Carefully Selected Scottish Holiday Homes in Beautiful Locations
Scourie, Tarbet and Handa Island
Ten miles north of Kylesku, the widely scattered crofting community of SCOURIE, on a bluff above the main road, surrounds a beautiful sandy beach whose safe bathing has made it a popular holiday destination for families. Visible just offshore to the north of Scourie is Handa Island, a huge chunk of red Torridon sandstone surrounded by sheer cliffs, carpeted with machair and purple-tinged moorland, and teeming with seabirds. It's private property, but is administered as an internationally important wildlife reserve by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) and is a real treat for ornithologists, with vast colonies of razorbills and guillemots breeding on its guano-splashed cliffs during summer. From late May to mid-July, large numbers of puffins waddle comically over the turf-covered cliff tops where they dig their burrows.
Apart from a solitary warden, Handa is deserted. Until midway through the nineteenth century, however, it supported a thriving, if somewhat eccentric, community of crofters. Surviving on a diet of fish, potatoes and seabirds, the islanders, whose ruined cottages still cling to the slopes by the jetty, devised their own system of government, with a "queen" (Handa's oldest widow) and "parliament" (a council of men who met each morning to discuss the day's business). Uprooted by the 1846 potato famine, most of the villagers eventually emigrated to Canada's Cape Breton.
Weather permitting, boats (tel 01971/502347) leave for Handa throughout the day (April-Sept daily 9.30am-2pm; last return 5pm; £7) from the tiny cove of TARBET, three miles northwest of the main road and accessible by postbus from Scourie (Mon-Sat 1 daily; 1.50pm), where there's a small car park and jetty. You're encouraged to make a donation of around £1.50 towards Handa's upkeep. It takes about three hours to follow the footpath around the island - an easy and enjoyable walk taking in the north shore's Great Stack rock pillar and some fine views across the Minch: a detailed route guide is featured in the SWT's free leaflet, available from the warden's office when you arrive. The SWT maintains a bothy for birdwatchers (reservations essential on 0131/312 7765 or with the warden). In Tarbet, the Croft House (tel 01971/502098; under £40) is a comfortable little B&B overlooking the bay. For food, Tarbet's unexpected Seafood Restaurant (Mon-Sat noon-7pm) serves delicious, moderately priced fish and vegetarian dishes, and a good selection of home-made cakes and desserts, in its airy conservatory just above the jetty.
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