Panoramas

Best enlarged The Skye Bridge (Scottish Gaelic: Drochaid an Eilein Sgitheanaich) is a road bridge over Loch Alsh, Scotland, connecting the Isle of Skye to the island of Eilean Bàn. The name is also used for the whole Skye Crossing, which further connects Eilean Bàn to the mainland across the Carrich Viaduct. The crossing forms part of the A87. Traditionally, the usual route from the mainland to Skye was the shortest crossing, with a length of around 500 metres (1,640 ft), across the sound between the villages of Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland and Kyleakin on the island's east coast. A ferry service operated from around 1600, run by private operators and latterly by Caledonian MacBrayne. On completion of the bridge in 1995 the ferry service was discontinued. Eilean Bàn (Scottish Gaelic meaning White Island) is a six acre island that was home to John Lister-Kaye, who wrote his book The White Island about his time there, working for Gavin Maxwell. In 2001 the island had a population of two as recorded by the census but in 2011 there were no "usual residents" living there. Kyleakin Lighthouse is situated at the south-western end of Eilean Bàn. It was built by David and Thomas Stevenson in 1857, and is linked to a pair of keepers' houses. The lighthouse was automated and converted to use acetylene gas in 1960. Following the start of construction of the Skye Bridge, the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1993.

Best enlarged View to the west across Ardmore Bay and Ardmore Point towards Dunvagan Head on the far side of Loch Dunvagan. Just visible on the horizon beyond lie islands of the Outer Hebrdies.

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A Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Loch Fada is a small inland loch at the southern end of the Trotternish ridge. Loch Fada is connected at its northern extremity to the larger Loch Leathan through a gently winding stream. The Storr Lochs are made up of Loch Fada, with the larger Loch Leathan to the north. On the northern part of Loch Leathan, the dam for the Storr Lochs hydro-electric project was built creating the reservoir for the hydro project. The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board received permission to construct a dam and power station at Storr Lochs on the Isle of Skye in 1949. The project combined the waters of Loch Fada and Loch Leathan in the Storr Lochs reservoir, with the generating house below on Bearreraig Bay. Construction began in early 1950, and was commissioned in May 1952.

First posted 2016

Best enlarged Picture taken from the summit of Sale Fell, 359 metres (1178 ft) Skiddaw is a mountain in the Lake District National Park in England, where its 931 metre (3,054 feet) summit is the sixth-highest in England. It lies just north of the town of Keswick, Cumbria, and dominates the skyline in this part of the northern lakes Ullock Pike is a fell of 692 metres (2270 feet) in height. The fell sits on Skiddaw’s south western ridge along with two other fells.

Best enlarged The Cuillin (Scottish Gaelic: An Cuilthionn or An Cuiltheann) is a range of rocky mountains located on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The true Cuillin is also known as the Black Cuillin to distinguish it from the Red Cuilin (na Beanntan Dearga, known locally as Red Hills) across Glen Sligachan. The Red Cuilin hills are lower and, being less rocky, have fewer scrambles or climbs. The highest point of the Cuillin, and of the Isle of Skye, is Sgùrr Alasdair in the Black Cuillin at 992 m (3,255 ft). The Cuillin is one of 40 National Scenic Areas in Scotland. Glen Brittle (Gleann Breadail in Scottish Gaelic) is a large glen in the south of the Isle of Skye, in Scotland. It runs roughly south to north, along the River Brittle, which has its mouth at Loch Brittle (a sea loch). The glen is also overlooked from the east by the formidable Cuillin, the largest mountains on Skye. Many tributaries of the Brittle run down from these mountains into the glen.The name is probably derived from old Norse Bred Dal ("broad valley") with the Gaelic glean ("valley") being prefixed later.

Best enlarged Trotternish or Tròndairnis (Scottish Gaelic) is the northernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye, in Scotland. One of its more well-known features is the Trotternish landslip, a massive landslide that runs almost the full length of the peninsula, some 30 kilometres (19 mi). The landslip contains two of Skye's most famous landmarks: the Old Man of Storr, an isolated rocky pinnacle, and the Quiraing, an area of dramatic and unusual rock formations. The summit of The Storr, on whose slopes the Old Man of Storr is located, is the highest point of the peninsula.

Sgùrr a' Mhadaidh Ruaidh (Gaelic for: Peak of the red fox) is a summit (593 m high) in the Trotternish range of hills (Trotternish ridge) Isle of Skye, Scotland. It is located about ten kilometres south-east of Uig, and 15 kilometres north of Portree, at the point where the long ridge running from north to south down the Trotternish peninsula loops suddenly eastward.

Best enlarged Loch Quoich (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Chuaich) is a loch and reservoir situated west of Loch Garry approximately 40 km northwest of Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. The name means "loch of the cup/quaich". Both lochs form part of the Glen Garry hydroelectricity project commissioned by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board in the 1950s. The scheme was completed in 1962. Knoydart Sandwiched between Lochs Nevis and Hourn, Knoydart is one of the most dramatic and unspoilt places in Scotland. Some of the finest scenery in Scotland can be found around Knoydart. Labelled as ‘Scotland’s last wilderness’, Knoydart is only accessible by boat from Mallaig or Glenelg, or by a 16 mile long walk (approximately two day’s hike) over the mountains where Bonnie Prince Charlie is supposed to have taken refuge after Culloden (battle of).

Best enlarged Scalpay (Scottish Gaelic: Sgalpaigh) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Separated from the east coast of Skye by Loch na Cairidh, Scalpay rises to 396 metres (1,299 ft) at Mullach na Càrn. It has an area of just under 25 square kilometres (9.7 sq mi). The island had a population of ten usual residents in 2001 and of four in 2011. Scalpay is privately owned and operates a red deer farm, shooting estate and holiday cottages. Much of Scalpay is covered with heather, while other areas are conifer forestry plantations. Mac an Tàilleir (2003) suggests the name derives from "ship island" from the Norse. However, Haswell-Smith states that the Old Norse name was Skalprøy, meaning "scallop island". Dean Monro gave the following description of Scalpay in 1549: ...a fair hunting forest, full of deer, with certain little woods and small towns, well inhabited and manured, with many strong coves, good for fishing, in heritage it pertains to Maclean of Duart. By the time of Dr Johnson's tour (1773), the island was held by a tenant of Sir Alexander Macdonald. Shipping magnate and politician, Donald Currie owned the island in the late 19th century and was responsible for the construction of the first roads and much tree planting.

Best enlarged Buttermere is a lake in the English Lake District in North West England. The adjacent village of Buttermere takes its name from the lake. The lake is 1.25 miles (2,010 m) by .25 miles (400 m) wide, and is 75 feet (23 m) deep. It has an elevation above sea level of 329 feet (100 m). A place of considerable scenic value, it is situated towards the head of the valley of the River Cocker and is surrounded by fells, notably the High Stile range to the south west, Robinson to the north east, Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks to the south east and Grasmoor to the north west. There are two possible origins for the name "Buttermere": One, that Buttermere means "the lake by the dairy pastures" (from the Old English "butere mere"). Whaley suggests this as the correct interpretation: " 'butter lake, the lake with good pasture-land', from OE 'butere' 'butter', conveying the fertile nature of the flat alluvial land at both ends of the lake, plus 'mere' 'lake',..." Two, that it is the corrupt form of a personal name. Robert Ferguson asserts in his 1866 work, "The Northmen in Cumberland and Westmoreland" that Buttermere derives from the Old Norse personal name "Buthar", as in "Buthar's mere" (lake). This accords with local tradition, which says that the valley of Buttermere was part of the holdings of an 11th-century Norse chieftain called "Buthar" (sometimes spelt "Boethar").

Best enlarged Scanned from a 35mm slide *Skerries are small rocky, normally uninhabited islands. Covesea Skerries Lighthouse , belonging to the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), is built on top of a small headland on the south coast of the Moray Firth at Covesea, near Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland. Following a storm in the Moray Firth in November 1826 when 16 vessels were sunk, applications were made for lighthouses at Tarbat Ness, on the opposite coast, and at Covesea Skerries. The Commissioners of Northern Light Houses (the precursor of the NLB) and Trinity House felt that a lighthouse at Covesea was unnecessary but this was against public opinion. Many letters and petitions were delivered to them. Eventually, the engineer and a committee of the Board surveyed the coastline and the Elder Brethren were asked to look for the best location. They recommended a lighthouse on the Craighead with a beacon on Halliman's Skerries, which the Commissioners agreed to. A grid iron tower was erected on the Halliman's Skerries in 1845, and in 1846, the Covesea Skerries Lighthouse was completed at a cost of £11,514 (equivalent to £1,005,562 as of 2015). The surrounding walls, because of their height, caused vortices in the yard area in strong winds. This interfered with lightkeepers lookout so the walls were lowered in 1907. In 1984, the lighthouse was automated being remotely monitored and controlled at the Northern Lighthouse Board's offices in Edinburgh, but originally, the lens was rotated by a clockwork mechanism with gradually descending weights providing the energy. The original lens is on display at the Lossiemouth Fisheries and Community Museum. The light was extinguished on 2 March 2012 in effect replaced "by a North Cardinal navigational lit buoy fitted with X Band Radar Beacon at the north eastern extremity of the Halliman Skerries on 21 February 2012. Engineer The lighthouse was designed and built by Alan Stevenson, a member of the Stevenson lighthouse engineering dynasty and uncle of the novelist Robert Louis Stevenson. Lossiemouth Lossiemouth (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Losaidh) is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over a 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the past 250 years and consists of four separate communities that eventually merged into one.

Best enlarged The clear but peat stained water from the River Etive mixes with the sea water of the loch. Loch Etive (Scottish Gaelic, Loch Eite) is a 30 km sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It reaches the sea at Connel, 5 km north of Oban. It measures 31.6 km (19 3⁄4 miles) long and from 1.2 km ( 3⁄4 mile) to 1.6 km (1 mi) wide. Its depth varies greatly, up to a maximum of 150 m (490 ft). The River Etive drains into Loch Etive from its source near Kingshouse on Glencoe, Rannoch Moor. A small, single track road runs alongside the river for its 18km course to the loch – this road is widely regarded as one of the most picturesque roads in all of Scotland. From 1847 a steamer service from Oban carried passengers to a pier in the area of the pier now used for the loading of logs onto ships (just visible at right of picture) at the north end of the loch. From there the passengers would board a carriage service that took tourists up Glen Etive to see Glen Coe. The name Etive is believed to mean "little ugly one" from the Gaelic goddess associated with the loch. It heads east for half its length alongside the main road and rail link to Oban, before heading northeast into mountainous terrain. The narrow mouth of the loch results in its most unusual feature, the Falls of Lora. Part of the north bank has been designated a Special Area of Conservation in particular due to old sessile oak woods. Surprisingly, a small colony of around 20 common seals is resident in Loch Etive.