Glenelg peninsula
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-> Glenelg peninsula
South of Loch Duich, the Glenelg peninsula, jutting out into the Sound of Sleat, is the isolated and little-known crofting area featured in Gavin Maxwell's otter novel, Ring of Bright Water. Maxwell disguised the identity of this pristine stretch of coast by calling it "Camusfearną", and it has remained a tranquil backwater in spite of the traffic that trickles through during the summer for the Kylerhea ferry to Skye (we've listed details of the wildlife sanctuary at Eilean Ban, once Maxwell's home). The peninsula's main settlement, GLENELG, is strewn along a pebbly bay on the Sound of Sleat. A row of little whitewashed houses surrounded by trees, the village is dominated by the rambling, weed-choked ruins of Fort Bernera, an eighteenth-century garrison for English government troops, but now little more than a shell. The Glenelg Inn (tel 01599/522273, www.glenelg-inn.com; £70-90) is a wonderful spot to discover at the end of so remote a road, with food served all day and a good chance of live music from any local musicians who happen to be in the pub.
The frequent six-car Glenelg-Kylerhea ferry (5min; information tel 01599/511302; April-Oct) shuttles across the Sound of Sleat from a jetty northwest of the village. In former times, this choppy channel used to be an important drovers' crossing: 8000 cattle each year were herded head to tail across from Skye to the mainland.
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