All Things Considered

Crossings
Posted by Simon Lewin

April saw the relaunch of the ferry that runs from Glenelg on the mainland to Kylerhea on Skye.

In the days of cheap air travel round the globe, there’s still something incredibly romantic about arriving at a destination by ferry, a means of travel that’s probably changed very little over the years - something that Angie and I pondered when we travelled from Skye to Harris in 2005 - a journey we’d been meaning to do for years.

Now that the Skye Bridge is toll-free, it would be easy to underestimate the benefits that such a link can bring (I say this from the position of not knowing exactly HOW the existence of the bridge has changed the island).

But at least it’s good to still have the option of crossing the sea to Skye.

It was the opening of the bridge that in part had threatened the existence of the Glenelg to Kylerhea crossing (which lacked any sort of public subsidy) but in 2006 a Community Interest Company was formed, initially leasing ‘The Glenachulish’ that crosses the Kylerhea Narrows - though the funds were raised to purchase the vessel.

The journey takes 5 minutes to cross and takes six cars with ‘standing room only’ for foot passengers. It might only be a short crossing, but it’ll be one you remember for years.

Posted by Simon Lewin on April 25th, 2007