Skye’s the limit

Having lived in Brighton for twenty years, the contrast with moving to the Inner Hebrides has been extreme. The Isle of Skye is in the North West of Scotland with some parts of the island being further west than Land’s End. The capital of Skye, Portree, is an old fashioned village with one main street. You can walk down it and feel that the last thirty years never happened.

Let me tell you about the rain. It rains a lot. In fact, we only had forty dry days last year. That means we had 325 days when it rained. I sometimes feel similar to the Eskimos, but instead of many words for snow, I find myself thinking of new words for the different types of rain. At the moment, it is a persistent drizzle that shows no sign of clearing up or of getting worse. I shall call it a pizzle.

However, when the weather is good, we begin to understand why we moved up here. Sometimes, on a perfect summer’s day, under a cloudless sky, there is a vista of the white sandy beaches of the Outer Hebrides across the calm azure sea and you could easily imagine you were in the Aegean.

We moved up here almost three years ago, feeling that there must be more to life than Brighton and also wanting less stressful lives. We found a good solicitor in Inverness (you need a Scottish solicitor to purchase property up here) and once we had found a house, the purchase went through in two weeks.

Our glen is only 20 houses, but it contains an amazing cross-section of people from all over the world including artists, composers and poets. There are also people who have embraced the concept of The Good Life and who keep animals, grow vegetables and are virtually self-sufficient. Everyone has been very friendly and totally accepting of us being gay. We have met other gay and lesbian people living on the island and the surrounding areas. There is also a strong arts and crafts tradition here, with art trails in the summer similar to the Open Houses, at Festival time in Brighton and Hove.

We run the house as a B&B from April to October and welcome guests from around Europe, who seem to know more about Scotland than the English. Steadily, the number of gay guests has increased as more people look for something different for their summer breaks. We are registered with Visit Scotland, who have helped us immensely and are also on the gayjourney website, which has brought us intrepid gay travellers from all over the world.

So what have we learnt from our time here? I didn’t realise how dangerous it is to drive around at night in the winter, due to the number of animals wandering freely – sheep, deer, foxes etc. I didn’t realise that we would need the wood burner lit in August as it only gets above 20C a few days of the year. I didn’t realise that growing plants and vegetables in the garden would be such hard work due to the wind and rain. Also being isolated means a 25 mile round trip to the shops and at home, no mobile signal at all.

However, when I look back at the highlights any negatives are quickly forgotten. To walk with the Highland Rangers across the whole of Skye, to see the Aurora Borealis above our house and to go out on our motorbike along winding empty roads with breathtaking views. The intangible benefits, the peace and quiet, the relaxed lifestyle, the sheer beauty of the ever-changing landscape and the truly astonishing wildlife are all I want now.

So, occasionally at night, I look up and see the broad band of the Milky Way crossing the sky. I pause and think of being at the end of a dark pier, looking back at the town and seeing the lights reflected in the water around the bay and sometimes, just sometimes, I dream of Brighton again.

info:
Vatersay House, Glenhinnisdal, Portree, Isle of Skye, IV51 9UZ

Email: mail@vatersayhouse.com

Telephone: 01470 542284
www.vatersayhouse.com