The north and northwest Highlands - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 222

EATING AND DRINKING
Cornerstone Main St T 01687 462306. A simple first-floor
restaurant that's the locals' choice for classic seafood - expect
a daily soup and a blackboard menu of fresh fish, simply but
excellently prepared and fairly priced at around £12-16.
March to mid-Oct daily noon-2.30pm & 5-9.30pm.
Island View T 01687 462210, W westhighlandhotel
.co.uk. In the West Highland Hotel , this is Mallaig's fine-
dining address, with modern Scottish cooking: fish and

seafood feature plus well-aged steaks priced around £15 a
main. Start (or end) with one of over a hundred whiskies
in the bar. March to mid-Oct daily 6.30-9pm.
Tea Garden Main St T 01687 462764. As central as it
gets, with a terrace to watch the world pass by and a
relaxed dining room with a traditional bistro menu of
Cullen skink, pints of prawns or home-made scones for
under £10. Mid-March to mid-Nov daily 9am-9pm.

The Knoydart peninsula
For many, the Knoydart peninsula is mainland Britain's most captivating wilderness
area. The fact that it is inaccessible by car is part of the allure - to reach the heart of
the peninsula, you either catch a boat from Mallaig or hike across rugged moorland,
sleeping in stone bothies (marked on OS maps). The scenery is superb, flanked by
Loch Nevis (“Loch of Heaven”) and the fjord-like Loch Hourn (“Loch of Hell”) and
three Munros sweeping straight up from the sea. Unsurprisingly, the peninsula has long
attracted walkers. But with increasingly comfortable accommodation, it is also gaining
a cachet among holiday-makers in search of escapism: a place to slow down for a few
days' self-imposed exile from modernity.

Brief history
At the end of the eighteenth century, around a thousand people eked out a living from
this inhospitable terrain through crofting and fishing. Evictions in 1853 began a
dramatic decrease in the population, which continued to dwindle through the twentieth
century as a succession of landowners ran the estate as a hunting and shooting
playground, prompting a famous land raid in 1948 by a group of crofters known as the
“ Seven Men of Knoydart ”, who claimed ownership of portions of the estate. Although
their bid failed, their cause was invoked when the crofters of Knoydart finally achieved
a community buyout in 1998. An offer to provide the money from theatre impresario
Cameron Mackintosh was rejected because locals were wary of giving up control.

4

Inverie
Most of the peninsula's hundred or so occupants live near the hamlet of INVERIE .
Spread along Loch Nevis, it has a pint-sized post office and shop (with internet access),
a ranger post with tips on local walks and wildlife, and mainland Britain's most remote
pub, The Old Forge . You're here for scenery, for walks and for the thrill of dropping of
the radar - unless, that is, your visit coincides with that of seven hundred revellers for
the Knoydart Festival ( W knoydartfestival.co.uk) every other April.

WALKING INTO KNOYDART
Ordnance Survey Explorer maps 413 and 398
There are two main hiking routes into Knoydart. The trailhead for the first is Kinloch Hourn at
the far-east end of Loch Hourn (turn south off the A87 six miles west of Invergarry). From Kinloch
Hourn, a well-marked path winds around the coast to Barisdale, where there's a year-round bothy
and wild camp (bothy £3, campsite £1; W barisdale.com), before continuing ten miles to Inverie;
expect 18-20 hours' walk in total. The second path into Knoydart starts from the west end of
Loch Arkaig , approaching the peninsula via Glen Dessary. Hardened walkers reckon on knocking
off the 18-mile journey in one long summer's day. The rest of us should set aside two. Either way,
take wet-weather gear, a good map, plenty of food, warm clothes and a good sleeping bag, and
leave your name and expected time of arrival with someone when you set off.