Beinn Ghille-Choinnich

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The croft museum in the township of Colbost, on the west shore of Loch Dunvegan, was established in 1969 by local man Peter MacAskill as the first of several heritage projects in the area. Its centrepiece was a restored island blackhouse (Taigh Dubh), constructed of rough unmortared stone and replicating typical living conditions in 19th-century rural Skye. There were two doors, one for the crofter's family who occupied two thirds of the building and the other for the animals housed in the byre which took up the remaining space. There were no windows or chimneys; daylight entered through the doorways and smoke from the central peat fire, continuously burning in its hearth on the floor of the living room, escaped though a raised opening in the thatched roof. The interior was thus dark and smoky and the floor was of beaten earth. Kettles and cooking pots were hung on a slabhraidh (chain) suspended from the rafters over the fire, and crockery and utensils was kept in a dresser and presses (cupboards) against the walls. A replica of an illicit whisky still could be seen to the rear of the museum. The adjoining Three Chimneys restaurant was also opened by Peter, initially to provide refreshments for visitors to the museum, and takes its name from the Kent hamlet near Sevenoaks where Peter had formerly lived. Sadly the museum was not able to reopen following its closure just before the Covid pandemic of 2020, and by 2023 it stood derelict with the neglected roof thatch disintegrating.

A view across the sea loch from Colbost on a June evening. Dunvegan Castle in NG2449 is prominent on the eastern shore.

Marked by the Ordnance Survey as a spring, this well gives clear fresh water though within a few metres of high water. Eòin is the old form of the name John, used in the Gaelic Bible for both John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the New Testament, almost completely replaced in modern Scottish Gaelic by Iain, and in Ireland by Seán. One local tradition associates this spring with a John Mackay, but others take it to be a holy well dedicated to one of the biblical saints. There are several such wells in Ireland commemorating the Baptist, including this S5661 : Holy Well at Johnswell (Tobar Eoin) in Co. Kilkenny which was the scene of a midsummer festival on St John's Eve, 23rd June. The present concrete surround is modern. The well also gives its name to the nearby house NG2149 : Tobar Eòin.

This plant is widely though patchily distributed throughout Britain and Ireland, being rare in central England and the south of Scotland. Its particular strongholds include the Hebrides (though it is rare in Lewis) and the counties of Ceredigion in Wales and Clare in Ireland. Since 1930 the population has declined greatly, as modern farming and grazing practices have resulted in the loss of unimproved grassland, a preferred habitat. Here the plant is growing in grassland on the western shore of Loch Dunvegan. Nearby the NG2149 : Spotted orchid is in bloom as it was in mid-July the previous year.

In the garden of a house called Middle Earth. It may not be very ancient.

Beside the lane leading to the jetty. Mycologists are invited to identify these two species.

Battered remnants of fruiting bodies beside the road to the jetty. Mycologists are welcome to guess at the species.

The former factor's house for Glendale was the first in the township to be roofed with slate in the 1840s and received a modern extension early in the 21st century.

The "Beast from the North" has brought an unexpected wintry spell to many parts of the UK in early March. An uneven dusting of snow surrounds the final reach of the burn as it discharges into Loch Dunvegan. The three small islands in the loch, exposed to the sun and salt spray, show almost no covering but the final stretch of the jetty road, in the shadow of a belt of trees, is deeply and treacherously iced.

Seen here off Colbost where she was delivering a pontoon, Toplander is a 22-metre multi-role vessel built in 2019 by Meercat Boats of Hythe near Southampton for civil engineering firm Topbond, and leased to BK Marine of Tingwall, Shetland. RINA Link

The landing craft Toplander Link has brought the structure across the loch from Dunvegan. It will provide a facility for fish farm support craft.

A corrugated building stands in the angle between the Upper Colbost road and the B884. In the background are the Colbost islands in Loch Dunvegan and in the misty distance the peninsula of Waternish on the far side of the loch.

Three years on from the closure enforced by Covid, the restored black house at the centre of the Colbost Croft Museum is showing sad signs of severe neglect. The central section of the thatched roof has given way, leaving only the retaining wire netting, while rank weeds have invaded the remaining parts of the thatch. An upturned wheelbarrow is quietly rusting away in the foreground.

Three years on from the closure enforced by Covid, the restored black house is showing sad signs of severe neglect. The central section of the thatched roof has given way, leaving only the retaining wire netting, while rank weeds have invaded the remaining parts of the thatch. Agricultural machinery and an old wheel lie among the long grass.