After a couple of weeks listening to both sides of the argument, I’m beginning to form a clearer picture of what’s going on with Station Cottage, Altnabreac, which I’ve broken down into my ten key "arguments" which I hope will help you see the wood for the trees if you're new to this story.
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Can we see the wood for the trees?
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My ten key arguments are
1 The story of the missing inheritance
2 Station Cottage purchase apparent irregularities
3 Network Rail access dispute
4 Network Rail apparent land grab
5 Land Registry Scotland irregularities
6 Solum ownership inheritance and extent
7 Criminal case concerning the level crossing
8 Logging facility planning permission at Altnabreac station
9 Request stop infrastructure planning permission at Altnabreac station
10 the role of British Transport Police
Ten is a nice round number, you might have twelve or sweat it down to six but we’ll live with ten. As I’ve said before where you stand on all of this depends on how you view the conspiracy theory versus cock up paradigm and, quite frankly, how much skin you have in the game.
Not covered in my 10 key points is an underlying anti outsider, let’s face it anti English, sentiment in Scotland; while I may not be old enough to remember Bannockburn I do remember Wembley 1967 and so can imagine that the action of the owners of Station Cottage has triggered certain xenophobic sentiments amongst the locals. But as a townie who introduced himself to a rural way of life myself, I do appreciate the need for trying to accept what you find around you and merge in.
The Missing Inheritance
Although argument number 1 is probably key to all that followed I’m going to stick to my belief that family arguments are best sorted out in family and leave it at that; you don’t want it to end up like Jarndyce vs Jarndyce.
Station Cottage Purchase Irregularities
Station Cottage was purchased by the current owner in June 2021 for £162,000. There is the suggestion of it being a cash on the table transaction but it all looks pretty square on Scotland Land Registry. If we assume solicitors were involved then we have to assume their searches might not have spotted the planning application for the logging facility (21/04300/FUL) which was approved later that year but would have noted the presence of the public right of way to the platform. I would expect the solicitor to have pointed out to any potential purchaser the significance of the pink and blue shading on the deeds and the burdens placed on the title by the British Railways Board (and their successors) when they sold the cottage back in 1969.
There is also a suggestion that the previous owners of Station Cottage were receiving an income, basically to allow access for Network Rail keep the station running. If this was the case, and it played a significant part in the decision to purchase Station Cottage, you would expect evidence to have been requested and provided in the form of previous payment statements.
Obviously only a select few people know exactly how the negotiations to purchase station cottage played out. The original raison d'être for the Altnabreac Cover Up channel was to highlight an apparent illegal scrap yard business being run nearby so clearly things didn’t get off to the best of starts.
Access Dispute
In 2023 Network Rail were under instruction to fit a strip of tactile paving along the platform edge at Altnabreac to comply with safety standards across Scotland. To undertake the work required vehicular access to the platform which Network Rail believed was available to them via the Deer Grid at the South of Station Cottage’s title but which the new owners of Station Cottage denied.
The result of this dispute was that the station was temporarily closed to passengers in November 2023. While the station was closed a second access path was constructed on land to East of the station and a Civil Case begun to seek clarity on ownership and access rights. The work to install the tactile pavers was undertaken from the track using overnight working and sufficient progress was made to enable Scot Rail to reopen the station on 6th April 2025, Altnabreac Day.
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Monarch of the Glen reimagined
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Apparent Land Grab by Network Rail
Let's be honest, the representation of title around Altnabreac station is pretty clear on Scottish Land Registry at the moment. Station Cottage is covered by CTH7726, The Old School House is unregistered on the new system, as is the railway track, the platform and the triangle of land to the East of Station Cottage. On paper the remainder falls under CTH5589 and other less involved parties.
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Station Cottage title according to Land Registry Scotland in March 2025
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Lets just mention the pink and blue shading on CTH7726. Both are mentioned in the CTH7726 under Burden 2 and which provides certain key information. It tells us the area shaded pink and blue extends to 0.34 acres, that the area shaded pink has to be kept adequately fenced and gated (to the satisfaction of the British Railways Board and their successors) and that the blue area provides access for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. This is obviously no way near the deer grid.
The green lines and green number 4 on the diagram show Station Cottage as it was split off from CTH5589 along with two other areas of land to create CTH7265. Station cottage was further split off from CTH7265 to form CTH7726. Whether or not it was a deliberate act to expand Station Cottage outside the pink shaded area or whether a draughtsman simply made a mistake extending the line from behind The Old School House we do not know. The end result is that it is bigger than the 0.34 acres disponed by the British Railways Board in 1969 and the blue strip has become effectively land locked as it cannot be reached without crossing CTH5589 and CTH7726 land.
I have mentioned before that Scottish Land Registry claims to have multiple changes being applied to this section of the map. So what might change?
Well lets take a look at this plan from the Network Rail Request to Stop Planning Application for Altnabreac. The plan does carry a warning that it is not suitable for legally binding documents, but you have to believe it isn't a million miles out from what the believe the legal position to be.
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Altnabreac and Station Cottage on the RtS Planning Application
Various copyrights as explained on Plan |
What we see is the West boundary for station cottage is pushed back to the 1969 position, and the East boundary is pushed hard up against the Station Cottage buildings such that the deer grid and the access track is well outside the CTH7726 boundary. Furthermore the land to the West of Station Cottage is shown as under Company Ownership whereas Scottish Land Registry shows it as part of CTH5589.
Clearly both these plans can't be correct and this is presumably the knot that the Sheriff is trying to unpick.
Land Registry Scotland Irregularities
If both sets of information can’t be correct then we have to consider the other option that the Land Registry information is incorrect. How might this have come about?
I going to start by saying that I don’t believe that the boundary to the West of Station Cottage can be wrong. That came about as a result of the division of CTH5589 and is not subject to any third party claim. I believe this explains how Station Cottage grew from 0.34 acres to ~0.4 acres today (an increase of roughly 500 square yards or two tennis courts) and while the reason for setting the west boundary where it is remains unclear I am prepared to accept it is where it is.
But what of the Eastern Boundary? Is this the nice straight line drawn on the Land Registry plan or is it the more complex shape drawn on the Network Rail Planning Applications and represented on the Altnabreac Station information boards (which appeared to show taxis waiting to pick up passengers just outside Station Cottage).
The answer must surely lie in the “cadastral map” referenced by the British Railways Board in 1969 when they sold off the cottage. By definition you would expect the map to show the exact boundary. Then again you might find this map covers a relatively large area at small-scale such that the exact shape of the boundary could not be accurately represented.
Whether or not the 1969 cadastral map forms part of the deeds pack in the possession of the owners of Station Cottage waits to be seen. It is clearly an important piece of evidence.
From Land Registry Scotland’s point of view why would they represent the boundary as a straight line when in fact it was a more complex shape? I imagine when it comes to registering a new title plan it involves looking at what you’re given and comparing it with what you’ve got already. If there are no conflicts and no complaints from neighbouring titles then in The Keepers eyes the job’s a ‘good un’ and a misrepresentation of the exact boundary is recorded.
This irregularity will only come to light when the neighbouring plot of land comes to be registered, which we know is going on at present. Network Rail are lifting their title from the Register of Sasines and entering them onto Scotland Land Register.
But I’m assuming this will be straight forward enough for a reasonably competent surveyor. We know the original size of Station Cottage was set by the pink area on the cadastral map and was 0.34 acres. Find the old boundary on the West, and then survey to find out whether the East boundary needs to go to the hedge or the edge of the car park to give you 0.34 acres. Once the Eastern boundary is established measure back from there to ensure you have 0.43 acres to the revised West boundary as shown on CTH7726.
This is all more for the Sheriff to unpick.
Solum Rights Ownership inheritance and extent
Whatever you feel about the Land Registry disputes outlined in the previous two arguments, they will be relatively straightforward to resolve compared with the question of who owns the Solum Rights in the area and have they been passed down to the present owners of Station Cottage. I have written a separate blog on Solum, and why I think this claim will ultimately fail, and there is nothing more to say until we finally see the full extent of their claim.
Criminal case concerning the level crossing
Going on at the same time as the civil case to resolve the boundary dispute there is also an ongoing criminal case which you can read about in the local press (Article from the Northern Times).
Logging facility planning permission at Altnabreac station
Planning permission 21/04300/FUL allows for the construction of a loading area to facilitate the loading and haulage of timber to Inverness by rail on a site 90m south west of Station Cottage. The planning application describes Station Cottage as "well screened" from the site but it would appear the residents of Station Cottage were not consulted directly on the development. Apparently even Network Rail had to put in an initial objection as they weren't consulted on the plan as near neighbours (the application recognises that the site boundary containing a 3m strip of railway operational land that is in Network Rail's ownership).
The plan was advertised in the John O'Groats Journal. Although the plan states it will need to operate within normal environmental limits (noise nuisance etc) I would judge it to have the potential for a significant disturbance to the normal peaceful environment at Altnabreac.
The plan appears to have been approved with minimum fuss back in 2021 presumably because it was seen as being consistent with Scotland’s green agenda by removing freight off the roads. At present (April 2025) the plan has seemingly timed out (exceeded three year limit to start work) but presumably it wouldn’t take much to make it live again.
Request to Stop Infrastructure
The second planning application directly affecting station cottage is the installation of the request to stop infrastructure at Altnabreac Station as set out in 23/00459/FUL. This was another piece of work that has already been delayed over access issues to the station. In order to power the request to stop equipment a series of solar panels and batteries will be located on the station platform as indicated in the planning application. This planning application has until 2028 to be implemented.
Other planning applications to look out for the area
The Role of the British Transport Police
A policeman's lot is not a happy one!
The heroes of this sorry saga are probably the two representatives of British Transport Police whose job appears to be to take one for the team, absorb endless jibes and goading in the interest of ensuring that the Network Rail staff are able to work unhindered.
Notes
1 The photograph of a deer grid is taken from the website of Hopkins Cattle Grids with thanks
2 The Register of Sasines is the ancient land register of Scotland
3 The 0.43 acres figure is often quoted by the owners of Station Cottage but I not sure of the source
4 A recent video has shown NR are only trying to justify they own 0.47 hectares of land at Altnabreac
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