Kyle of Lochalsh (from the
Gaelic ''Caol Loch Aillse'', "strait of the foaming
loch") is a village in the historic county of
Ross-shire
Ross-shire (; gd, Siorrachd Rois) is a historic county in the Scottish Highlands. The county borders Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire – a county consisting o ...
on the northwest coast of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, located around west-southwest of
Inverness. It is located on the
Lochalsh peninsula, at the entrance to
Loch Alsh
Loch Alsh (from the Scottish Gaelic ''Loch Aillse'', "foaming lake") is a sea inlet between the isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides and the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is also used to describe the surrounding country and the feuda ...
, opposite the village of
Kyleakin
Kyleakin (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Caol Àcain'') is a village situated on the east coast of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. The village is along the strait of Kyle Akin opposite the northwest Scottish mainland town of Kyle of Loch ...
on the
Isle of Skye. A ferry used to connect the two villages until it was replaced by the
Skye Bridge, about to the west, in 1995.
Geography
The village is the transport and shopping centre for the area as well as having a harbour and
marina with pontoons for maritime visitors. The Plock offers a local woodland hike and viewpoint over the peninsula. The Plock was formerly home to a
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...
. It is owned by the Kyle of Lochalsh Community Trust, who also own the adjacent building which was formerly the toll building for the Skye Bridge. The surrounding scenery and wildlife are regarded as attractions of the village, as is the slow pace of life.
Crofting
Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production particular to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man.
Within the 19th century townships, individual crofts were established on the bett ...
as well as more recent crofting pursuits like
salmon farming
The aquaculture of salmonids is the farming and harvesting of salmonids under controlled conditions for both commercial and recreational purposes. Salmonids (particularly salmon and rainbow trout), along with carp, and tilapia are the three most ...
are some of the activities taking place in Kyle of Lochalsh.
A land-based control centre of the
Royal Naval BUTEC submarine range is based in Kyle of Lochalsh.
["British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC)"](_blank)
Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
Kyle of Lochalsh lies almost precisely due north of
Land's End
Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
.
Kyle of Lochalsh is the mainland connecting point of the
Skye Bridge, with
Kyleakin
Kyleakin (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Caol Àcain'') is a village situated on the east coast of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. The village is along the strait of Kyle Akin opposite the northwest Scottish mainland town of Kyle of Loch ...
on the
Isle of Skye being at the opposite side of the bridge.
History
A public hall in the centre of the village was completed in 1932.
Kyle of Lochalsh was the departure point, on New Year's Eve 1918, of the
HMY Iolaire'','' which was bringing home soldiers returning from World War I to the Outer Hebrides. It sank close to its destination of Stornoway and the soldiers tragically drowned.
In 1973, the ferry service which operated from Kyle of Lochalsh to
Stornoway was discontinued, with services transferred to
Ullapool
Ullapool (; gd, Ulapul ) is a village and port located in Northern Scotland. Ullapool has a population of around 1,500 inhabitants. It is located around northwest of Inverness in Ross and Cromarty, Scottish Highlands. Despite its modest size, ...
instead.
During the 1990s, residents and workers in the area of Kyle of Lochalsh joined together with residents and workers on the Isle of Skye to form the SKAT (Skye and Kyle Against Tolls) anti-toll group movement, to protest against the Skye bridge tolls, which at the time were the highest in the country (£5 per crossing). The protestors were successful in having tolls abolished on the Skye Bridge.
Transport
Kyle of Lochalsh railway station is connected to Inverness by the
Kyle of Lochalsh railway line, built in 1897 to improve public transport to the north-west of Scotland. The line ends on the water's edge, near where the ferry connection used to run.
Kyle of Lochalsh is a calling point for the
Royal Scotsman
The ''Belmond Royal Scotsman'' is a Scottish overnight luxury train, started in 1985 by GS&WR (Great Scottish and Western Railway Co.), and run since 2005 by Belmond Ltd. Its itineraries include 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7-night journeys around the Scotti ...
service.
Scottish Citylink coaches also call at Kyle of Lochalsh, at the bus stop by the old ferry slipway - current routes are the 917 between
Inverness and
Skye and the 915 and 916 between
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Fort William and
Skye (915 via
Glasgow Airport
gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Ghlaschu
, image = Glasgow Airport logo.svg
, image-width = 200
, image2 = GlasgowAirportFromAir.jpg
, image2-width = 250
, IATA = GLA
, ICAO = EGPF
, type = Public
, owner = AGS Airports
, hub =
*eas ...
). Both run at least twice a day, depending on the time of year. There are irregular local buses to
Broadford and
Elgol
Elgol ( gd, Ealaghol) is a village on the shores of Loch Scavaig towards the end of the Strathaird peninsula in the Isle of Skye, in the Scottish Highlands.
Name
According to tradition, its name derives from a battle fought with five ships by ...
on
Skye, school buses to
Plockton and a taxibus service to
Glenelg, Highland
Glenelg ( gd, Glinn Eilg, also ''Gleann Eilg'' is a scattered community area and civil parish in the Lochalsh area of Highland in western Scotland. Despite the local government reorganisation the area is considered by many still to be in Inv ...
via
Shiel Bridge (this only runs three days a week and in winter needs to be booked).
Skye has additional buses in the high summer season, some of which run to Kyle.
The
A87 road runs through Kyle to and from the
Skye Bridge.
In popular culture
* In 1980, the BBC did a series of documentaries, entitled ''
Great Railway Journeys of the World''. Kyle of Lochalsh appeared in an episode entitled "Confessions of a Trainspotter", presented by
Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries.
Palin w ...
. In the segment, Palin travelled by various trains from
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to Kyle of Lochalsh. His humour was evident throughout the documentary. Upon reaching Kyle of Lochalsh, he purchased a large piece of railway memorabilia—the Kyle of Lochalsh railway platform sign. The ending credits showed Palin taking the oversized sign with him back to London; he then hung it on his garden wall at home.
* Along with nearby village
Plockton, the town became the backdrop to the BBC drama series ''
Hamish Macbeth
Hamish Macbeth is the lackadaisical police constable of the fictional Scottish Highland town of Lochdubh, in a series of murder mystery novels created by M. C. Beaton (Marion Chesney).
Considered by many to be a useless, lazy moocher, Macbeth ...
''.
* Kyle of Lochalsh was visited by the characters in
Mark Chadbourn's trilogy, ''
Age of Misrule''.
*It is the birth place of the character
Roger Wakefield Mackenzie from the series of books and tv series ''
Outlander''.
See also
*
Port an Eòrna
References
External links
Video footage of the town's station and branchline in 1970Kyle of Lochalsh Station in 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyle Of Lochalsh
Populated places in Lochalsh
Ross and Cromarty
Ports and harbours of Scotland