Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 30 on 01/12/2006.

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A changing Skye

John Hannavy visits the beautiful island of Skye

To many people, the opening of the Skye Bridge a decade ago did something irreparable to Skye’s island status. Before 1995, there were only three ways of getting there – and they all required getting on a boat and sailing across a stretch of water.

Arriving on Skye across the bridge, it is almost possible to forget you are leaving the mainland for an island, as the bridge spans little more than a wide river. For the residents of Skye, of course, the advantages of the bridge are manifest, and the opportunities still largely unexploited – and the benefits well outweigh any loss of the unique individuality that comes with being an island. Island status was probably only ever really attractive to the visitors.

There are still two ‘classic’ ways of getting there, however, the short summer-only ferry from Glenelg to Kylerhea, and the longer 25 minute journey on board the appropriately-named MV Lord of the Isles from Mallaig on Scotland’s west coast to Armadale on the Sound of Sleat on the south east coast of Skye.

Like any port of entry, the two towns through which we enter Skye are probably more a reflection of the mainland we have left than the island we are about to discover.

The photographs on the website for the Skye Museum of Island Life at Kilmuir were all taken in bright sunlight under a clear blue sky. The day we visited the sky was heavy and leaden, the wind ferocious and freezing, with occasional bouts of squally rain. That actually offered a much more realistic impr.....

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By John Hannavy

Section : Scottish Islands

Page number : 18