Loch Ossian’s remote Highland hostel is celebrating 95 years of welcoming wanderers through its doors – visitors that famously included a succession of wild stags.
Loch Ossian Youth Hostel, on the Corrour Estate in the Scottish Highlands, first opened on 24 May 1931 and remains one of the most unique places to stay in the UK, as it is only accessible by foot, bike or train.
Sitting on the southern shore of Loch Ossian, the hostel is a 20-minute walk from Corrour Station – the UK’s highest mainline railway station, made famous by appearing in the film Trainspotting – and has welcomed many generations of walkers, climbers, anglers and travellers escaping the stresses of modern life.
The hostel is managed by Hostelling Scotland, which oversees 28 sites around the country, ranging from city centre venues to wild retreats. Marking its birthday, the organisation has just released archive images along with recollections from both staff and guests.
Wild deer were first recorded wandering into the Loch Ossian hostel’s common room in the 1960s, after some inquisitive stags learned how to tilt their heads to fit through the doors.
These hostel-visiting deer acquired names – like Windswept, The Chief and Old Fettercairn – and became part of the hostel’s folklore.
These famous stag visits are closely linked to legendary former warden Tom Rigg, who was a well-respected figure among guests during his time at Loch Ossian and was said to have formed an ‘extraordinary’ bond with the deer.
Current hostel manager Jan Robinson has worked at Loch Ossian for more than a decade, and has herself had plenty of friendly encounters with the stags, and in particular one called Damh, which sometimes listened to music with her on quiet evenings.
“People absolutely loved the deer,” said Robinson. “There’s no doubt that being in close proximity to a huge wild stag is pretty impressive and quite surreal really.
“In the old days, the stags used to come right into the hostel. Somehow they learned to tilt their heads to get through the doors and people would just sit there completely amazed by them.”
Recalling Damh – named after the Gaelic word for stag – she added: “There can be absolutely nobody around here for miles in winter and it gets dark around three o’clock, so actually it was really rather nice having a stag around. It felt like company.
“I used to ask him what kind of day he’d had at the office and sometimes I’d open the stable door at night and play him a Van Morrison track. I think he quite liked it.”
Jan continued: “We don’t have stags coming into the hostel anymore and obviously people should always treat wild deer with respect, but wildlife is still a huge part of the experience here.
“We have black-throated divers, ravens and deer around the area, and people feel very connected to nature when they stay here.”
Jan, who is originally from Sheffield and moved to Ossian after living near Ullapool, added: “People are really longing for tranquillity now. They arrive here and suddenly there’s no traffic, no continual notifications on your phone, no feeling that you constantly have to be switched on.
“It’s silent here and at night it’s properly dark. Then people discover what it feels like to slow down a bit, and they want more of it.”
As well as its 95th anniversary, the hostel is celebrating another milestone – ten years since electricity upgrades meant its guests could enjoy a hot shower at the venue for the first time.
