The Isle of Skye. Terry Marsh
A quiet approach may well be rewarded with glimpses of otters and adders, while an eye on the surroundings hills may spot a cruising eagle or herd of deer.
Walking in Gleann Meadhonach (Walk 1.1)
Eventually you arrive at a ruined croft (NG603056), close by a deer fence, with Loch a’Ghlinne in view ahead. The loch is a favoured haunt of wintering whooper swans.
The route continues through the deer gate and along a waymarked path (boggy at times) into the woodland of Coille Dalavil. This area is protected from sheep and deer and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest by virtue of its colonies of dragonfly, damselfly and lichen.
The path continues through the lower part of the woodland, eventually emerging from the trees above the watercourse that the former inhabitants of Dalavil constructed to drain the surrounding land and the loch: the loch itself is barely 6m (20 feet) above sea level, and much of the glen is frequently waterlogged.
An on-going path leads to the remains of Dalavil township, and in due course the sea. If you keep to the higher ground above Dalavil, you will experience a beautiful moment as the inlet of Inver Dalavil springs into view. To the north-west the Elgol peninsula is set against the bulk of the Red Cuillin, with the Black Cuillin rising starkly above the low island of Soay, once used as a base by Gavin Maxwell for a shark fishery, and recounted in his book Harpoon at a Venture. Out to sea, the Cuillin of Rhum stand darkly on the horizon, with the island of Eigg to their left. When you have explored sufficiently, simply retrace your steps to the Achnacloich road.
Loch a’Ghlinne
DALAVIL
As Jim Crumley points out in The Heart of Skye, Dalavil, as you find it today, is the product of a motive that bred ‘maximum profit and the minimum inconvenience for an accursed breed of morally corrupt landlords’. Yet, unlike other cleared townships, such as Suisnish and Boreraig, Dalavil was cleared for an altogether different reason, at the time of the Education Acts of 1870–1872. Writer David Craig (On the Crofters’ Trail) records: ‘It was for the children to get their schooling. It was cheaper to clear the crofters than to build a school there. It was quite isolated – there was no road to it, just a path over the hill. It was a very good place for fishing, plenty of mackerel, and ling, and again there was shellfish too, and there was a lot of [sea]weed for their crops, for their potatoes and whatever they were turning’.
Here the families were mostly the MacKinnons, MacGillivrays and Robertsons. As their children grew they looked up at ‘the terraced black drop of Doire na h’Achlais where wild water sheds its veils and jets of spume and wondered, ‘When will it stop? Why does it come in jerks instead of smoothly?’’
WALK 1.2
Point of Sleat
| Start/Finish | Road end, near Aird old church (NG589007) |
| Distance | 8km (5 miles) |
| Total ascent | 340m (1115ft), spread over many undulations |
| Map | OS Explorer 412 |
This expedition to the southernmost tip of Skye is unlikely to need more than a few hours away from home, but crams many delights into that brief timespan, especially if you go there in spring and early summer when the fields are ablaze with colour and the air loud with bird-song.
The approach is along the road from Ardvasar to the Aird of Sleat, where parking is very limited and needs to be accomplished with consideration for others.
Beyond a gate follow a cart track ascending gently over heather-clad moorland, with Rhum at one point suddenly putting in an appearance and a moment’s pause providing a fine retrospective view. Descend and keep on along the track that follows, descending to crossing bridges over the burn that flows from Loch Aruisg, and continuing to a gate giving into a large enclosed area.
Just before the gate, however, take to a signed path on the left (Point of Sleat and Sandy Bay) that climbs briefly and then runs alongside a fenceline that marks the upper boundary of Acairseid an Rubha.
When the fenceline ends, continue forward a few strides to a waymarked junction. If you go forward, you soon reach the golden sands of Camas Daraich. But for the Point of Sleat, bear right following a continuous path across heathery upland until steps guide you down into a wide gap that separates the final stretch from what has gone before. From the foot of the steps, go forward briefly towards the rocky shoreline, and there swing left soon reaching a low, grassy bar beyond which another small golden sand beach awaits. From here, it is just a few minutes on a clear path and then across close-cropped grass to reach the light at the southernmost point of Skye.
Just to the west of the Point, Eilean Sgorach is a favoured gathering ground for cormorants, where they stand drying outstretched wings. The view is dominated by the mainland, and the island of Rhum, but on a warm, settled day you could be a million miles from anywhere, resolving clouds, soaking in the gentlest of sea breezes, without a care in the world.
Your return journey can only be by the outward route.
WALK 1.3
Armadale
| Start/Finish | Clan Donald Visitor Centre, Armadale (NG639045) |
| Distance | 5.5km (3½ miles) |
| Total ascent | 205m (670ft) |
| Map | OS Explorer 412 |
You have to pay to do this walk, the price of admission to the Armadale Estate, but in return for consent to explore one of Skye’s beautiful estates it is a small price to pay. After your walk, or maybe before, you should visit the Museum of the Isles in the Visitor Centre to learn something of the history of the Clan Donald over 1,300 years. (Armadale Castle Gardens and Museum of the Isles, Armadale, Sleat, Isle of Skye IV45 8RS; Tel: 01471 844305 or 01471 844227; Fax: 01471 844275; Email: [email protected]; Website: www.clandonald.com). One of the great bonuses of this short walk are the excellent views throughout of the mountains on the Scottish mainland, around Glenelg and Knoydart.
From the car park, walk towards the ticket office, and then follow a broad track to the ruins of Armadale Castle. Pass in front of the castle, and then immediately turn right to follow the Red Trail, which shortly bears left. (Walks through the estate grounds are waymarked, and this walk begins along the Red Trail but later turns onto the Blue Trail).
ARMADALE CASTLE
The Macdonalds arrived in Skye from the Southern Hebrides, in the 15th century, occupying Dunscaith and Knock Castle, both only a few miles from Armadale. By 1650 there were two farmhouses at Armadale, but after 1690 the family moved to Duntulm Castle in the north of Skye. Around 1790 the first Lord Macdonald returned to Armadale to build a new mansion house, part of which remains as the white section of the building seen today.
In 1815 this was extended to form Armadale Castle. In 1855 fire destroyed much of the original house which was partly replaced by the present central block. In 1925 the Macdonald family moved to a smaller house a few miles away, leaving the castle to the wind and rain.
The path passes ancient trees and rhododendron before arriving at a minor junction near a deer gate (the Red Trail turns through the gate, but for now ignore it). Bear right to a path junction a few strides further on, and there turn