Field Notes: Magic and community on Skye

Engagement Officer Julia Grootaers has a magical time on Skye helping with a community event and replacing gateway posts.

Starting at our site in Sligachan, John MacRae (Skye Property Manager), Willie (Estate Worker) and I get to work on replacing gateposts. I leave Willie and John to sweat over a seemingly immovable post, to test out our new visitor’s survey on the steady stream of people that come to admire the impressive view over Sgùrr nan Gillean and Glamaig. Many of them follow the path towards the statues of Norman Collie and John Mackenzie, pioneer explorers of the hills which spread out before us. John sees me pondering the two men cast in bronze and says: “I always ask people what it makes them think of, you’ll have to tell me at the end of your visit”.

Besides the dramatic hills, the Trust restored peatland bog, an adventurous trail that leads you across the island to Elgol and perhaps the occasional otter sighting, there’s another kind of magic which draws people to the crystal-clear waters underneath the Old Sligachan Bridge. A legend of eternal beauty and youth. 

It all began with the fierce Skye woman warrior Scáthach who was challenged to a fight by the Irish warrior Cú Chulainn. After weeks of fighting, for they were evenly matched, Scáthach’s daughter cried despairingly into the waters of Sligachan. Unbeknownst to her the stream was a portal to the faerie world who told her she would find out how to end the fighting if she submerged her head in the water.

Following the faeries’ instructions, she hurried home and began cooking. Soon the scent of food wafted towards the starving warriors who succumbed to its temptation and scurried over to Scáthach’s house. Once they broke bread, Cú Chulainn was officially their guest which meant the fight had to come to an end.

To this day, the icy cold waters under the bridge are said to be a portal to the faerie world and those who dare dip their face in it for more than seven seconds gain eternal beauty just like Scáthach’s daughter was rumoured to possess. Knowing this I wasn’t surprised to find a puddle steadily forming at the shoes of some of the visitors I talked to as the water dripped from their gleeful faces.

After wrestling with the rotten gatepost and having successfully replaced it, John showed me around the Trust sites at Sligachan and Torrin the following day, cluing me in on the successful restoration of 35 hectares of peatland bog and the planting of 40,000 native broadleaf trees. The future development of the Strathaird site will offer a whole new range of engagement opportunities, music to the ears of an Engagement Officer.

At the end of the road, we find the small village of Elgol, where the boats to the breathtaking Loch Coruisk anchor. Here, with a coffee and unbeatable views only Skye can offer, we meet with one of our newest Trustees Hermione Lamond. She talks passionately about Strathaird, home to generations of crofters, and the rewards and challenges that come with conserving and working the land while managing growing visitor footfall. Path maintenance is key in making sure visitors can follow the trail and not damage peatbogs. Donate to our Wild Ways Path Appeal to help us maintain our paths. 

After saying goodbye to Elgol and its hospitable inhabitants, I slowly make my way to the woodland restoration site. When I pass the clearance village of Keppoch, I reflect on the importance of community involvement in our work, providing their freedom to thrive in their wild places. How connected people feel to nature is a good indicator of whether they will take action for wild places. If you feel very closely connected to nature you may find that you do not feel separate from it at all. That’s what drives action for wild places, the understanding that our lives are enmeshed with nature, and if we care for it, we care for ourselves. A notion the former inhabitants of Keppoch no doubt understood when they lived in lock step with the land.

On my last day on Skye, we are joined by Ross Brannigan (Membership Officer) and Romany Garnett (Engagement Manager North) for the Strathaird Community Engagement Event - pictured below. We hand out hot drinks from the Kelly-Kettle to hikers returning from the Camasunary trail, delight in wildflowers on a guided tour with Romany and listen to the wonderful accounts of wildlife from all the passers-by.

I came to Skye wide eyed and bushy tailed, eager to learn and understand how our strategy on paper translates to on-the-ground work. My experience demonstrates that nothing beats in-person conversations handled with the appropriate local knowledge, respect and sensitivity.

If John were to ask me what I thought of the statues at Sligachan now, I would say that they represent the relationship between people and wild places, which has evolved to include communities and their deep-rooted connection to the land. Whether this manifests itself in myths and legends created get unsuspecting tourists to dunk their heads into freezing waters, crofters passing on their craft from generation to generation or volunteers helping to plant native woodland. It’s this freedom for people to enjoy and thrive in wild places which helps build nature connection and inspire action for wild places.

• Find out more about our work on Skye.