Summer Isles
Encyclopedia
The Summer Isles are an archipelago
lying in the mouth of Loch Broom
, in the Highland
region of Scotland
.
, is also the largest. It is home to an Atlantic salmon
fish farm
, some rental
holiday homes, a café and a post office
, which has operated its own local post
and printed its own stamps since 1970. The island has no roads and the only recognisable path goes around the Anchorage, the sheltered bay on the east side of the island. Boats sail to the island from Achiltibuie
and Ullapool
.
-Coigach
National Scenic Area
, one of 40 in Scotland.
Frank Fraser Darling
, an important figure in the development of Scottish conservation, lived on Tanera Mòr
for two years in the 1930s. His book, Island Years (published 1940), records his time in the Summer Isles, painting Priest Island as a place of great beauty as well as great wildlife.
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
lying in the mouth of Loch Broom
Loch Broom
Loch Broom is a sea loch located in northwestern Ross and Cromarty, in the former parish of Lochbroom, in the west coast of Scotland. The small town of Ullapool lies on the eastern shore of the loch...
, in the Highland
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
region of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Geography
The only inhabited isle, Tanera MòrTanera Mòr
Tanera Mòr is an inhabited island in Loch Broom in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the largest of the Summer Isles and the only inhabited island in that group...
, is also the largest. It is home to an Atlantic salmon
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
fish farm
Fish farming
Fish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases young fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species'...
, some rental
Renting
Renting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership from landowners...
holiday homes, a café and a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, which has operated its own local post
Local post
A local post is a mail service that operates only within a limited geographical area, typically a city or a single transportation route. Historically, some local posts have been operated by governments, while others, known as private local posts have been for-profit companies...
and printed its own stamps since 1970. The island has no roads and the only recognisable path goes around the Anchorage, the sheltered bay on the east side of the island. Boats sail to the island from Achiltibuie
Achiltibuie
Achiltibuie is a long linear village in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, on the Coigach coast of northwestern Scotland, overlooking Badentarbet Bay to the west. Loch Broom and the Summer Isles also lie to the west. Located 10 miles northwest of Ullapool, Achiltibuie is home to the Hydroponicum, a...
and Ullapool
Ullapool
Ullapool is a small town of around 1,300 inhabitants in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest settlement for many miles around, and is a major tourist destination of Scotland. The North Atlantic Drift passes by Ullapool, bringing moderate temperatures...
.
Smaller islands
- Bottle IslandBottle IslandBottle Island is one of the Summer Isles in Loch Broom, Scotland.So called because of its shape, an alternative name is Eilean Druim Briste, "broken ridge island".It is a popular dive site....
- Eilean Dubh
- Glas-leac Beag
- Glas-leac Mòr
- Horse IslandHorse Island, Summer IslesHorse Island is an uninhabited island in the Summer Isles, in the north west of Scotland.Once inhabited, the island now only supports a herd of wild goats.-Footnotes:...
- Isle MartinIsle MartinIsle Martin is an uninhabited island in Loch Broom, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the closest of the Summer Isles to Ullapool and has been the site of a monastery, a herring curing station and a flour mill. Now recognised as a bird sanctuary it is owned and managed by a community...
- Priest IslandPriest IslandPriest Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Summer Isles off the west coast of Scotland.-History:It is believed that the island was used by culdees for religious purposes, and has several stone circles.-Geography:...
(Eilean a' Chlèirich) - Isle RistolIsle RistolIsle Ristol, the innermost of the Summer Isles in Scotland, is a Scottish Wildlife Trust Reserve.Lying roughly north of Ullapool in Wester Ross, it is a tidal island, in Loch an Alltain Duibh, that is separated by a narrow channel from Old Dorney Bay...
- Eilean Mullagrach
- Tanera BeagTanera BeagTanera Beg or Tanara Beag is an uninhabited island in the Summer Isles off north west Scotland.It is called "Tanara Beag" to distinguish it from "Tanera Mòr", "big Tanara".-References:...
- Càrn nan Sgeir
Conservation
The islands are part of the AssyntAssynt
Assynt is a civil parish in west Sutherland, Highland, Scotland – north of Ullapool.It is famous for its landscape and its remarkable mountains...
-Coigach
Coigach
Coigach today refers to the peninsula "beyond the big rock" north of Ullapool, in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Anciently till changes in civil registration districts in 1857 the Barony also included Isle Martin, the lands down to Corrie beyond Ullapool, the various farms of...
National Scenic Area
National Scenic Area
National Scenic Area is a designation for areas of natural beauty used by more than one nation.* National Scenic Area * National Scenic Area * National scenic areas in Taiwan* National Scenic Area...
, one of 40 in Scotland.
Frank Fraser Darling
Frank Fraser Darling
Sir Frank Fraser Darling was an English ecologist, ornithologist, farmer, conservationist and author, who is strongly associated with the highlands and islands of Scotland.-Early life:...
, an important figure in the development of Scottish conservation, lived on Tanera Mòr
Tanera Mòr
Tanera Mòr is an inhabited island in Loch Broom in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the largest of the Summer Isles and the only inhabited island in that group...
for two years in the 1930s. His book, Island Years (published 1940), records his time in the Summer Isles, painting Priest Island as a place of great beauty as well as great wildlife.
Literature
- The pagan island of "SummerisleSummerisle (The Wicker Man)Summerisle is a fictional island introduced in the 1973 British cult film The Wicker Man.Summerisle should not be confused with the real-life Summer Isles situated off the coast of Scotland, which are frequently mistaken for the fictional island seen in The Wicker Man.- The Wicker Man :Much of the...
" featured in the motion picture The Wicker Man (filmed in 1973 & directed by Robin HardyRobin HardyRobin Moore Hardy is the author of more than twenty published books and several unpublished manuscripts. She currently resides in North Texas. Her first novel, Chataine's Guardian, was the runner-up for the Gold Medallion Book Award in 1985....
) is sometimes mistakenly associated with this archipelago, but in actuality it was filmed around Newton StewartNewton StewartNewton Stewart is a burgh town in the south of Scotland in the west of the region of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire....
in Dumfries and GallowayDumfries and GallowayDumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
. - The Summer Isles feature in a novellaNovellaA novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
of the same name by Ian R. MacLeodIan R. MacLeodIan R. MacLeod is a British science fiction and fantasy writer.He was born in Solihull near Birmingham. He studied law and worked as a civil servant before going freelance in early 1990s soon after he started publishing stories, attracting critical praise and awards nominations.-Writings:He is the... - The fictional Summer Isle, Cladach Duillich (Sad Shore), features in the 1977 Desmond BagleyDesmond BagleyDesmond Bagley , was a British journalist and novelist principally known for a series of best-selling thrillers...
novel "The Enemy".
Summer Isles Philatelic Bureau
Since 1970 the Summer Isles Philatelic Bureau has been issuing stamps of the islands for tourists who place them on mail to be carried to the nearest GPO Post Box on the mainland.External links
- Panorama of the Summer Isles (QuickTime required)