Over The Sea To Skye

Sitting outside the cottage you can see in the picture, listening to birdsong and enjoying the late May sunshine, I wish this tiny cottage were mine since it lies from the maddening crowds and has a kind of peace and serenity totally absent in modern towns and cities. The air is fresh and pure without the scent of gasoline and visual clarity is excellent. From this grassy hillside on the Isle of Skye, I can a Caledonian McBrayne ferry crossing to Benbecula. My attention is suddenly drawn to bleating sheep who suddenly move with great haste, climbing sheer and near vertical rock surfaces and out of sight within seconds. Perhaps there's a fox nearby? On the fence nearby, a cuckoo becomes the target of other birds until chasened from it's perch. On seeing this again, one would think the cuckoo would learn from this experience, but no, he'll be back again tomorrow around six o'clock and the drama will be enacted once again.

We rented this one-bedroom cottage for a week upon my wife's insistence that I take a break from work, and on this occasion, I relented and agreed. We'd never had a real holiday for over five years on account of busy work schedules and which consumed so much of our lives at that time. She chose the location and it was a good one - no, not sunny Spain or anywhere near the Mediterranean Sea - but right here in Bonny Scotland. A few weeks later, we went, 'O'er The Sea To Skye" and grudgingly paid the exorbitant bridge crossing fee. Since our visit, I'm pleased to say this charge has been scrapped and entry to and from the island is free of charge. During the time of this, our second visit, I found the island was undergoing a kind of quiet revolution. In a sense, we were also unwittingly contributing to these changes.

The cottage is located at the tip of the Durnish peninsula in North West Skye. It's about as far as you can take a car out into the Atlantic without need for a ferry! At Milovaig, the winding one-track road with passing places curves around the rocky outcrops and forces the driver back the way he or she came. The only alternative is to venture the last few miles to the Neist Lighthouse before coming back. From a motoring perspective, this is the end of the road and the nearest petrol pump is twelve miles away!

This is rough land with hard volcanic rock exposed in many places. There’s a lot of course grass with just enough for limited numbers of sheep to graze on. There are no fences or gates and just the occasional sheep grid; so sheep and lambs roam over roads and meadows at their own discretion, a fact that motorists need to be aware of at all times. Driving on single-track roads is simply a matter of taking a little more time, common sense and courtesy. A wave to another driver who has stopped to let you pass works wonders for the soul and makes the World a better place. Surprisingly, full sized coaches and buses also use a large part of this same route either as part of a regular service or else touring. The local bus service goes as far as a point where the road splits off towards either Milovaig or Ramoscraig. At this point, the traveller is left within modest walking distance of Milovaig, while the bus turns around and heads back inland.

Milovaig is a collection of houses whose locations are beside the road referred to earlier. They're referred to as Upper and Lower Milovaig and with numbers. On first coming here, we chose to follow the coast down towards the pier where a ship of modest size and of possible military design was anchored. There was a big shed at the pier but not a soul near it.

During our approach to the pier, my wife spotted something of interest and asked me to stop and back up. That was no problem as there were no cars behind us and that's when we saw yet another extraordinary part of this culture in action.

This property had a wide wooden gate and which, when opened would easily have permitted entry of a car. On the left side, there was a wooden box attached to a post with a lid. Below it, lying on the ground was white plastic tub and which might have originally contained paint, adhesive or whitewash. A crudely made wooden notice explained this perfectly, "Dear Mr Postman, Please Put Our Mail In The Plastic Tub As Birds Are Nesting In The Mailbox!"

Passing the pier brought us to the point I referred to earlier and where the road curves around a rocky outcrop and begins to take us back in the direction we had come. It’s an incredibly steep road too and perhaps not recommended for very small engine capacity cars! Rising sharply from near sea level to about seventy feet in less than a few miles is hard work by any standard and it was here, close to the summit that we discovered our temporary home address; our little magical holiday cottage in the Highlands of Scotland!

I say ‘magical’ because there is something uniquely traditional about places like this that relatively few ever get the chance to experience. One might even call it a paradise and yet, like all dreams of perfection, it has one major flaw and several minor ones. The major one cannot easily be dismissed. It’s another much larger property whose front door is less than twenty feet from the front door of our tiny cottage. It’s a building obviously constructed in far more recent times and does not share the same architectural heritage. It also obstructs part of the view from the cottage. In addition, holiday guests are expected to share the limited parking facilities and which isn’t easy as we later found out. On reviewing the brochures and literature, I can see how this negative was very carefully concealed using pictures from certain angles to exclude the proximity of the second property. The text, quite rightly, described the cottage as one located in a forty-acre compound surrounded by sheep fencing and thus suitable for pets like dogs. The garden area was like a series of trenches and in days to come, we would wake to the sound of a mechanical digger at work.

From first light at about five o''clock in the morning until fading light around ten pm, the digger driver worked and began installing pipes which would carry waste from the two properties and feed them into submerged and perforated fifty gallon oil drums and act as cesspools. Luckily, both properties sit on the highest part of the property and gravity will help the system work. Until that time, I hadn't even considered how such cottages might lack such amenities. The cottage interior was modern yet retained the option of a log fire. What had probably been a fairly basic dwelling had been dragged into the 21st century!

It wasn't the only one. Many neighbouring properties were in differing stages of refurbishment and I noted the wooden electricity pylons were fairly new. On driving around, it was clear that many properties were now undergoing the same kind of modernisation that our rented cottage had. On the outskirts of Dunvegan, Keynote, the building supplies company, had procured a fenced off area with materials available to meet the local need. It surprised me that so many properties should become available and receive so much attention now rather than in the past. After all, this was the land of the Glendale Martyrs whose uprising in 1882 against the cruel and petty tyranny of their estate manager, resulted in a gunboat being sent to the region and where the ringleaders were arrested. This was the event that sparked off a radical movement throughout the Highlands and led to the Crofter's Holdings Act of 1886 giving crofters more secure tenure and fair rents. High above the valley of the Glendale hamlet, there is a stone monument reminding modern day travellers of this valient struggle.

If the struggle to preserve a crofting lifestyle had been worth fighting for back then, what had changed in modern times to make so many properties available?

I could suggest a number of possibilities; lack of good employment opportunities, better education and communications, aging population and more. The tradition whereby offspring inherited the land and lifestyle has been disappearing steadily among island communities for some time. Younger people have left the isles in favour of better employment prospects and a different kind of life. It seems Glendale was still a viable crofting region even when young men were taken off to fight a war in far off lands. Perhaps the Skye Bridge played a part in attracting buyers to the region and offered crofters a deal they could not refuse. With pensions in disarray, many investors had begun to buy properties with a view to let but as home rent prices stabilised in many areas of Britain, Buy To Rent investors saw the potential for greater profit in these small Highland cottages. In our case, renting the cottage for just one week cost £450 and certainly more than we might have paid for a much longer foreign holiday. It's no accident many investors in the area have come from wealthier regions of the country. In 2006, there were approximately 850,000 mortages granted for the purposes of developing properties for residential let and this has been a major reason for property price hikes across the nation.

In the wake of poor stock market performance that used to drive pension expectations, any property able to generate sizeable income has become the new replacement for personal pension plans. It's the new livewire response to a failing economy. Any company whose central focus is linked with property is likely to have done well on account of this. Those trained in property sales and maintenance; joinery, brickwork, architecture, electricians, gas fitters, roofers, pavers and others, can hardly have failed to make money in these circumstances. The big question now is what will happen in the wake of Northern Rock and other banking scandals and the uncertainty about property prices in 2008. Already, many city based Buy-To-Rent entrepreneurs have declared bankruptcy and it remains to be seen how long people will continue to pay high holiday rent prices for cottages in the Highlands of Scotland.

Glendale and elsewhere among the Scottish Isles is undergoing a transition unlike anything the islanders have experienced before and it's hardly surprising that many former crofters have taken the cash in favour of an easier life elsewhere. A new community centre was being built at Glendale while we were there. Mobile banks were regular visitors to Glendale during our stay but only stopped for about forty-five minutes or so before moving on to another site. Given that the nearest cash dispenser is twelve miles away in Dunvegan and costs £1.50 to use it; one wonders if this quiet revolution will also place a cash dispenser in Glendale?

Our cottage holiday home looked quaint from the outside and the owners had wisely elected to retain the small windows and whitewash but the interior was something else entirely and probably unlike what any crofter who formerly lived there would recognise today. Inside this little cottage, we're talking 'cosy' rather than spacious and all the better for it. At the heart of the building is a stone wall of obviously recent build but in a traditional manner and with a large stone fireplace. Although there is a modern heating system, we never used it because there's just nothing like an open hearth fire to generate the kind of cosy atmosphere in a place like this. Kindling wood, firelighters and McCaskill's Logs are all available from the small shop in Glendale but beware! A small bag of logs cost £2.75 at the local store and it's easy to burn two or more of these in an evening. The same product can be bought at Portree on the other side of the island about forty pence cheaper and about sixty-five pence cheaper at Broadford in the south of the island. My advice is thus to stock up as much as you can carry before venturing north and save a few quid in the process. The saving can more than offset dearer fuel prices in the area.

That fireplace in the centre of little cottage also carried another feature in that some of the heat radiated backwards into the small bedroom next door with its four poster bed and wardrobe. The roof above the bed has an opening skylight where one could observe the sky or else close the shutter is darkness was preferred.

The old sofa in the living area was completely in keeping with the traditional mix and the small screen television was put in its proper place - a corner on one side of the fireplace. Television signal reception wasn't great but the owners did supply a video recorder and a selection of video films. They also provided a small library of books but I doubt whether time would have permitted enough time to read them entirely. A selection of Scots Magazine or the local weekly paper might have been a better idea.

There is a washing machine in the kitchen area but drying clothes is a challenge. There is no tumble dryer nor room for one. The clothes line in the garden might be fine when the weather cooperates. The alternative is use of a rack provided indoors.

Beware the front entrance to the cottage! I'm guessing Scottish ancestors were typically of lesser height than the current generation and it's easy to bump your head against the hard stone lintel above the front door! You have been warned!

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Related Articles In This Series

Over The Sea To Skye
Plockton and Hamish MacBeth
Carnasserie and the Gaelic Bible
Peter Pan and the Camera Obscura
Dundee - City of Discovery

One of the great things about this place was knowledge that your dog could not harass sheep grazing just across the road. In our case, the sheep would come close to the metal gate and our dog would pine as if seeking a friend yet I knew that wolverine instincts in her canine makeup would soon wreak havoc if allowed to. The gate remained closed and on the few times we ventured beyond the limits of the compound, a lead was constantly affixed to her collar. When necessary, we allowed sheep to pass in their own good time before venturing forward on our walk. Serious walking affictionados need strength, good footwear and clothing. Even on 'good days' the wind can carry a certain chill with it. To my knowledge, there aren't many garden centres in the northern parts of Skye and perhaps with good reason. The land is harsh and barren although better in the south. Don't look for loads of sandy beaches either although there are a few. Vodaphone mobile telephone reception is good although I couldn't comment on whether other services are equally well served in the area.

Stopping at Glendale one day afforded us the unique opportunity of watching a woman wading through the shallow stream then abandoning her Wellingtons in favour of lighter footware before shopping at the small grocer shop. I'm guessing she saved herself a lot of walking distance to the road bridge that crosses the stream. She emerged soon afterwards with a fairly heavy load of shopping then reversed the process. I'm fairly sure she paid with cash because usage of a 'plastic card' seemed to cause problems when I tried to use mine at Corbeth to buy a bottle of whisky at the Tallisker Distillery. The transaction took six minutes to complete and the kindly lady behind the counter told me this was common on account of limited land line communications. It was a shade embarrassing though since it created a queue at the checkout. Tallisker Whisky has been a favourite of mine ever since.

Our visit to the distillery provided another hint about how tradition still held sway. It was hard not to laugh when told about a man still referred to as the 'new boy' and who had first been hired by the company twelve years ago! Given the volatile state of employment elsewhere in the World; one is compelled to wonder how this state of security can survive in our modern World. Of course, deeper probing unveils something else perhaps unique to island communities of this kind.

On our visit, we've either met or heard about many people with multiple employments or multiple sources of income. We've heard about the man whose regular shift starts at 7.30am until 12.30 before he heads home and has lunch. He then heads out to sea on his boat to catch local shellfish until eleven o'clock if the light remains good. We've heard of the baker who rises early and performs his daily task before retiring to bed again so that he can be a taxi driver from six o'clock to midnight while his wife looks after the baker retail business and adjoining cafe. Even the chap digging the trenches at our holiday home seemed to have three jobs on the go. Perhpas it is this feature that permits Skye to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. According to s newspaper, local unemployment rates were just 5.2% and which compares favourably with the UK average of around 8% with 10% or higher in Glasgow and North Ayrshire districts of Scotland. Even the oil rich state of Texas, USA, occasionally matches this figure on bad days but it's a good result in the UK these days. On checking this, Orkney was one of the few regions with better figures although claims of zero unemployment (made by colleagues of mine) proved untrue.

Perhaps there is something to be learned from this?

From an outsider viewpoint, it seems that smaller and more sheltered communities have a lower range of specialist activity or need and yet it meets the most insistant needs of that community. One can't imagine finding enough specialist work in fields of high technology in such a place nor is there any real need. This is a part of the World virtually ignored by huge elements of the industrial revolution. The sole distillery at Corbeth is about as much industry as the island has ever known. Crafts, art and music have been more central to the life of these Hebridean communities. At this northerly location, daylight is at a premium during mid-winter while far longer in mid-summer. One can imagine many craft occupations occupying the minds and hands of many in wintertime. Speaking to several local people, it was clear that many worked hard in summer to ensure enoiugh income to see them through quieter times in the winter. Tourism was the driving force of the economy.

Throughout this article, I have avoided mention of Skye's magnificent range of visitor attractions and with good reason. The Internet Links section at the end of this article will provide the reader with more than enough information in that respect. There are several that demand special mention in my opinion though and the first of these is the Orbost Gallery near Dunvegan. Strangely enough, we visited the Gallery quite late during our stay. Our plan was to visit the furthest away places first then more local as the week went on. In a sense, that was a pity because the sheer quality of artwork presented here was outstanding! If time had permitted, I'm sure we would have spent more time and money at this venue. We're still proud of the purchases we made there.

As stated earlier, this was our second visit to the island although our first was far shorter in duration and at a time when the island was experiencing a severe economic downturn. On that occasion, we crossed the Skye Bridge shortly after noon and immediately elected to explore the island before returning to our B&B in Kyleakin at the south of the island. Our journey took us North to Portree then beyond where we saw the 'Old Man of Stor' and the 'Kilted Rock' before encountering a number of traditionally built cottages within a fenced area and collectively formed a local folk museum. Sadly, it had closed just a short time before we got there and it wasn't until the second visit that we got to see inside. Interestingly, from a historical view, there is a graveyard nearby and where Flora McDonald, the woman who helped 'Bonnie Prince Charles' escape from the English after the Battle of Culloden, is buried.

On return to Kyleakin on that Sunday, we were famished and in need of a meal. On that visit, we were indebted to the owner of a small resteraunt beside the sea and who opened up specially for us and cooked a really sumptious and well appreciated meal. Other places in the village turned us away on that occassion because we were too late coming in just after six o'clock. Later, we could laugh heartedly about the waiter in one establishment who responded in a fake French accent yet when challenged with the language was completely unable to reply!

Frankly, it had never occurred to us that getting a meal would be a problem at that hour in the mid holiday season. Over a beer, our kindly host explained to us how prevailing political circumstances at the time had severely reduced the number of travellers to the island and how many local hotels were desperately cutting back on costs by closing their kitchens early to save on staff wages and other costs. I sympathised with him albeit recognising how hard some times were for an island economy so reliant on tourism. On this, our second visit to the island, his establishment became our lunchtime favourite venue on several occassions whenever we explored the southern part of the island and not just because he had been saviour that day but because the food is good, fairly priced and the service lacks pretence. To get there, turn left after leaving the Skye Bridge and head as far as you can without crossing another bridge. It has a gift shop at the front and ample parking on the left side of the building.

The alternative route is to head for Broadford but just as you are about the enter the town, there is a road on the left signposted for Armadale and the first ten miles of this road is modern and of regular two lane width before narrowing to single lanes and passing places again. At the time of our visit, European Community Funding was being applied to improve this road and it may have been completed by now. Better and quicker access to and from Armadale means that vistors arriving from the ferry leaving Fort Wiiliam on the mainland can more quickly explore the island. Watching the ferry dock is great too, exhibiting the skills of captain or pilot. Somehow they make it seem easy but I'm sure there's a lot more to this than meets the eye. Armadale is home to the McDonald clan with an Exhibition Centre and surrounding garden; arguably the best on Skye' with lots of tourist trappings including a shop where souvenirs are plentiful and flowers are sold. There is plenty of free parking space too.

Portree is the largest community on Skye and lies on the eastern coast of the island. There's a fairly large Coop Supermarket here offering a much wider range of goods including fruit and fresh vegetables than can be expected in the small shop at Glendale. Prices are a lot better too. There's quite a nice shopping centre here of the type that used to be quite common before malls and supermarkets became commonplace. Some shops are unusual craft retailers with some interesting stuff on display. Definitely worth a little wander around. If you're feeling a shade more energetic then Portree has a public swimming pool located not too far from the centre of town.

We can't close this column without mention of Dunvegan Castle and surrounding gardens. The sight of seals basking in the sunlight was magnificent and although the castle and gardens were inferior to those of Armadale, we could appreciate how difficult it was to produce gardens of this quality in harsh soil and climate. On our visit, access to the castle was denied and we were led to understand there were problems concerning the roof and which might might require £10 million to repair.

Although not on the Isle of Skye, my American born wife and a great fan of the 'Hamish MacBeth' television series, wanted to see nearby Plockton on the mainland where the programme was filmed and transmitted by the BBC in the 1990s. We had lunch then survived a 'hair-raising' encounter in which we passed a vehicle stuck on the narrow road and leaving barely enough room for the car to pass and with a deep ravine on one side. The visit to Plockton was also one where we came into a village where Highland Cattle were roaming the main street and where we were compelled to wait until they settled down and permitted us to pass in safety. "TV John" of the mythical television show would have appreciated the irony.

In closing, we can honestly say we enjoyed our second stay on the Island of Skye and more than if we'd jetted off to some remote and anonymous destination in the sun. There's something powerful and magical about the Island of Skye; a cultural difference hard to comprehend and yet more successful than found in modern cities. The sense of community still exists and has not been eroded by technology even though that threat is obviously present.

Back in Glendale, there is a small church neighbouring another building with a grocery store at one end selling tinned goods with long storage dates. Another part of the building serves as art gallery and coffee shop with delicious home made cooking. A good hearty meal is what they promise and deliver with ample portions and at fair prices.

Would I recommend a holiday on the Isle of Skye or elsewhere in Scotland even though it costs more than many alternatives? On balance, I would say 'yes' but with reservations. There's a kind of innocent honesty in this place but it's hardly a place likely to attract young studs and bikini clad babes! On balance, it is more likely to appeal more to a mature and intelligent group of people. Having said that, it's an ideal place in which to totally relax and let the 'World Go To Hell'