Skye & Lochalsh
The Isle of Skye, Scotland, is world famous for its role in the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie after the battle of Culloden. Until quite recently going 'over the sea to Skye' meant taking a ferry from Kyle or Mallaig on the mainland, but in 1995 a new bridge was opened over the narrows between Kyle and Kyleakin.
The cost of the tolls, reputed to be the highest in Europe, meant that not everyone was happy with the change. Famously, a local pressure group was set up, and several hundred people were taken to court for refusing to pay, before the Scottish Execuitive finally abolished the tolls in December 2004.
Learn more at the Skye, Lochalsh and the Islands web site.
Dunvegan Castle at the north-west of Skye is the home of the Clan MacLeod, and in it can be seen the fragment of silk known as the 'Fairy Flag'. This is said to have been given to the 4th chief of the clan in the 14th century by a fairy. He was told of it's three magical properties - firstly when raised in battle it will guarantee MacLeod victory; secondly when spread on the chief's marriage bed it will ensure he has an heir; and thirdly when flown at the castle itself, it will bring the herring into the loch to preserve the clan from starvation.
Lochalsh is the area of the mainland nearest to Skye, which includes the towns of Kyle and Plockton. Plockton's mild climate, due to the North Atlantic Drift, means that one can find palm trees growing along the shore. The district is a great attraction for Munro baggers and other hill walkers, containing as it does the Cuillin range on Skye, and the Five Sisters of Kintail. But magnificent though the views from these peaks may be, the most famous view in the highlands is at the village of Dornie, looking across Loch Duich to Eilean Donan Castle on its island.
|
