Skye: (in Gaelic… Eilean a cheo) meaning The Misty Isle

Some say that Skye owes its name to the Vikings who settled on the island more than 1000 years ago. They called it Skyuo, Island of Cloud. Others derive the name from the Gaelic Sgitheanach, meaning Winged Isle. Gaels today know it as Eilean a' Cheo, the Misty Isle. There are no such disagreements about the quality of Skye's scenery. The coastline is amongst the most exciting in the British Isles, with more than a dozen narrow sea-lochs, gentle bays, spectacular sea-stacks, natural arches and cliffs rising 1000ft above Atlantic breakers. The diversity of the mountain scenery is amazing, from the jagged Cuillin ridge to the unique flat-topped hills of MacLeod's Tables and the fantastic eroded pinnacles of the Storr and the Quirang. Not all is drama and spectacle however; the island has a gentler face with scattered villages nestling in the folds of soft green hills, wooded glens and tiny harbours filled with colourful fishing boats.

One of the largest and best known Scottish islands, Skye is particularly famous for its mountain scenery. Many people come here to climb or walk in the Cuillin and the Quiraing. Quite an expanding population since the early 1990s, now there are around 14,000 people living on the island.

Located off the West Coast of Scotland, the Isle of Skye is the second largest of the Hebridean islands.

Covering an area of 700 square miles, the island is made up of five peninsulas with many hundreds of miles of spectacular coastline. Nowhere, in fact, is further than five miles from the sea. My qth is one of the few places where you can’t actually see the sea!

The stark yet stunning landscape is post glacial with a profusion of fantastic pinnacled hills, soaring cliffs, majestic stacks, stunning sea caves, and the finest range of mountains in the British Isles. The land is steeped in history from the savage clan battles to the devastating clearances.

This combination of unrivalled scenery and romantic stories of by gone days has lead to a thriving tourist industry which supplements the islands traditional economy of crofting and fishing.

The population is small but steadily on the increase as more and more people are attracted to a land that is remote, beautiful, and peaceful yet still can provide the infrastructure for a full and content lifestyle?..well after a few months of continuos gales ...this notion might wear a bit thin!