Otters and Eagles: A Weekend in Glenelg Looking at Skye

"Brigadoon" was a figment of the Hollywood imagination, a fifties tartan kitschorama where Gene Kelly momentarily stopped Dancing in the Rain to shimmy through some Scotch Mist to a fictitious wee village where everything is just fine and dandy. I don't know what inspired the writers but I’ve often thought it might just be Glenelg - Scotland’s favourite palindrome.

The Highlands and Islands attract a huge number of visitors each year, increasingly drowning out the very quiet and solitude they came to experience. Nessie, the infamous Monster, tends to make a timely appearance just before the summer tourist season kicks off, an intriguing prospect as you drive along the A82 beside Loch Ness, wondering if that wave over there could possibly be, or that one, or……. And stop you must, if only to buy a burger, or a fluffy tartan toy. Or another fridge magnet.

But it’s the nooks and crannies you want, not the main roads, and they don’t get much more hidden away than Glenelg – whose neighbours barely even know it’s there. It’s one of those destinations in your mind’s eye, (possibly after seeing Brigadoon), a village nestled at the bottom of a glen overlooking the water to Skye – the Misty Isle. Cottages, peat smoke, a pub and a shop. You have to know where you’re going to get here, nobody just ‘passes through’.

How to get to Glenelg
The fastest way is to fly from London to Inverness and hire a car on a Friday afternoon. Drive two hours along the A87 towards Skye but just before you get there turn left at Shiel Bridge and head over the Mam Ratagan mountain pass via possibly the best view in all of Scotland, overlooking Loch Duich to the Five Sisters of Kintail mountain range. I defy anyone to travel this road and not stop to take in the view. And at least six pictures. It's stunning.

Alternatively, there’s the sleeper from Euston to either Inverness or Fort William, where you can hire a car and spend two days pootling around.

If you want public transport all the way, get to Inverness, take the train to Kyle of Lochalsh (Scotland’s second most picturesque rail journey) then the WR61 bus will take you to Glenelg. But only on weekdays.

OK. WE’RE HERE.

You’re not expecting shops, or nightclubs, are you? Glenelg has little to offer the hedonist, apart from the odd ceilidh, but much more for those who want to experience clean, fresh air, beautiful scenery, and quiet. There are all manner of sporting distractions – shooting, fishing, sailing, biking and walking – but first and foremost you have to walk around Glenelg itself and find out what makes it special.

It’s always been the shortest crossing to Skye and once cattle drovers would swim their herds across the ferocious waters before the onward journey to market. That passageway is still in use. Despite there being a very large, modern road bridge now, Britain’s only community-owned ferry, the Skye Ferry, operates here in the spring and summer months, a cheaper and altogether better alternative. The ferry’s link with the past is a fitting introduction to Glenelg, where stunning scenery and fascinating history are to be found in equal measure.

STAY WHERE?

The Glenelg Inn has been famous for years, recommended in every guide you can think of, and rightly so. Once a ruin, it was rebuilt by the redoubtable and effervescent Christopher Main whose particular take on Highland Hospitality always gave proceedings an added sparkle. A new owner has installed Sheila, a woman whose local reputation for hospitality preceded her. It’s a well run place. Big peat fire in winter, fresh local food, and 7 clean, modern bedrooms. The Inn itself sits on the water’s edge, from where you can watch the seals, the dolphins, the birds and the submarines patrol the Sound of Sleat. The walk to a most striking War Memorial when you arrive, in order to survey the distant Cuillin Hills of Skye, will give you the right perspective, to appreciate how the Inn has the best position on the coast. Last year, it got some really terrible reviews on travel sites but owner Geoffrey Bain has made changes and Sheila’s arrival is regarded locally as a good thing.

Alternatively, there are local cottages to be found here and a new self-catering apartment has been created at Balcraggie, an imposing former manse on your left as you enter Glenelg, marked by a sign pointing to ‘Glenelg Candles’ a workshop that’s been there for years. The couple who ran that business have now extended their own property to accommodate travellers and offer a warm welcome, extensive local knowledge about what to do in the area, and home comforts to make your stay memorable. Apart from studying his wife Donna’s candle-making abilities for many years, mine host Eddie Stiven is a well known playwright, author and sometime actor. He’s also been a member of the local mountain rescue for many years so can advise – precisely – on the vagaries and remoteness of the surrounding Munros and Mountains, home to some of Scotland’s Golden Eagles.

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, 1, 2, 3…

(1)    Gavin Maxwell’s lively account of life with otters ‘Ring of Bright Water’ was based just outside Glenelg. His fictitious ‘Camusfearna’ is actually a real place at Sandaig Island a mile or two along the coast. You have to ask directions, find the right gate, and make your way through a forest. Maxwell’s house was famously burnt to the ground but there’s a plaque, a wee outhouse or two, and a pervading sense of isolation and peace that makes you realise why he wanted to live here, overlooking Skye. The fact that his ashes and otter Edal are buried here now just adds to the poignancy.

(2)    Centre stage in Glenelg are the Bernera Barracks, portentous Grade ‘A’ ruins dating from 1721 when the Hanoverian Government posted troops around Scotland to control rebellious Jacobite forces. The building later became a shelter for crofters ‘cleared’ from their own homes by Highland landowners eagerly introducing the more profitable sheep to Scotland. Glenelg was once home to more than three thousand people, nowadays it’s a tenth of that. A similarly tragic story of depopulation to that at Strathnaver in Sutherland.

(3)    The Iron Age exists just a short trip out of Glenelg in two of Scotland’s most magnificently preserved ‘Brochs’ communal living towers for whole communities designed to withstand the onslaught of cold weather and hostile neighbours, although that’s actually an educated guess – nobody really knows their true purpose. They’re worth the trip, if only to discover that there are actually three, not two, as most people think. At the time of their construction, about 100 years BC, they were probably among the biggest buildings in the UK.

LET’S DO LUNCH

Dirt Cheap

There is no better lunch to be had in Glenelg than a packed one. Take what you want and head up the hill or down onto the beach at Bernera. Both ways you’ll have fresh air, wildlife, and the sense of exhilaration you came for. Can I suggest a West Highland Dairy Cheese sandwich and a bottle of Glenelg Ale from the village shop.

Cheap

There are two options, in opposite directions.

Drive out of Glenelg south towards the even tinier Arnisdale and you’ll find that part of it is called Corran where, in summer, you’ll find Sheena’s Tea Hut which serves….tea! (and snacks). Corran is a sleepy wee place, where tame red deer wander around, but like everywhere else around here has bucketloads of history, in this case with the fishing industry. Before the Herring all but disappeared, this was one of many fishing villages where the ‘silver darlings’ were caught, salted and packed off to the rest of Britain. It’s on the edge of Loch Hourn, Gaelic for ‘Loch Hell’ due to the treacherous currents which sank many fishing boats. Nice place for a cuppa.

En route there’s also ‘Amy’s Painted Wagon’ which serves coffee and biscuits from an organic farm next to the Brochs.

The other route out of Glenelg is towards the ferry where, at the lighthouse, coffee and snacks are served too.

Not so cheap but worthwhile

Until, very recently The Glenelg Inn had a fine dining room – it may have re-opened by the time you read this – but a temporary change of management reduced its reputation to rubble. Now, the famous Sheila is serving excellent bar meals all day, lunchtimes and evening, which are reportedly going down well. She even does takeaway for those in self-catering.

AN APERITIF

Don’t be fooled into thinking everyone in the Scottish Highlands drinks whisky all the time. At tea-time (that’s about 5 o’clock) you are allowed your first pint. Then by six you can possibly have had your second. The bar at the Glenelg Inn is definitely the most convivial place to have this, mainly because there isn’t another one for miles.

Either that or take a hip flask up onto the hill and contemplate life with a nip or two of that whisky, best tasted with a little brown peat water from a highland burn.

DINNER IS SERVED
While the Glenelg Inn’s Dining Room is closed, and bar snacks are the order of the day, posh dining will have to be enjoyed out of town. And since eating establishments are thin on the ground such trips have to be guaranteed worthwhile.

The nearest is via the Glenelg Ferry across to Skye, where the first place you hit is Breakish on the main road between the Skye Bridge and Broadford. There you’ll find ‘Alba’ restaurant and farm shop which specialises in local produce that hits the spot. You’ll be welcomed by Caroline whose husband George prepares light lunches and dinners which exploit the local seafood, beef, game and vegetables. It’s the former village school, with views across Broadford Bay to Applecross and Torridon.

Just up the road in Broadford is Creeler’s, a celebration of spectacularly fresh seafood and shellfish in the laid back manner of a beach hut. Scallops, seafood gumbo, langoustines are joined by smoked venison and game in season. It’s regarded as the best in the area and is packed all summer long.

Since the last sailing back from Skye on the ferry is 6pm (7pm summer) you may want to save a bit of a drive and stay on the mainland, in which case you should head over the mountain pass to Kyle of Lochalsh where “The Seafood Restaurant” run by Jann MacRae guarantees the freshest seafood around, alongside an impressive vegetarian menu. Guaranteed fresh? Well you’re likely to be served by the person who was out that day catching your supper – ask!

Other nearby restaurants which get a good name are Kinloch Lodge and the Plockton Shores restaurant where Ian and Anne James have converted the local store to accommodate a restaurant (and shop) dedicated to the area’s produce.

DRIVE BY

For an hour or so…
Ring of Bright Water. Gavin Maxwell lived at Sandaig with his otters and loved it. The tales he told in print still enchant and the subsequent film has a charisma all of its own. His life story is fascinating and it’s at Sandaig you can get a glimpse of the man who ran here to set up his own lifestyle in stunning surroundings. The area is heavily populated by rare wildlife and The Weekender is sure you won’t come away unrewarded. Apart from the ubiquitous seals, there may be an otter or two, but above you the oystercatchers, kites, cormorants and shags may be joined by the odd shearwater or even an eagle. On good days, there may be a passing whale or school of dolphins. Or the area’s very own sea serpent, a ten foot black monster by all accounts (Nessie! Look out!)

For the day…
Arnisdale and Knoydart. The road through Glenelg actually does go somewhere, it doesn’t just peter out. Drive a few miles and you’ll come to Arnisdale, a tiny community where the small ferry will take you across to Knoydart, Britain’s true wilderness, unreachable by any road and home to about 100 people. There’s even a pub. Hillwalker heaven.

Overnight…
The Glenelg Ferry to Skye is always the best way to leave Glenelg – or arrive – and it’s also the place you’re most likely to see any otters.

It’s owned by the community now, the skipper having offered it to his neighbours first, rather than try to find someone on the open market who would quickly tire of the cold, hard work required to maintain the service. It’s the only turntable ferry you’re ever likely to see (God knows where the others might be) and carries half a dozen cars and a few foot passengers across the swirling waters to Kylerhea on Skye. There’s a day out route or alternatively stay the night on Skye.