A NATURE reserve which has one of the most unusual and ancient landscapes in Europe is set to receive #300,000 in Lottery funding to help make far more people aware of its attractions.

The Inverpolly National Nature Reserve, near Ullapool, in Wester Ross, is the second largest in Britain, with 26,827 acres of magnificent wildlife and scenery.

One feature is Knockan Crag, a unique cliff-face that appears to rock the very foundations of Darwin's theory of evolution.

Darwin owed deep gratitude to Scottish pioneer geologist James Hutton, who had clearly shown through fossils how life evolved over millions of years from the lower, older rock layers to the newer ones nearer the surface.

But part of Knockan Crag looked to turn this theory on its head when it was discovered at the end of last century that the natural form is upside down, with its oldest rocks at the top and the newest ones at the bottom.

It emerged that the strange feature, which provoked furious debate among geologists at the time of its discovery, was the result of collisions of land masses 400 million years ago. These gave rise to an event known to geologists as the Moine Thrust.

It occurred when the two huge continents, which contained Scotland and England separately, crashed together. This pushed a deep crust of rock up and over sedimentary layers of more recently formed sandstone and limestone.

White quartzite is on the top layer of many hills in the area, making them look snow-capped all year round.

Scottish Natural Heritage has been awarded the #300,000 to build a visitor and interpretive centre to display the reserve's fascinating geological structure.