A Year in the Coigach

Background

We spent a year in Achiltibuie on the Coigach peninsula north of Ullapool from June 2000 to July 2001. We’re completely new to the area so if you want more expert advice about the mountains, geology etc, don’t bother reading below (and apologies to any locals who may read this for whom it would be teaching grannie to suck eggs) but if you’re just aiming to visit for the first time, some of our experiences may be of use to you. The following is a combination of our views – cynical and critical comments will usually be Allan’s; waxing lyrical and rose-tinted spectacles will usually be Jean’s.

General

We have enjoyed some gorgeously beautiful weather is in May and June (golden gorse and white lambs) and as everyone knows it’s best to visit before the midges and horseflies arrive (mid July) or after for the heather and autumnal scenery of eerily glowing orange moorland grass. The contrast of bright blue skies and sea against thick layers of sparkling white snow in winter is also worth seeing. (Interestingly seasonal affective disorder (SAD) tends to be reduced during the snowy weather, possibly because of the dazzling reflection of light from the snow. Special lamps can be bought to combat SAD.)

Petrol is apparently more expensive here than anywhere else in the EU – up to 91 pence per litre. The filling stations relatively nearby are in Ullapool; Lochinver; Scourie (I think); opposite the Dundonnell ; near Rogie Falls; and Contin (last two are both on the way to Inverness –obviously best to stock up in Inverness before you travel north). There is a pump at the Achiltibuie stores and there also seems to be a pump at the hotel at Inchnadamph. Not surprisingly, the closer you get to Inverness the cheaper the price of petrol by up to 10p per litre. On your journey upto Inverness through the Highlands remember that petrol stations aren’t likely to be 24/7.

Obviously this is not an easy area to explore if you haven’t got your own transport. The Inverness/Ullapool bus goes several times a day and connects with the Ullapool/Stornaway ferry; but it goes at different times on different days. Due to a misprint in the bus timetable, we dropped a friend of ours off at Ullapool to get a bus that didn’t go on that day. We ended up taking her and two other souls, who had been misled by the same misprint, to Inverness to catch her train. Also advertised are Ullapool/Lochinver and Ullapool/Durness buses. In fact if you are relying on buses it is probably best to check by telephone beforehand (08705 50 50 50), and if you are going Ullapool/Inverness check with the ferry company too (Caledonian MacBrayne – 01854 612358) since these are tied in with the ferry. Most public transport does not run on Sundays. (Many tourist facilities are Monday to Saturday only too.)

Some of the infrastructure is surprisingly good which often bears witness to the effect of EC funding – plenty of signs bearing the 15 yellow stars of the EU. I reckon that’s why there are so many European tourists – they come over to find out where their money is going! (On the ferry terminal plaque at Ullapool, some wag has erased part of the letter ‘p’ and ‘fund’ so that it reads ‘This project is fart ....ed by the European Community.’)

As to mobile phones - neither Orange nor 1-2-1 even pretend to cover north and west Scotland adequately. Vodafone and Cellnet both seem to have as good coverage as you could expect given the terrain. 1-2-1 and presumably the others too work in Ullapool.

Contrary to what you might expect, it is not easy to find places where you can buy freshly caught cheap seafood. This is because most of the seafood now caught is immediately packed up and flown to continental Europe where unpolluted seafood attracts big prices.

The A9 from Perth to Inverness is a very long and tedious road – however, I suggest you keep to the 60 mph speed limit since the police operate a policy of zero tolerance on it. (Guess how we know.) We were told another place to keep to the speed limit is through the village of Contin. Another bad thing about the A9 is the dreaded ‘local services’ – there are no dedicated services on the road itself. All the cafes we have so far encountered are sit-down waitress driven places – that’s fine if you’re not in a rush but truckers and suchlike need fast self-service places of the quality of the excellent Tebay at Westmorland services. (No connection – I swear!)

At least some of the Pay and Display car parks in Perthshire (e.g. at Dunkeld and Pitlochry) are misleading. You only have to pay from April to October – and this is displayed by the pay machines; but the machines will cheerfully accept your money at any time of the year and there is an additional notice on the machines saying ‘Free on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day’ (or some such) implying you have to pay at other times.

Besides the petrol, most things are expensive here for what you get – this may not be a problem for the kind of people who come e.g. the discerning well-off or overseas visitors exploring old family roots and who don’t mind paying top-dollar. Let’s face it, if you’ve got a young family and are going on holiday on a budget, you are probably going to take them to Turkey, Greece or Spain, rather than north west Scotland – though there seem to be hardy, loyal campers who return with their families year after year to popular camp sites.

Obviously the spring of 2001 is a bit of an exception due to the foot and mouth disease crisis, but generally it appears that most touristy things don’t open until the beginning of April at the earliest (some at Easter which could be in late March). If you specifically want to go to an attraction and be sure it is open, you need to wait until May. At the other end of the season, touristy places start closing from the start of September with almost everything shut by the beginning of October.

Protocol on Single Track Roads

If someone stops for you, always acknowledge this in some way. (Right-left-right indicator is useful at night.)

Check whether the next section of road is free of traffic before sailing through a passing place.

Allow people to overtake - not everyone is a tourist (although everyone using the A9 must be to judge from the services) and some people need to get to appointments. Also, if a long convoy builds up behind you, it makes using the passing places more difficult.

It is more difficult for large lorries to fit into passing places, so in general stop and pull in for them if you are in a car.

Don’t park indiscriminately in passing places – get off the road completely or park on a stretch of road where passing can still take place.

Beware of sheep on any road. They are afraid of people; but seem largely oblivious to the hazard created by cars. Be especially wary of a lamb darting across the road just in front of you to get to its mother on the other side of the road. Similarly, watch out for deer at night.

Coigach Peninsula

There is a free leaflet printed on green paper listing the guesthouses etc on the peninsula and providing a useful guide; it is available at the Hydroponicum and the Polbain stores. Accommodation contacts and other information are available at the Coigach Peninsula and Achiltibuie web pages. Recommended are Sheena Temple’s ‘Mellon Udrigle’ B&B (amazing breakfasts) and the vegetarian B&B ‘The Picture Shack’ (stylish bedroom as you’d expect from an artist). Famous names stay at the Summer Isles Hotel (nice bed linen and modern art and bowls of fresh fruit dotted casually round the place).

Much of the area is designated as the Inverpolly National Nature Reserve. From the main A835 road it is 18 miles of single-track road with blind hills and corners (and delightfully erratic lambs) to Achiltibuie. Tankers, lorries, camper vans, caravans, you name it, use this road so it’s not for the road-rage driver. (I have a theory why it has not been upgraded yet even though it’s heavily used but that does not have a place here.) To be on the safe side, give yourself an hour to get from Achiltibuie to Ullapool. [It is about another hour to Inverness. Then another 2 hours down the A9 to Perth, then another hour to Glasgow (the motorway network starts at Stirling), then another hour and a half to the English border. All these assume you are going near the speed limit.]

There is a village stores at Achiltibuie and an amazing shop at Polbain which seems to sell everything (e.g. lemongrass in jars, pecan nuts, fresh chillis, spiced sausage) including maps, books, and newspapers; and an excellent leaflet ‘Walking Around Achiltibuie’ (currently 50p) that details 7 walks in the peninsula. These walks are mostly circular - more useful than the linear walks described by some authors who obviously have knowledge of a local public transport network about which I as yet know nothing! However, the ways to get down for the 2 walks rated as ‘Rough’ in the leaflet are best described as vague. The parking place near Culnacraig and clearly marked as such on OS maps now boasts an official looking ‘No Parking’ sign; however, 500m back along the road from Culnacraig it is possible to park off the road in a small ‘quarry’. The son of Mrs MacKenzie, who owns ‘The Loan’ B and B in Achiltibuie (01854 622226), is able to provide a pick-up taxi service for walkers.

The ‘Postie’s Path’, the coastal path from Culnacraig to the main road at Blughasary (the old route taken by the postman) is now steep, difficult and muddy due to erosion. The parking place for walkers at Blughasary marked on the OS map does exist a little way down the track past the last house, despite the fact there is an unofficial notice by the cattle grid on the road into Blughasary telling you to park on the main road. (The landowners of the Ben Mhor Coigach Estate, the Scottish Wildlife Trust’ have recently won some Heritage Lottery funding to improve the Postie’s Path.)

There is a superb beach at Achnahaird Bay, and you can get good views over the Summer Isles from the viewpoints on the higher ground between Althandhu and Achnahaird. On a clear day you can see Skye and the Outer Hebrides (Lewis and Harris look amazingly close and you can see details – yet it takes the ferry two and three quarter hours to get to Stornaway).

The Hydroponicum grows much of the produce used in its own Lilypond café and also used in the much more expensive and formal Summer Isles Hotel restaurant across the road (good haute cuisine at £40 dinner per head). The café provides afternoon teas, Sunday lunches and Friday speciality nights (the Chinese night was enjoyed by relatives). Nice to be able to buy herbs and salad freshly picked from the Hydroponicum. The pub of the Summer Isles hotel also does first-rate lunches. There is a chip shop (well, chip portakabin really) at Althandhu that opens 5pm until 10pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday only (Wed and Fri only out of season).

There is a new Community Hall (at the far southern end of Achiltibuie opposite the primary school) that advertises its events in the Ullapool News – library inside open once a week but not very well advertised. Every few months there is a ceilidh there – the locals all seem to know all the steps to the dances without a caller. A high standard of traditional music on the Coigach – lots of the local young people play impressively eg during the Feis Rois (featured the Leader of the Highland Council’s daughter who plays the harp beautifully). A new piping school just opened by the Community Centre (financial contribution from Tim Rice, we heard).

The community/school bus run by Spa Coaches (01997 421 311) goes from Achiltibuie (8.00am and 1.00pm at the Post Office) to Ullapool and back (3.40pm or 4.12 pm in school holidays from outside the Caledonian MacBrayne ticket office). The timetable is displayed inside the Post Office – which is of limited usefulness!

The Royal Bank of Scotland mobile bank tours the peninsula on a Friday morning and there is a branch at Lochinver.

For occasional use, the filling station in Ullapool sells sacks of coal and peat briquettes for heating use. There are coal deliveries around the peninsula fortnightly in summer and weekly in the winter (I think); order with Robertson (01408 621439). The refuse collection is done on a Monday.

Terrestrial TV reception: the local ITV station is Grampian and you get a good signal for it and Channel 4. The signals for BBC1 and BBC2 occasionally cut out; but most of the time the reception is satisfactory. You cannot get Channel 5 at all. The Post Office stocks videotapes for rent.

For the hardy there is a highly praised simple grade Acheninver Youth Hostel at the far end of the peninsula road near the ‘village’ of Culnacraig. (’Villages’ such as Polglass are barely more than a cluster of crofts).

The boat trips from Badentarbert to the Summer Isles in the Hectoria (absolutely charming owner, Mr Macleod) stopping for one hour either on Tanera Beg (morning cruise) or on Tanera Mor (afternoon cruise – you can buy Summer Isles stamps from the PO there) are enjoyable but note that these, like many other tourist activities, finish in September and are not cheap. Summer Isles cruises also available from Ullapool.

The word ‘Summer’ in the name ‘Summer Isles’ has got nothing to do with summer or even the ‘Wickerman’ – although the tourist industry might wish otherwise! It is probably a corruption of the Norse word ‘Simmer’ meaning ‘boundary’, in this case between the mainland and the Western Isles.

Ullapool

There is a Safeway supermarket with large car park to do the weekly shopping. For additional domestic items there is a Costcutters (formerly Alldays), a Boots pharmacist, and a ‘general store’ (good for vegetarian food and bread) opposite Costcutters. On the corner opposite the pier there is a hardware store and next door there is a bookshop. There is a ‘Mountain Man’ camping/climbing store if you’ve got money to burn; however, the upstairs café is excellent and very reasonable. Not surprisingly, there’s no shortage of gift shops.

A familiar reply in the tourist information office when the need for other items is mentioned is that “you’ll have to go for Inverness for that” e.g. where is the nearest place to get shoes mended? Hairdressers are quite limited.

Opened in 2000 was an Indian restaurant and takeaway (Jasmin’s) (located near the campsite) but we hear this may be closing now. There is a Chinese takeaway with a fairly restricted menu and two fish and chip shops near the harbour.

The weekly ‘Ullapool News’ available in Safeway, the hardware store, and the filling station (I think) provides listings of what’s on in the area and is basically indispensable. From finding/advertising properties to let or buy, to finding out when the chimney sweep is next visiting the area, the UN has it all.

The two touristy bars are the Ceilidh Place and the Seaforth complex (opposite the hardware store). After 7pmish the CP restaurant turns expensive and formal (we had been expecting the same relaxed self-service style as during the day); but they do have live Scottish music on several times a week. The Seaforth seems to have got its act together with a pub downstairs, a restaurant upstairs, and a chip shop – which all serve basically the same good fare but at different prices depending on which part you are in. They also have music most nights. The Morfield (about 1/3 mile out of town northwards, tucked into the housing estate, is a cosy, good food restaurant where the locals seem to come for a meal out).

The Ferry Boat Inn on Shore Street serves excellent food and has pleasant fireside views over the harbour.

Listen to Lochbroom FM (102.2) for a post-modern “it’s so amateur, it’s fun” experience. But Classic FM doesn’t reach this far north.

Good swimming pool (usually uncrowded) and leisure centre including tennis courts and indoor climbing wall. The library is part of the Macphail Community Centre which is integrated into the new secondary school – one of the librarians is also the part-time Community Education officer so can be consulted on local courses etc (she is also Deputy Editor of ‘Ullapool News’ so probably knows more or less everything that’s going on in the area.) Night school classes at the Macphail Centre eg yoga and Spanish help to fill the long Highland winter nights. Also possible to join the school’s sixthformers’ daytime lessons, so we heard, but it probably takes a lot of communication, planning ahead and flexibility in your schedule.

There are cash machines at the branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland (off Market Street) and outside Costcutters (‘Link’ machine).

If you are travelling from Ullapool to Inverness along the A835 by car, try and avoid starting the journey soon after a ferry from Stornaway arrives. If you don’t do this you may find yourself stuck for a long time behind several heavy lorries on the twisty, single carriageway A835.

Walking and things to see

Stac Pollaidh - Climbing to the ridge will take about an hour each way. It’s steep but fairly easy and not exposed if you leave out the ridge walk/scramble to the peak at the top, so it’s suitable for children or those without proper boots. It’s a good way of getting an impressive view quite quickly. Nice afterwards to paddle in and picnic by secluded sandy bay below the car park.

The Kirkaig Falls - Walking from the car park near Achins bookshop up to the Falls takes about an hour. It’s easy going but a bit samey after the first twenty minutes. It’s worth doing the extra quarter of an hour up to the shore of Loch Fionn after the falls –lovely to swim in the loch with majestic backdrop of Suilven behind. Achins bookshop is excellent (although they don’t seem to stock many maps) and there is a good coffee shop next door for homemade lunches and cakes. The very winding single-track road to Lochinver that branches off the Achiltibuie road skirts the bay at Inverkirkaig and is pretty in itself – although the signs about ‘Not suitable for caravans’ are not joking.

Suilven – we left this until mid-summer to give ourself maximum daylight for the very long but pretty walk there and back (because of Foot and Mouth, the route back down via Loch Fionn was closed). When you at last reach the mountain, the climbing up the north/south traverse was actually quite quick, though steep and sometimes loose – a lochan at the foot of the mountain is good for cooling hot feet before you start or on your way back. Absolutely brilliant view in sunny weather as you suddenly peer over the saddle at the top to see the Assynt landscape on the other side stretching out before you. Up to the huge grassy hump-plateau on the top is a delightful stroll once you’ve left your rucksack behind –great views north, south and west out to sea (the Lochinver fishermen use Suilven to help them navigate back into Lochinver harbour) and the view backwards east to the rocky ridge reminded me of Machu Pichu. Beautifully constructed estate-boundary drystone wall perches precariously down the slopes at the top.

See Richard Gilbert’s ‘Exploring the Far North West of Scotland’ (written by an enthusiastic mountaineer but also includes less arduous walks and sights for the less adventurous) on sale at the Tourist Information Office, and the leaflet from Polbain stores for Coigach peninsula walks. Be wary of the grading of the walks in the Gilbert book – his definition of ‘easy’ is as used by mountaineers and means no scrambling or climbing; it does not mean the walk is not strenuous, or not steep, or that you will not be knackered afterwards!

The ‘Gairloch loop’ (the drive on the A832 from Garve to Achnasheen, then to Kinlochewe, Gairloch, Poolewe, Dundonnel and then back to the A835) has plenty of interest: great view down Glen Docharty to Loch Maree (cannot be appreciated if you do the ‘loop’ southwards ie Dundonnel to Achnasheen), fine Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve scenery, pretty Kerrysdale (option to turn off for B8056 to Shieldaig and picturesque harbourside restaurant at Badachro – road then leads to viewpoint of beach and the Minch at Redpoint – but farmland footpath closed during foot and mouth), at Gairloch the Mountain Café for excellent coffee and mega- home-made scones (part-way up the B8021 –if you continue up the B8021 20 min. nice drive all way along headland to friendly and good food Rubha Reidh outdoor center and café – ring ahead to check opening) [we had bad eating experience at the Gairloch ‘Shieling’ café at the museum but the museum itself is dinkum], the Loch Ewe WW2 military sites (eg memorial to Russian convoys at the Rubha nan Sasan at the end of the B8057 from Poolewe) –there is a guide book available on the WW2 history in this area- ], and then the Inverewe gardens (see below) – with a good café for afternoon tea, lunches etc as one could expect from the National Trust. NB not poss. to do all these visits in one trip.

The Applecross peninsula drive –good coast line views out to Skye etc

The Assynt and Wester Ross Ranger Services lead walks in the summer months (the schedules will be advertised in the ‘Ullapool News’) e.g. geology of the An Teallach foothills (good examples of moraine, hanging valleys, and other glacial features up from the Ardessie Falls, coming down to the bar next to the Dundonnell hotel afterwards), coastal walks from Clachtoll and Achmelvich beaches. The Assynt and the Loch Broom Field Study Clubs also arrange walks/visits on both history and natural history topics throughout the year.

There is an excellent tourist information centre at Lochinver that houses an exhibition about the Assynt region. In Lochinver the spectacle of the heaped pies, sweet and savoury, in the Riverside Bistro is worth seeing – the warmed up peach and apricot pie and the curry pies can be recommended. The method of service depends on a confusing ‘if…then’ clause charmingly displayed on the menu. There is also the Caberfaidh pub/café very near to the Bistro from which, we have been informed, otters are regularly visible in the river; but we’ve never seen them there.

Caves - There are 3 sets of caves along the A835 and A837 – these are at Knockan, Allt nan Uamh, and Inchnadamph. The ones at Allt nan Uamh and Inchnadamph are impressive – much more so than the usual shallow hole under an overhang that you usually get to see. Of the two, the caves are Inchnadamph are bigger with a river rushing through some of them; but the walk up to Alt nan Uamh passes some very interesting springs. The one at Knockan is really a big swallow hole (the OS map is wrong in designating a track most of the way there - you actually have to leave the track before it crosses the river and walk across rough country to reach it). Although still advertised in the leaflets, the geological interpretation centre at Knockan is closed until May 2001 for improvements when, if everything is as advertised, it should be well worth visiting.

The National Trust for Scotland gardens at Inverewe – the walled vegetable garden by the shore was attractive in late June (you would need to go earlier for the azalea). (For some reason, the National Trust and National Trust for Scotland are separate organisations, although an NT card gets you into NTS properties for free – don’t know if it works the other way around).

If you come for a short visit and hope to see whales, porpoises, or dolphins you may be disappointed. (We’ve seen porpoises twice eg Achmelvich Bay and what was probably a basking shark once but then in our last month had a marvellous half-hour spectacle of dolphins leaping only a few metres out from the shore at Chanonry Point nr Fortrose on the Black Isle.) There are also wildlife cruises from Gairloch which try to provide whale-watching but do remember to phone ahead to book and check the likelihood of seeing whales on the day. There are a lot of seals about. Similarly, in a short stay you would have to be lucky to see otters; but we saw them occasionally at dusk, usually when we’re not looking for them. (One day at dusk in Assynt in particular, we saw the resident otter on practically every loch we passed! Even a family in one case!)

Handa Island - Go in June/ July before the auks depart to get the spectacle of thousands of birds in ‘layers’ up the cliffs. In early August, though, the young kittiwake plumage and grey fluffy fulmar chicks were interesting and there is still the threat/promise of being dive-bombed by skuas (Great and Arctic). Although the café by Tarbert pier is very convenient and the cakes are good, it’s also expensive.

You stand a good chance of seeing osprey and red kites from the reserve on the fish farm in Glen Orrin on the A832 between Marybank and Muir of Ord (01997 433219) – the charge to use the hide is small and the lady in charge friendly. (There are a lot of red kites around Marybank in the valley of the River Conon –a spectacular bird which can often be seen as you drive along the main road.) I would be surprised if you get a closer sighting of ospreys at the RSPB osprey reserve at Loch Garten though possibly a more guaranteed sighting and there are excellent viewing facilities (live video footage and binocs with focus fixed on the nest) and the interpretative material eg giving the historical background is high quality, as one would expect from one of the showcase RSPB sites in the country. Absolutely amazing that, although the male and female spend the winter living apart in the Gambia, they return to the site within days of each other for the breeding season. The CCTV footage of osprey highlights from the previous year is well worth seeing. And look out for the red squirrel which feeds from the birdfeeder near the ticket office. The centre has an impressive ecological design, including beautifully clean environmentally friendly toilets with nice location for picnics by the lakeside.

Generally, (for the non-expert) birds you should see even on a short visit – if in season: fulmar, shag, grey heron, greylag goose, eider duck, sandpiper, skylark, lapwing, house martin, swallow, meadow pipit, cuckoo (hear them in spring – parasites on meadow pipit), pied wagtail, wren, house sparrow (nice sight for Londoners where it’s now rarer), stonechat, northern wheatear, blackbird, (no magpies), starling, thrush, rook, blue tit, greenfinch, chaffinch (can be very tame – ate from my hand in the carpark nr Dog Falls in Glen Affric), hooded crow, twite, gannet, oystercatchers, gulls, guillemot and black guillemot, buzzard, skua (Handa Island), terns (HI), puffin (HI), kittiwake (HI), and razorbill (HI). Snipe often shocked from roadside ditches and wet grassland – make eery hollow whirring sound at night as they rise upwards reverberating their tailfeathers. The much-publicised ‘divers’ are conspicuous by their rarity. Golden plover can be invisible but make irritatingly close ‘peeping’ sound in mountain moorland grass. Dippers in fast-flowing streams.

Allan and Jean Cousens

Acknowledgements

Thanks to ‘Malcolm’ for information on the mobile phone coverage.