Day 32: Armadale to Broadford, Skye via Eilean Donan Castle!
Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021
5th February 2021: 100.14km walked today taking the total to 3205.44/8854km. 10% of 136 entries submitting 1001.37km.
Today we visit the south end of the Isle of Skye before going across the Skye bridge to visit Kyle of Lochalsh, Eilean Donan Castle and Plockton on the mainland. We then return to the Isle of Skye to see the rest of this beautiful island.
We disembark our ferry at Armadale on the Sleat Peninsula, Skye. You are forgiven if you think this is a small island, it isn’t. At 50 miles long it is the longest island of the Inner Hebrides, the second-largest island in Scotland, and has a lot to offer. It's packed with scenery, history, and wildlife, and with a bridge from the mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh, makes it an easy place to retreat to! Its name comes from Norse for ‘cloud island’ and is often referred to today as the ‘misty isle’; there is even a gin made here bearing that name. Crofting still happens here along with commercial fish and farming industries, which are crucial to the local economy. We’ll learn more about its history and culture as we walk.
Armadale is located on the old farming lands of the Clan Donald of Sleat. Like many of the Scottish islands, it has Norse history here before the strong presence of Clan MacLeod and Clan Donald (MacDonald). Like most of Scotland, post-Jacobite Rebellion and the clearances saw the demise of the clan system and the land turned to sheep farming with the emigration of many to North America, Australia, and New Zealand. A short walk from the ferry brings us to Armadale Castle, a heritage site for the Clan MacDonald. The ruin dates to 1790, though the Clan had been active on the island since the 15th century. The castle is set in beautiful gardens overlooking the Sound of Sleat, again benefiting from the warmth of the Gulf Stream. The award-winning Museum of Isles is also here telling their clan history.
We continue for 22 kilometres, along the Sound of Sleat coastal road past Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic Higher Education College, established in 1973. It has been part of the University of the Highlands and Islands since the 1990s, its focus being on Gaelic language and cultural revival.
A few kilometres from Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Knock Castle ruins come into view on Knock Bay. Established in the 1300s by the MacLeods on the site of an Iron Age fort, by the 1400s it was in Clan Donald control and remained so; abandoned by 1600 it became a quarry for other building projects.
We press on for a further 5.5 kilometres, crossing inland alongside the A851 to reach Isleornsay, located on a beautiful natural harbour with mainland Scotland as its backdrop. The harbour was used by Clan Donald in the 1700s, then became a thriving herring port and stop-off point for Glasgow steamers in the 1800s. This made it a popular resort resulting in the village being the first place on Skye to have a public toilet installed in 1820! During the 1830s ships left the village with locals wishing to start a new life in Australia during the time of the Clearances. Ornsay Lighthouse, located on a small islet called Eilean Sionnach, was built in 1857 and still operates although now automated. You can walk to Ornsay Island when the tide is low to enjoy the wildlife and chapel ruins.
From Isleornsay we continue along the coast for a short time before heading inland from Loch na Dal. We progress past woodland and moorland along the A851 to turn right onto the A87 heading west to reach the Skye Bridge, a distance of 23 kilometres. Before crossing we visit Kyleakin, a small village on the Strait of Kyle Akin coast. Here is Caisteal Maol, ‘Bare Castle’; a 15th-century ruin on a headland; ancient seat of the MacKinnon Clan. There was a building on this site long before and it is believed the Norse gathered their longships here before the Battle of Largs in 1263, remember The Pencil? That defeat saw the end to Norse domination of the islands.
You can also visit the Brightwater Visitor Centre overlooking the pier here, run by The Eilean Bàn Trust responsible for the preservation and promotion of the island, Eilean Bàn. Some of the Skye Bridge pillars rest on the island sitting at the entrance to Loch Alsh. The writer and naturalist, Gavin Maxwell, bought the island in 1963, then moved to the lighthouse keeper’s cottages in 1968, after his home in Sandaig, south of Glenelg, burned to the ground. He is famous for writing ‘The Ring of Brightwater’, first of a trilogy he wrote about his adventures with otters which was made into a film in 1969. He had a number of otters living on the island with him, including one called Teko who is immortalised in bronze outside the visitor centre. Unfortunately, Maxwell’s dream of creating a zoo on the island never materialised as he died in 1969 but his memory lives on through the books and centre. You can take a tour to the island to see the cottage he called home, as well as visit the lighthouse and the wildlife hides.
We leave Kyleakin and return to the A87 to cross the Skye Bridge and visit the Lochalsh area. The bridge was completed in 1995 and was initially a toll crossing, until charges were abolished in 2004; the bridge was purchased from the private owners by the Scottish Government. Before this bridge was completed you would have caught the ferry from Kyleakin to Kyle of Lochalsh. We head east along Loch Alsh stopping briefly to take in the view at its viewpoint before visiting the Balmacara Estate run by the National Trust for Scotland. Before 1801 the lands here belonged to the MacKenzies, Earls of Seaforth, whose battle cry will sound familiar to some, ‘Tulach Àrd’. It was sold to Sir Hugh Innes, a trader and parliamentarian, who not only built Balmacara House and developed the landscape but built the nearby village of Plockton, which we’ll visit shortly. The gardens were not created until the National Trust for Scotland inherited the Estate in 1946 from the then-owners, the MacKinnon-Hamiltons. Today you can experience Highland crofting in action and take fabulous walks through the estate’s diverse landscape, including ancient oak woodland, lochs and moorland, spotting wildlife on your way. We will walk some of this on our return route to the Skye Bridge.
We press on eastward alongside Loch Alsh to visit Eilean Donan Castle, one of the most iconic images of Scotland. Eilean Donan, next to the village of Dornie, sits on an island where 3 of the great sea lochs meet; Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh. Set in such beauty it has been used numerous times for film and TV, most notably Highlander (1986), The World is Not Enough (1999) and Made of Honour (2008). Its origin, however, dates to the 13th-century, ordered by Alexander II for ‘defence of the realm’, to later become a Clan MacKenzie & Clan MacRae stronghold, built on the site of an earlier Iron Age fort. It’s name comes from Saint Donnan of Eigg, a Gaelic priest who died in the area attempting to bring Christianity to the Picts. There is so much history in between which eventually led to its destruction by Government forces while Spanish soldiers were garrisoned here during the Jacobite Uprisings in 1719. What you see today was rebuilt between 1919-1932 including the addition of the arched bridge. The castle was rebuilt by a British Army Officer, Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap, who contested he had Clan Chieftainship, and after purchase in 1912, restored it as a Clan MacRae stronghold.
There are, of course, ghostly figures reported; a Spanish soldier carrying his head under his arm and that of a woman called ‘Lady Mary’. There are also legends associated with the island on which the castle sits. Once said to be the burial place of the ‘Otter Kings’, fairy otters, it was said that if you caught one it would grant you the wish of your choosing to be set free. Selkies, or mermaids, were also said to inhabit the island according to sailors. Capable of shedding their skin to assume human form, should their skin be held by a human, that human could hold the selkie captive. Whatever you believe Eilean Donan certainly is a captivating place.
We retrace our steps to head inland at Kirkton, following the Balmacara Estate boundary through the beautiful scenery described earlier, heading northwards. Following our route, we reach Duncraig Castle overlooking Loch Carron. Duncraig Castle was built in 1866 by Sir Alexander Matheson using the wealth he had accumulated from the Chinese opium trade; it is now operated as a bed & breakfast. We follow the coastal path now into Plockton which sits in a sheltered bay on Loch Carron. Known as ‘The Jewel of the Highlands’, it has stunning views over the water to Skye, the Cuillins and Applecross. The TV series ‘Hamish Macbeth’ was filmed here between 1994 and 1997 based on the books by Scottish author, MC Beaton.
We follow the road south out of Plockton passing the cutoff to Coral Beach, one of a number in this area, so-called after the calcified seaweed remains that litter the beach, known as maerl. We follow the road through Strathellen Woods to Duirinish and join the Drumbuie Coastal Path where we enjoy the spectacular scenery and an opportunity to spot seals and otters. We pass Port an Eorna (Barleyport), once a fishing community, where a few houses remain and there is an area of common grazing for sheep and cattle. There is also apparently a resident heron called Harry, so we keep a look out for him!!
We walk south along the coast for a short time before heading inland to Drumbuie where we follow the road through the hamlets of Erbusaig and Badicaul to arrive at Kyle of Lochalsh. There has been a settlement here since before 1600 but in the early 19th century boats bringing tourists from Lochcarron arrived in Stromeferry, then people came to Kyle of Lochalsh to catch the ferry for Skye. With the arrival of the railway in 1897 it became a major ferry port to the island. Although the ferries are now gone the bridge brings many tourists through the area and the town can be very busy at the height of the tourist season. We wander back across the bridge onto Skye and head west towards Broadford.
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