Tour Scotland Video Autumn Drive Schiehallion Road Scottish Highlands

Tour Scotland Autumn video of a road trip drive on Schiehallion road, a winding single track road that connects Aberfeldy to Kinloch Rannoch in Highland Perthshire, Scotland. The name Schiehallion is an anglicised form of the Gaelic name Sìdh Chailleann, which translates as Fairy Hill of the Caledonians. It is also known to some as The Maiden's Pap, or Constant Storm. Schiehallion lies between Loch Tay and Loch Tummel, 10 miles north of Aberfeldy. Schiehallion's isolated position and regular shape led it to be selected by Charles Mason for a ground breaking experiment to estimate the mass of the Earth in 1774. The deflection of a pendulum by the mass of the mountain provided an estimate of the mean density of the Earth, from which its mass and a value for Newton's Gravitational constant G could be deduced. Mason turned down a commission to carry out the work and it was instead coordinated by Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne. He was assisted in the task by mathematician Charles Hutton, who devised a graphical system to represent large volumes of surveyed heights, later known as contour lines.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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