The Summer Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Samhraidh, ) are an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

lying in the mouth of

Loch Broom Loch Broom ( gd, Lochbraon, "loch of rain showers") is a sea loch located in northwestern Ross and Cromarty, in the former parish of Lochbroom, on the west coast of Scotland. The small town of Ullapool lies on the eastern shore of the loch. Li ...

, in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

region of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

Geography

Tanera Mòr is the largest island and was the last one to remain inhabited.Kane, Jenny (20 November 2014) "Last permanent residents leave Summer Isles for the mainland". ''The Herald''. Glasgow. It was formerly home to an Atlantic salmon

fish farm upright=1.3, mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial animal husbandry, breeding of fish, ...

, some

rental Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for ...

holiday homes, a café and a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, which operated its own local post and printed its own stamps since 1970 until 2013, but a new set is planned for 2016. The island has no roads, and the only recognisable path goes around the Anchorage, the sheltered bay on the east side of the island. Boats sail to the island from Achiltibuie and

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, ...

Other islands

* Bò Bhùiridh * Bottle Island * Càrn Deas * Càrn Iar * Càrn nan Sgeir * Eilean a' Chàr * Eilean Choinaid *

Eilean Dubh Eilean Dubh (Scottish Gaelic, 'Black Island') may refer to: * List of islands called Eilean Dubh * ''Eilean Dubh'' (ferry) See also * Black Island (disambiguation) *Black Isle The Black Isle ( gd, an t-Eilean Dubh, ) is a peninsula within R ...

* Eilean Fada Beag * Eilean Fada Mòr * Eilean Mullagrach * Eilean na Saille * Glas-leac Beag * Glas-leac Mòr * Horse Island * Iolla Mhòr * Isle Martin *

Isle Ristol Isle Ristol, the innermost of the Summer Isles in Scotland, is a Scottish Wildlife Trust Reserve. Lying roughly north of Ullapool in Wester Ross, it is a tidal island, in Loch an Alltain Duibh, that is separated by a narrow channel from Ol ...

* Meall nan Caorach * Meall nan Gabhar *

Priest Island Priest Island ( gd, Eilean a' Chlèirich) is a small, uninhabited island in the Summer Isles off the west coast of Scotland. History According to the Gazetteer for Scotland the island was an "early Christian retreat" and that it has several sto ...

(Eilean a' Chlèirich) * Sgeir an Aon Iomairt * Sgeir Bhuidhe Mòr * Sgeir Loisgte * Sgeir nam Mult * Sgeir Ribhinn * Sgeirean Glasa * Stac Mhic Aonghais *

Tanera Beag Tanera Beag or Tanera Beg is an uninhabited island in the Summer Isles off north west Scotland. It is called "Tanera Beag" ("Little Tanera") to distinguish it from Tanera Mòr, "Big Tanera". References

Summer Isles Uninhabited islan ...

Conservation

The islands are part of the

Assynt Assynt ( gd, Asainn or ) is a sparsely populated area in the south-west of Sutherland, lying north of Ullapool on the west coast of Scotland. Assynt is known for its landscape and its remarkable mountains, which have led to the area, along with ...

- Coigach National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. Frank Fraser Darling, an important figure in the development of Scottish conservation, lived on Tanera Mòr for two years in the 1930s. His book, ''Island Years'' (published 1940), records his time in the Summer Isles, painting Priest Island as a place of great beauty as well as great wildlife.

Literature, film, and music

*The Summer Isles feature in a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...

of the same name by

Ian R. MacLeod Ian R. MacLeod (born 1956) is a British science fiction and fantasy writer. He was born in Solihull near Birmingham. He studied law and worked as a civil servant before going freelance in early 1990s soon after he started publishing stories, att ...

. *The fictional Summer Isle, Cladach Duillich (Sad Shore), features in the 1977 Desmond Bagley novel ''The Enemy''. *The third movement of a guitar suite, "The Great Western Road," on the album of the same name by Tim Slemmons, is entitled, "III. Evening in the Summer Isles." * The Children's Film Foundation (CFF) ''The Big Catch'' (1968) features a group of boys who plan to sail to The Summer Isles to capture a wild pony. Filming took place in and around Ullapool and Lochinver. *The pagan island of "Summerisle" featured in the motion picture '' The Wicker Man'' (filmed in 1973 & directed by Robin Hardy) is sometimes mistakenly associated with this archipelago, but in actuality ''The Wicker Man'' was filmed around

Newton Stewart Newton Stewart ( Gd: ''Baile Ùr nan Stiùbhartach'') is a former burgh town in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. The town is on the River Cree with most of the town to the west of the river, and ...

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Ki ...

Summer Isles Philatelic Bureau

Since 1970 the Summer Isles Philatelic Bureau has been issuing stamps of the islands for tourists who place them on mail to be carried to the nearest GPO Post Box on the mainland.

Culture

The musician Mairearad Green grew up in Achiltibuie on the Coigach peninsula, overlooking the Summer Isles. She has released an album entitled ''Summer Isles''.

References

External links

Panorama of the Summer Isles
(QuickTime required) {{Hebrides Ross and Cromarty Archipelagoes of Scotland Islands of Highland (council area) Underwater diving sites in Scotland