Glenelg Inn: the lunch stop beyond an army road

Getting to the Glenelg Inn is just as important as arriving. We leave the A87 at Shiel Bridge, cross the River Shiel and follow a single-track road towards Glenelg and its seasonal ferry. The road initially appears quite innocuous, but it soon begins zigzagging towards the 339-metre, or 1,112-foot, summit of Mam Ratagan. Viewpoints provide magnificent prospects across Loch Duich towards the Five Sisters of Kintail, although the road beneath us was not created with modern sightseeing traffic in mind. Major William Caulfeild built this military route during the eighteenth century to connect the government garrison at Fort Augustus with Bernera Barracks at Glenelg, giving soldiers access to the strategically important crossing towards Skye.

Beyond the summit, the road descends more gently through Glen More, where the mountains gradually release their grip and the Isle of Skye begins to rise ahead of us. Eventually we arrive at the Glenelg Inn, a traditional Highland pub overlooking the Sound of Sleat. I have visited during different seasons, and the character of the experience changes with the weather. On a calm summer afternoon, our guests can enjoy local beer and excellent food in the garden while bees move among the flowers and the water lies quietly between us and Skye. When autumn arrives with stronger winds and heavier skies, we retreat into the darker, cosier interior, where a real fire and the comforting atmosphere of an authentic village pub await us.

Two eighteenth-century travellers reached the Glenelg Inn after struggling across Mam Ratagan, and the account they left behind reads like an early TripAdvisor review. They found a damp and dirty room, unpleasant smells, greasy furniture, virtually nothing to eat and beds improvised from hay. Whisky was available, naturally, while a local gentleman rescued the evening by sending them rum and sugar. One traveller became miserable and fretful, while his companion remained remarkably calm, explaining that his composure came not from vanity but from philosophy. He also observed that, however poor the accommodation might be, it was still better than sleeping outside upon the hill.

After lunch, we must cross Mam Ratagan again, but the return journey does not feel like simple repetition. The gradual slope that carried us into Glenelg now becomes the climb, while Skye slowly disappears behind us and a different landscape opens with every turn. Once we regain the summit and begin the steeper descent towards Shiel Bridge, Loch Duich and the mountains of Kintail return dramatically ahead. The Glenelg Inn may be our stated destination, but the military road, the mountain crossing, the changing views and the knowledge that earlier travellers once endured the same journey transform lunch into a complete Highland experience.

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