EHG3671 - Watching brief - West Laroch, Lochaber

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Scotia Archaeology in 2011 during the refurbishment of an overhead power line at West Laroch, Ballachulish, Highland. The poles which supported the power line formed a line running south-east to north-west between the back gardens of West Laroch and Croft Road. The replacement of only two of the six poles (poles 2 and 6) needed monitoring, the remainder being simply lifted straight out of the ground and new ones inserted in the same holes with no previously undisturbed materials being affected. The trench for the new pole 2 was dug to the immediate south-east of the original pole and measured 1m south-east/north-west by 0.5m wide and 1.5m deep. Much of the excavated material comprised backfill from the original pole and. Pole 6 was replaced by inserting a new pole into the void left when the old one was removed, this operation requiring no watching brief. However, a new stay was installed some 5m to the north-west of the pole and the excavation for its trench did require to be monitored. The trench for the new stay was located at NN 07778 58208, in a grassy area adjacent to a play park just beyond the north-west end of West Laroch. It measured 1.4m by 0.5m and 1.6m deep and cut through 1m of made-up ground into the natural. Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered in the trenches although both trenches were very small. <1>