April 14th 2014

 

 

I can not remember the last time I used a public telephone box, many of which are now either derelict or as in southern England used as hosts for defibrillator machines. Tonight however I rang Julie from this call box, and a well spent 60p it was too. This box is on the Isle of Ornsay on the Sleat peninsular of Skye. I've spent a day on Skye enjoying what can only be said to be an absolutely perfect April weather. Blue skies, hardly any wind and warm. Perfect. I used to come to Skye a lot in the 1980's but on moving down to Somerset in 1993 that all stopped. I have not been on the island for certain since the bridge opened in 1996 and so it was with some excitement that I planned to cross today. Before then a nostalgic stop at the old Kyle of Lochalsh ferry slipway. With a new road to the bridge Kyle has become much more touristy. I remember my last visit here in 1991 and it felt like a busy port with booths and kiosks everywhere. Yet today this is a quiet backwater bypassed by everyone except those who remember. There was something magical about getting the ferry to Skye but I can see how the bridge has opened up many opportunities for the locals. As was said in my favourite film Local Hero "one can't live on scenery alone".

 

 

Skye has changed and I think for the better. It is not quite as wild and economically depressed as it once was but it is very much an island way of life, with the economic benefits of a permanent crossing. Back in 1985 I stayed for 2 weeks here at the Harlosh House Hotel at Harlosh to the north of Skye. Sadly this closed in the late 1990's when the owners divorced. That is a shame as back then it was a superb hotel, the owner Peter was a fantastic chef who only cooked one sitting, if the hotel was full it was closed to non residents. I remember having a lobster here which Peter asked at breakfast if we would like to have in the evening, if we did he's pop down to the Loch and get one. I shared it with a with a couple from Edinburgh and it was an absolutely delicious meal. It's sad in a way to return to a place of such fond memories and to see it lying empty, wallpaper falling off the walls. Will someone take it on I wonder, for it is in an idyllic spot. 

 

My day on Skye ended on the Isle of Ornsay. I love the Sleat peninsular and have stayed here a few times. Tonight with the sun setting there was nothing else to do but stop a while and partake of my last Scottish supper of this trip at the Eilean Iarmain hotel. Haggis for starter, venison for mains and all washed down with a Red Cuillin beer from the Isle of Skye Brewery. A perfect way to end my Scottish holiday. And the phone box was a flight of fancy too - if anyone knows the ending of Local Hero, they will understand.