due to its importance for Atlantic salmon"
"is to the east. The island of Ireland lies only from the south-western peninsula of Kintyre; Norway is to the east and the Faroe Islands, to the north. The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the 1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and the Kingdom of England and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway. Important exceptions include the Isle of Man, which having been lost to England in the 14th century is now a crown dependency outside of the United Kingdom; the island groups Orkney and Shetland, which were acquired from Norway in 1472;"
"Churchill Barriers The Churchill Barriers are a series of four causeways in Orkney, Scotland, with a total length of 1.5 miles (2.4 km). They link the Mainland in the north to South Ronaldsay, via Burray, and the two smaller islands of Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm. The barriers were built in the 1940s primarily as naval defences to protect the anchorage at Scapa Flow, but now serve as road links, carrying the A961 road from Kirkwall to Burwick. The barriers are numbered from north to south. In 2016, Historic Environment Scotland designated barriers 3 and 4 as Category A listed"
"water in Loch Ness is nearly double that of all the lakes of England and Wales combined, and is by volume the largest lake in the British Isles. Scotland's only land border is with England, and runs for between the basin of the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast and the North Sea is to the east. The island of Ireland lies only from the southwestern peninsula of Kintyre; Norway is to the east; the Faroes, to the north; and Iceland, to the northwest. The climate"
"Scots' Dike The Scots' Dike or dyke is a three and a half mile / 5.25 km long linear earthwork, constructed by the English and the Scots in the year 1552 to mark the division of the Debatable lands and thereby settle the exact boundary between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England. The Debatable Lands, also known as ""Debatable ground"", ""Batable ground"", or ""Threpe"" - Scots for something that is argued over - were in the West Marches, bounded on the west by the River Sark, to the east by the River Esk and Liddel Water, on"
"Glen Urquhart Glenurquhart or Glen Urquhart () is a glen running to the west of the village of Drumnadrochit in the Highland council area of Scotland. Glenurquhart runs from Loch Ness at Urquhart Bay in the east to Corrimony and beyond in the west. The River Enrick runs along its length, passing through Loch Meiklie. The villages of Balnain and Balbeg are situated about 5 miles up the glen. Glenurquhart used to be part of the lands of the Grants of Glenmoriston, with the lands of the Frasers to the north for most of its time. The weather is pleasantly"
"the Dryfe Water and the Water of Milk. From the confluence of the White Esk (rising near Ettrick Pen) and the Black Esk (rising near Jocks Shoulder, ) the Esk flows in a gradually south-easterly direction until it crosses the Border, whence it sweeps to the southwest through the extreme north-western territory of Cumberland and falls into the Solway. Of its total course of 42 mi (78 km), 12 mi (20 km) belong to the White Esk, 20 mi (32 km) are of the Esk proper on Scottish soil and 10 mi (16 km) are of the stream in its"
"boat which ran from Arnisdale to other parts of the loch, and provided access to the north shores of Knoydart, ceased business in 2011. Loch Hourn Loch Hourn () is a sea loch which separates the peninsulae of Kintail to the north and Knoydart to the south, on the west coast of Scotland. Loch Hourn runs inland from the Sound of Sleat, opposite the island of Skye, for 22 km (c. 14 miles) to the head of the loch at Kinloch Hourn. At the entrance, it is 5 km (3 miles) wide, becoming less than 2 km wide for much"
"Bridge at Glen Orchy"" was referenced in the film ""Rob Roy"" as the place where Robert Roy MacGregor was to be hanged at the behest of the Duke of Montrose. Glen Orchy Glen Orchy (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Urchaidh) is a glen in Argyll and Bute in Scotland. It runs from Bridge of Orchy to Dalmally. Glen Orchy is about 17 km or 11 miles long, and runs south-west from Bridge of Orchy () to Dalmally () following the River Orchy through the Caledonian Forest. There are no settlements in the glen: just a few isolated buildings. The Eas Urchaidh and"
"the North, it forms the Solway Firth which divides Scotland from England on the Atlantic side of the country. The whole area is gentle and pastoral, undulating and attractive but with bleak, barren and impressive hills on either side. Vale of Eden The Vale of Eden is formed by the course of the River Eden, one of the major rivers of Northwest England. It is however of much greater extent than the actual valley of the river, lying between the Cumbrian Mountains (more usually referred to as the Lake District), and the northern part of the Pennine Range. It lies"
"Burn of Ayreland The Burn of Ayreland (or Ireland) is a northwesterly flowing coastal stream on Mainland Orkney, Scotland, that discharges to the Clestrain Sound about two miles south of Stenness. Draining chiefly agricultural lands elevated mosses and moorland. This stream has a notable lack of turbidity and a pH level of approximately 8. Armouring of the stream bottom consists of pebbles, cobbles and occasional boulders. This burn is located a few miles south of very significant Neolithic and Iron Age archaeological sites. A few miles to the north are the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar."
"was named Avon at the request of the pioneering Deans brothers to commemorate this Scottish Avon, which rises in the Ayrshire hills near what was their grandfathers' farm, Over Auchentiber. Avon Water Avon Water, also known locally as the River Avon, is a river in Scotland, and a tributary of the River Clyde. The Avon Water rises in the hills on the boundary between East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire, close to the head of the Irvine Water. The river flows in a north easterly direction, following the A71 road past Drumclog, and running to the south of Strathaven, where the"
"from Mull of Kintyre on the Scottish mainland. Norway is located to the northeast of Scotland across the North Sea. The Atlantic Ocean, which fringes the coastline of western and northern Scotland and its islands, influences the temperate, maritime climate of the country. Scotland contains the majority of mountainous terrain in the UK. The topography of Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Faulta geological rock fracturewhich traverses the Scottish mainland from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. The faultline separates two distinctively different physiographic regions; namely the Highlands to the north and west and the Lowlands to the south and east. The"
"Point of Ayre (Orkney) Point of Ayre ( ) is a headland in the parish of Deerness, on the Eastern side of Orkney Mainland, off the northern coast of mainland Scotland. Overlooking the Copinsay Pass, it lies 4 miles (6 km) south of Mull Head, and around 10 miles from Kirkwall, the main town on the island. At Point of Ayre is a seven-metre thick basalt lava flow. At its top surface are relict gas bubble holes now filled with carbonate. Lower down, the lava has weathered in an ""onion-skin"" or spheroidal pattern, which is an unusual feature in Orkney."
"Point of Ayre (Orkney) Point of Ayre ( ) is a headland in the parish of Deerness, on the Eastern side of Orkney Mainland, off the northern coast of mainland Scotland. Overlooking the Copinsay Pass, it lies 4 miles (6 km) south of Mull Head, and around 10 miles from Kirkwall, the main town on the island. At Point of Ayre is a seven-metre thick basalt lava flow. At its top surface are relict gas bubble holes now filled with carbonate. Lower down, the lava has weathered in an ""onion-skin"" or spheroidal pattern, which is an unusual feature in Orkney."
"River Oykel The River Oykel ( or , ) is a major river in northern Scotland that is famous for its salmon fishing. It rises on Ben More Assynt, a few miles from Ullapool on the west coast of Scotland, and drains into the North Sea via the Kyle of Sutherland. Traditionally it has marked the boundary between Ross to the south and Sutherland to the north. The river rises at a height of 1500 feet on the southern side of Ben More Assynt, and flows just over 35 miles. The upper valley is known as Glen Oykel (""Gleann Oiceall"")"