Skye and the Small Isles - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 284

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE THE SMALL ISLES

5

Be aware that boats are frequently cancelled by bad weather , so check forecasts.

By ferry CalMac ( T 01687 462403, W calmac.co.uk) sails
from Mallaig (late March to mid-Oct daily, otherwise
Mon-Sat), although doesn't sail to all islands each day.
Long day-trips are possible on Sat. Sheerwater ( T 01687

450224, W arisaig.co.uk) sails daily from Arisaig (see p.222)
to Eigg plus Rùm or Muck from late April to late Sept. The
ride doubles as a wildlife cruise, so while enjoyable is more
expensive than travelling with CalMac.

Rùm
After almost a century as the “Forbidden Isle” - the exclusive sporting estate of
self-made Lancastrian industrialists the Bulloughs - Rùm has opened up. Indeed since it
passed to Scottish Natural Heritage in 1957, visitors are positively encouraged. Many
come to hike the eight-mile Rùm Cuillin Ridge Walk , tracking a crown of peaks that are
modest by Skye's standards - the summit of Askival is only 812m - but every bit as
impressive in looks. And in recent years, crofting land has been released as Scottish
Natural Heritage (SNH) tries to encourage a community. Most of the island's forty
inhabitants live around KINLOCH on the east coast, and many are employed by SNH,
which runs the island as a National Nature Reserve. SNH have reintroduced native
woodland and white-tailed (sea) eagles , most of which promptly flew to neighbouring
islands. Of its wildlife, the island is most famous for its Manx shearwaters , which nest in
burrows of high peaks. You can learn more about the flora and fauna in an unmanned
visitor centre halfway between the wharf and castle.
he best beach is Kilmory in the north of the island, a flattish walk on tracks through
Kinloch then Kilmory glens (10 miles, 5hr return from Kinloch). Bear in mind that Rùm
is the wettest of the Small Isles, and is infamous for midges (see p.41) - come prepared.

Kinloch Castle
Kinloch • March-Oct guided tours coincide with the ferry • £9 • T 01687 462037
Most day-trippers to Rùm head straight for Kinloch Castle , a squat, red-sandstone
edifice. Built at huge expense in 1900 - the red sandstone was shipped in from
Dumfriesshire and the soil for the gardens from Ayrshire - its interior is a perfectly
preserved example of Edwardian decadence. It's also appealingly bonkers. From the
galleried hall, with its tiger rugs, stags' heads and giant Japanese incense burners, to the
Soho snooker table in the Billiard Room, the interior is packed with technical gizmos
accumulated by Sir George Bullough (1870-1939), the spendthrift son of self-made
millionaire, Sir John Bullough, who bought the island as a sporting estate in 1888. It
was only really used for a few weeks each autumn, when guests were woken at eight
each morning by a piper; later, an orchestrion (an electrically driven barrel organ) that
was made for Queen Victoria would grind out pre-dinner ditties like The Ride of the
Valkyries and Ma Blushin' Rosie .

Walks from Kinloch
Two gentle waymarked walks head from Kinloch into the surrounding countryside.
he Northside nature trail (1hr) circuits via Kinloch Glen and is signposted from the
visitor centre. In addition, a lochside trail from the ferry dock reaches an otter hide
(30min return walk) then continues to the abandoned hamlet of Port na Caranean
(40min on from the hide). The goal for hardened hikers is the Rùm Cuillin Ridge
Walk (see box, p.288).

Bullough Mausoleum
Harris, 8 miles southwest of Kinloch
When the island's headcount peaked at 450 in 1791, the hamlet of HARRIS on the
southwest coast (a 3-4hr walk from Kinloch), housed a crofting community. All that