Beinn an Fhraoich

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.

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

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.

Peggy Chisholm's Bridge carries the B884 Glendale road over the Brunigill Burn near its outflow into Loch Erghallan, just south of the township of Skinidin (Sgianaidin). In the early 20th century Peggy lived in a house near the bridge, of which no traces remain. The parapets have frequently had to be rebuilt following impacts by vehicles on the narrow road. The Ordnance Survey Name Books of 1876-8 record Brunigill as the name "applied to a house one Storey high thatched and in ordinary repair Situated about ½ mile to the South-east of Skinidin Property of McLeod of Mcleod"; this may have been Peggy's home. Alexander Forbes in his 1923 work on the place names of Skye derives the name from the Norse "Brunnr" indicating a ravine. This image shows the downstream side of the bridge. For the view from upstream see NG2247 : Drochaid Peigi Siosalaiche (2).

Peggy Chisholm's Bridge carries the B884 Glendale road over the Brunigill Burn near its outflow into Loch Erghallan, just south of the township of Skinidin (Sgianaidin). In the early 20th century Peggy lived in a house near the bridge, of which no traces remain. The parapets have frequently had to be rebuilt following impacts by vehicles on the narrow road. The Ordnance Survey Name Books of 1876-8 record Brunigill as the name "applied to a house one Storey high thatched and in ordinary repair Situated about ½ mile to the South-east of Skinidin Property of McLeod of Mcleod"; this may have been Peggy's home. Alexander Forbes in his 1923 work on the place names of Skye derives the name from the Norse "Brunnr" indicating a ravine. This image shows the view from upstream. For downstream side of the bridge see NG2247 : Drochaid Peigi Siosalaiche (1).

The map shows this point, just south of Fasach, as a ford. It looks like the occasional shepherd on a quad bike crosses here, though it is very rocky. It is easy to keep your boots dry at times of low rainfall!

The water level is lower than usual following a prolonged spell of dry weather on Skye. The river flows north west and through Glendale before meeting the sea in Loch Pooltiel.

It is not often so much of the river bed is exposed. As can be seen, the bed is mostly smooth rock just here. In contrast, just a few metres downstream, the bed is full of boulders - NG1946 : Hamara River - boulder bed. There has been very little rainfall for the past ten weeks or so on Skye.

In contrast with NG1946 : Hamara River - smooth bed, the river bed here, just a few metres downstream is full of boulders. The water level is unusually low following a prolonged dry spell on Skye.

The trunk of this Rowan tree starts out horizontally from a crack in the rock. It is the only tree of its size amid miles of heather moorland. It is growing on the bank of the Hamara River.

The bright green patches on the hillside beyond the river are bracken. The river level is unusually low, after an extended period of little rainfall on Skye.

A lengthy period of little rainfall on Skye has left river levels much lower than usual. This makes the crossing of the Hamara River an easy task, with so much of its rocky bed exposed.