Charlecote Park Franks Forage No 36. Ben Nevis   What has Ben Nevis got to do with Charlecote, you may ask? Well, it has family connections. Read on to discover that connection. Glen Nevis (including the Ben) is in Cameron country and several Cameron families have lived in the area including Cameron of Glenevis, Cameron of Locheil and Camerons of Fassifern and Callart. Other well-known families thereabouts were the Gordons and MacSorlies, a branch of the Cameron Clan. In fact, the Nevis area historically belonged to the MacSorlies. The largest town in the area is Fort William which is part of the Nevis lands. In 1851, Glen Nevis was sold by Cameron of Glenevis to his neighbour, Sir Duncan Cameron, 2nd baronet of Fassifern. He was the grandfather of Christina Campbell who married Henry Spencer Lucy in 1865. The ownership of the land was passed down through the family via Ada (Spencer and Christina’s eldest daughter). Ada married Henry Fairfax (later Sir Henry) and the Nevis lands went to their grandson, Duncan (Ewen’s son and Sir Edmund’s cousin) who sold the Glen in 2000 for £450,000 to the John Muir Trust, a conservation charity, although part of the Ben had been sold to a mining company in the 1920s. A note on Fort William. Originally a wooden fort built by General Monk during the Civil War, it was replaced by a stone structure built by William III and Mary as a stronghold against the Jacobite Rebellion. A small town sprung up adjacent to the fort first called Maryburgh (after Mary) and subsequently Fort William. Buildings were originally wooden but were later replaced by stone buildings including a church, built by the Duke of Gordon, principal landowner, in 1792. At this time, the town was renamed Gordonsburgh. In 1851, the lands were acquired by Sir Duncan Cameron of Fassifern (see above); he renamed the town Duncansburgh but the name was short-lived before reverting to Fort William. However, the church retained the name Duncansburgh Parish Church and in 2007 amalgamated with the second church in the town to be called Duncansburgh Macintosh Church and was greatly enlarged. So, there’s the family connection with Ben Nevis. See also forages 6A, 28 and 35 for information on the Cameron connection. Frank Storr   Frank would welcome comments and any additional information you may have on ‘Frank’s Forages’. Contact him by email on n.splurge@btinternet.com You can also leave comments in the Tuesday Day Leader’s pigeon hole.