Glenelg facts: Remote village of just over 300 people

Published on 02/10/2012 03:32

Unlike it’s Martian namesake, there is life in Scotland’s Glenelg – home to a population of just under 300.

The remote Lochaber community on the west coast sits on Glenelg Bay and has views across the Kyle Rhea strait to Skye and the island’s mountains.

Getting there can also be a challenge. By road, travellers must take the twisting single track road that climbs to more than 1,000ft over Bealach Ratagan, one of the highest mountain passes in the UK.

Between April and mid-October, the mainland community can be reached from Skye in a short crossing of the Kyle Rhea strait using the aged car ferry, Glenachulish.

Farmers on Skye used to make cattle swim to the mainland before being herded to market. In nearby Gleann Beag stand the ruins of Dun Telve and Dun Troddan, the fortress-like stone homesteads of iron age farmers.

There are ruins of 18th-century Bernera Barracks, which provided a base for government troops patrolling against rebellious Jacobite sympathisers in the hills and glens.

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