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Holiday Ideas - Glenelg
The name itself may be a palindrome but that is as far as Glenelg gets to being symmetric! This is the closest point to the Isle of Skye on the Highland mainland and the Narrows at Kylerhea are famed for their colonies of seals and sea otters. The name is derived from the gaelic “Gleann Seilg”, the “Glen of Hunting” but the word Glen may be implied as being plural thus describing the many glens in this quiet part of Inverness-shire encompassing many glaciated valleys with tumbling salmon rivers. 
Unless you want to take the seasonal car ferry to Skye, there is only one way in and one way out of this remote part of Inverness-shire and that is up and over Ratagan! This area has seen human habitation for thousands of years as the existence of the Glenelg Brochs signify. They lie down a side road going inland from Eilanreach, 2 miles down the road from the village of Glenelg. This can be quite a spooky place and the last time I was there there were Ravens nesting in the cliffs nearby - not a place to wild camp - the Blair Witch Project springs to mind! However daunting some people my find this glen there is no doubt that the 2 brochs are in superb condition. Further down the coast road on the shore line is the site of "Camusfearna" the name given to Sandaig by Gavin Maxwell in his excellent novels. In his time he was a whale fisherman in the seas beyond and came to Sandaig with his otters for the peace and tranquillity it offered. The house is gone now - a very sad and touching story but his books - "Ring of Bright Water" and “The Rocks Remain” being the most famous - live on and if you want to a get real feeling for this area, you really should read them. Accommodation is good especially the Inn and the B&Bs where you can meet local people. If you are a walker, there are three "hills" worth climbing Beinn a' Chapuill (738m), Beinn Sgritheall (974m) and Beinn Nan Caorach (773m). You also have Knoydart over Loch Hourn from Arnisdale, an even more remote peninsula where access is by boat only! Tempting? Once you have experienced Glenelg and enjoyed its hospitality, you can cross the ferry to Skye and the Isles beyond! |
yesscotland - says:
This road, over the mountain of Ratagan and across the ferry was once a drove road for cattle heading for the markets of the mainland and as such was strategically important for the Red Coats in their endeavours to quell the Jacobean traits of the endemic peoples! Thus they built Bernera Barracks which was similar to Fort Augustus, the Old Fort William and not too dissimilar to the old barracks at the foot of the Black Mount near Glencoe - if not in size then in military objective!