TRIP 14 OVER THE SEA TO SKYE

Clearly our grandchildren adore us! They had given us a two night stay in a glamping pod on Skye as a Christmas present. It was valid for two years and we had intended to wait until Spring 2021. Covid came along and put paid to a number of our plans, so we booked for the end of September. Little did we know when we did that, that we would end up with a congested month full of trips away. As Sharon said, you can't complain about not getting away and then complain about going away too often in one month. So, I didn't.

Of course, the weather in Spring next year, might well have been better than the weather at the end of September this year. You could almost guarantee rain, when all our other trips this month had given us a bit of sunshine. 

Day 1 Wednesday 30th September

Sure enough, it was fairly chucking it down by the time we got west. Indeed, you could hardly see the Skye Bridge. And, that was us on the approach road!

There was a fair amount of water coming down the hillsides. Normally, you would see a few cars and tourists out taking photos of this waterfall near the road. Not today. Nobody in their right mind was getting out of the car.

We were heading to the north end of the island. Was that a glimmer of light up there?

 It did seem to have been a long time since breakfast, so Bob's mind was turning to lunch. We settled on the Sligachan Hotel. We had never been there, but had driven past it many, many times. It is a Mecca for climbers and is busy all year round.

Bob was excited to find that they even had an on-site brewery. It would have been churlish not to try one, so he did. It was very nice, too - Pinnacle Ale, it was. I have not checked, but this is probably a reference to the In Pinn. This is the short name for The Inaccessible Pinnacle. This is a very thin fin of rock on the summit of Sgurr Dearg (The Red Pointed Hill). The In Pinn is a Munro - a summit over 3000 feet - in the Cuillin. It is unique in that it is the only Munro summit that you have to actually climb to get to the top of. Even Ben Nevis is walkable.

It looks pretty fearsome, so drinking the beer was a far better option.

 

Lunch was rather less good than the beer. Sharon's roasted, battered cauliflower sounded tasty, but the batter was thick and entirely unappealing. Bob's fish and chips were not as good as he had hoped. Still we were fortified for the rest of our journey.

Of course, you cannot leave Sligachan without taking some photos of the Bridge and the background of the Black Cuillin. Luckily it had stopped raining, so this was an option.

Before we get to the bridge a bit about the name of the place. Sligachan is from the Gaelic meaning shelly place. Odd you might think, but it is less than a kilometre from the hotel to the shores of Loch Sligachan, so it makes perfect sense.

So, to the bridge. It was built in 1818 by none other than Thomas Telford - he got about a bit, didn't he? It is a very nice bridge and it just fits the magnificent setting perfectly. Better on a sunny day, it would have to be said, but good even on a dreich day like today.

Unbeknown to us a brand new statue had been unveiled next to the bridge 4 days before we had arrived. It commemorates John MacKenzie and Professor Norman Collie, who opened up many of the climbing routes in the Cuillin and also named many of the hills.

 

Having done a bit of climbing in my youth, it was only right that I joined them.

From Sligachan, it was through Portree and ever northwards towards the pods at Flodigarry. To get there, you have to pass one of the most iconic sights on Skye - The Old Man of Storr. You can see The Old Man for miles around. It is the remnant of an ancient landslip, which left bare rock standing and that has gradually eroded to the shapes we see today. The landscape here is so other worldly, that it has featured in many films and is thought to be one of the most photgraphed landscapes on the planet.

A closer view. Sorry for the power lines, but we took a quick photo from a passing place. The roadside car parking was very busy, so we did not stop.

We did stop at the next place, though. This was Creag an Fheilidh - Gaelic for Kilt Rock. It is easy to see why they called it that.

There are some pretty impressive sea cliffs here.

Apparently it is not uncommon to see dolphins and whales from the viewpoint. Luckily we had our binoculars with us, as there was a huge pod of dolphins passing by, but very far out. I don't believe anyone else there at the time spotted them. There were a lot, but this was the best long distance photo I could get.

Fabulous waterfalls straight over the edge and into the sea.

It is a really fascinating bit of coastline. It is one of the best places in the country to see fossilised dinosaur footprints on the beach. We did not have time to go down and look for them - maybe next time!

It was not very far from Kilt Rock to Flodigarry. After we introduced ourselves to Joan and Charlie Beaton ( Darren's Best Man's In-laws) we got to our pod, What a view from the front door and the sitting room. Not sure we will be using the outdoor picnic bench, though.

Once we had got everything out of the car and into the pod and the fridge, we went for a walk to the fossil beach, which was just across the field in front of us. You get a fabulous view back to the pods. Ours was the one on the right. Behind us, part of the Trotternish Ridge.

Flodigarry is actually derived from Norse - the Vikings - and not from Gaelic. It means Fleet Garth or Enclosure. Basically, somewhere that Vikings anchored large numbers of ships. No doubt there were Vikings who walked on the same beach that we were going to this afternoon.

To get to the beach, you walk down a path, which passes by the Flodigarry Hotel. This looked like a place to eat, but there was just something about the reviews that put us off!

Next door to the right of the hotel is a white house, which is where Flora MacDonald lived. She is, of course, famous for sheltering Bonnie Prince Charlie and smuggling him away, dressed as her maid.

The walk is well known and waymarked. This alludes to the continuing shifting of the landscape. Trotternish Ridge suffers from soil creep - it is, essentially, slipping into the sea. This is not a fast process, but it is noticeable. So much so, that this area of Skye is the best known example of this phenomenon in the country.

This is where the Vikings must have been.

All we saw was this curious seal. No Vikings.

The Vikings will most probably not have recognised the fossils on the beach. They are brought down by the creeping landscape as it slips down the hill towards the sea.

This was a big boulder full of fossilised shells. The fossilised bones of 165 million year old sea dinosaurs have been found hereabouts.

Sharon looking for dinosaur bones where the landslip meets the waves. New fossils are exposed all the time and there is nothing to prevent you picking them up, but you are not allowed to dig them out.

David Attenborough, AKA Bob.

Back to the pod, we had a wee seat in the porch, looking out over the view.  The island you can see is Flodigarry Island and legend has it that a conscientious objector hid on the island for a number of years during the Second World War. He was sustained by supplies from the local crofters.

Here we are sitting down for a drink and a nibble in the porch. It soon became a bit too cool for that and we went inside.

It was time to start to settle down for the night, which is what the birds were doing.

Even the sheep were finding somewhere to rest as the sun set in the west.

The cows were about to disappear over the horizon.

We had brought easy dinners from M&S, although there was plenty of equipment and facilities for us to have made whatever we wanted.

We even managed to work the Bluetooth speakers in the ceiling and watched a bit of TV, before going to our cosy king-sized bed.

Day 2 Thursday 1st October 2020

After a good night's sleep, it was time to cook a couple of the fantastic eggs that had been laid by the hens on the croft. They went very well with some toasted soda bread, avocado and ham. Set us up nicely for the day.

We had intended to go for a fairly long walk towards the hills, but it really was raining quite a bit, so we abandoned that plan and went to see another waterfall instead.

This was at Lealt - An Leth Allt in Gaelic. An Leth Allt is the divided burn or the burn with one high bank. You can see the burn and the bank, although the other bank seems just as high to me. That might not be so, further up the burn.

The waterfall is not so spectacular as that at Kilt Rock, but it is quite picturesque. The water fall has been formed by successive landslips over time, creating steps in the landscape.

There is a viewpoint to overlook it all.

The steps caused by the landslips are easier to see here.

Up stream and in the area where we had thought to walk is an old abandoned Diatomite mining area. There is a track and an old railway line which used to take the Diatomite from the mine to the sea. Up to 60 people were employed in the industry at one time.

Diatomite is grey when mined from the loch and it turns white when dried. It has a range of uses from alcohol filter to toothpaste, fillers, paints and cosmetics. It was worked here up until the 1960's when it closed due to cheaper foreign supplies.

On the shore below are the remains of the drying works. The Diatomite was transported by rail and, latterly, by road to this site and the material was dried before being put on ships for export to the rest of the UK, notably to ICI in England.

On the other side of the river mouth lies an old salmon fishing station.

From there we went across the narrow road to the Quiraing. The name derives from Norse, rather than Gaelic. It means round fold and is thought to indicate that cattle were hidden within the ring of rocks from Viking invaders.

It is a spectacular piece of landscape.

Especially as you get closer to it.

Essentially, the cliffs are the remains of a huge landslip of the mountain . All the earth has slipped down the hill to leave the rock exposed and then this has weathered into the shapes we see today.

There is a viewpoint and parking area at the top of the road pass, where you can look into the fold. You can walk across here, but we declined to do so. Maybe the next time in a bit of sunshine.

After four hours of trying, we managed to get a selfie!

From the top of the pass, we headed downhill to Uig. Just as we were getting into the village, we caught sight of this magnificent Sea-Eagle soaring along the coastline. We watched it for quite some time.

There is a brewery at Uig, so we had to pay a visit just to see for ourselves. Sure enough, they had loads of beer!

Time for lunch, so we went to the Uig Hotel. Luckily, they had some of the beer we had just seen, so Bob had some.

He also ate something - a steak sandwich with a really nice caremalised onion marmalade, real, proper chips and a bit of nicely dressed salad. Very nice and a lot better than the Sligachan Hotel.

Sharon had a bowl of sweet potato and chilli soup with a hummus and caramelised onion sandwich. We were both impressed with the lunch and the general way the place was run.

Just at the back of the hotel runs the wee road up Glen Uig, which takes you to the Fairy Glen. This is another of the spots in Skye that attracts loads of tourists, so we couldn't miss it. Almost everywhere you go here, you see these shapes on the mounds and hills. This is a classic sign of soil creep. the soil is thin and is slumping down the slope, creeping ever closer to the bottom and to the sea.

The Fairy Glen is another classic landslip landscape. The slumping soil exposed rock formations that have subsequently been worn down by time and weather. The landscape is quite surreal and you can see why the place has acquired the Fairy Glen name. It is quite an enchanting place.

This is Castle Ewen. It is not actually a castle, but a lump of basalt. It looks a bit like a fortification, hence the name. I cannot trace any reason why it is called Castle Ewen rather than Castle anything else. Once you leave the road, there is no real path, just a variety of different routes. However, the Castle draws you naturally in.

The closer you get, the more fairy like it begins to look.

Soon, you are on the inside of the landscape rather than the outside.

Tourists have created these concentric circles and there were also piles of stones around the circles. This has offended the locals who have removed the stones and other piles of stone throughout the glen. Why is it that some people cannot visit a landscape without having to put some sort of mark on it?

You can look down on these rings from above - they must have taken a bit of work and time to construct.

The Fairies have now erected a sign asking that people do not deface the landscape any more. Hopefully, people will listen to the Shidhichean

There are lots of these mounds about and it does look unlike anything else we have seen before. 

We even persuaded the Fairies to take a photo to prove we had been there.

Sharon managed to take a photo of me looking suitably rugged.

Once you walk down to the road again, there is a little lochan that adds a bit extra to the feel of the place.

From the Fairy Glen we meandered further North. Along the coastline, you get views out to the Western Isles on the horizon.

We stopped off at a Souterrain at Kilvaxter. Who knew there were souterrains in Skye - we certainly didn't. There are a number round Monifieth where Sharon's parents live. It turns out there are a few in Skye as well.

Souterrains are Iron Age underground constructions. So, about 2000 years old and they might be used for living in or storing food in. This one at Kilvaxter was only discovered in 2000 when a lintel holding part of it up collapsed. It has been slightly restored and opened up, but it is essentially the same as it was 2000 years ago - dark, damp and low.

In fact, it was so low, that old codgers like us had no hope of actually getting inside.

If only we had seen the notice, we might not have even tried.

Slightly further up the road, we took a detour down to the sea and a bay called Camas Mor - which just means big wide bay. A fairly accurate Gaelic description.

There were a couple of picnic benches beside the little slipway, but I suspect that not many tourists ever come down here. It was astonishingly quiet and peaceful.

What we didn't know at the time was that underneath the waters of the bay lies the wreck of a wooden steamship, the Cygonie, which was wrecked there in November 1919. She was carrying a cargo of empty barrels. Cygonie is an old Scots word for a stork!

We could still see the Western Isles, but from here they actually seemed to be floating above the horizon. This may be the late stages of a complex mirage known as a Fata Morgana. This is the Italian name for Morgan le Fay, the sorceress in the King Arthur legend. Such mirages were so named, because they were thought to have been put in place by Fairies to lure sailors to their doom! More fairies!

The views out to sea were good. The islands to the left are known as Lord MacDonald's table.

As we were leaving, an eagle soared above the hills to see us off.

Our next destination was a cemetery. Not through any ghoulish fascination, but because there were at least two famous people buried there.

The first of these was the more recent - Alexander McQueen, a famous fashion designer had his ashes buried in the newer part of of Kilmuir Cemetery. Apparently, he suffered from anxiety and depression and felt most at peace on Skye. His father was born there and there is a small hamlet nearby called Balmacqueen. Cartainly, his tombstone is quite striking and the location is peaceful and expansive.

Much older is the grave of Flora MacDonald, who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape from the Redcoats some time after the Battle of Culloden.

Her memorial is also quite striking, but it is not the original from 1871. It was blown down in a gale and the new one erected in 1881. It was designed by Alexander Ross, who was an Invernessian Architect responsible for a huge number of buildings in Inverness, including the Cathedral. 

Her epitaph was written by Dr Johnson and reads - "Her name will be mentioned in history and, if courage and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with honour". Dr Johnson was a well known writer and his record of his travels in the Highlands at the end of the 18th Century with James Boswell, Edinburgh diarist and lawyer is well known. Johnson also wrote a famous dictionary of the English Language.

Nearby is this gravestone, reputed to belong to Angus Martin. the legend is that the stone itself belonged to the grave of an early Scottish King. Angus had found and stolen it, carrying it on his back to the cemetery, so that it could be used to mark his final resting place when the time came. Angus was known as Angus of the Winds, because he would sail in any weather. he is supposed to have married a Danish princess and had seven sons.

We could have spent ages there. 

Just down the road from the cemetery is the Museum of Island Life, which includes a number of old croft houses, some of which were in occupation up to the 1950's. Unfortunately the museum is closed due to Covid, but we could still take photos.

From the past to the present, we left here and headed back to our pod, passing this young buzzard by the roadside looking quite insolent and unwilling to move.

We had another cosy evening in, before getting some sleep as we were leaving for home the next morning.

Day 3 Friday 2nd October 2020

As it happens the weather was really not very good the next morning, so we did not intend to hang about and gave up all notions of going for our walk that we had postponed yesterday.

We took one last look at the view from the pod and set off home.

However, the further east we got, the brighter it became. eventually we stopped at one of our favourite places, the Brahan Estate. We went for a walk around the pond and it was quite idyllic in the warm sunshine.

The pond was quite serene.

Lots of bullrushes.

There was a pair of stately Mute Swans in residence.

Somewhat unusually for the time of year,  we thought, there were dragonflies about. This was the only one that would settle long enough for a photo. It would appear that he is a Common Darter, which is more common in England than it is in Scotland.

We also spotted a Roe Deer in the distance.

Soon we were home after a good break, despite most of the weather. We will certainly go back, the pods were very comfortable and a great base for exploring that part of Skye.

There was a nice sunset to end the day and the trip.