Mallaig - Day 3

Saturday morning and we were heading to the small ferry/former fishing boat that would take us to Inverie on the remote Knoydart peninsula – only accessible by sea unless you’re tough enough to hike over mountains and boggy ground, camping out for 2 or 3 nights – there are no roads. Here’s our transport for the day arriving at Mallaig harbour:

This was our approach to Knoydart:

You can see the small community around the pier. There are now reckoned to be approx. 120-140 permanent residents – a number that has increased substantially since the community buyout in 1999:

 

Our first call was intended to be for coffees but we discovered that the only café only opens Monday to Friday so we trudged on, passing the Old Forge, the most remote and inaccessible pub in the country. However we were amazed to discover that it was Pride weekend in Knoydart – everywhere was bedecked in rainbow colours.

We discovered coffees were available in the Community Hall, however, so we grabbed them – plus their remaining stocks of (fancy) banana bread. Jo and Steve were first to find a seat at one of the tables which, like everywhere else it seemed, was rainbow coloured:

 

Now we were ready to start walking – passing a shoreside hide:

Also passing a memorial to the Seven Men of Knoydart (zoom in to read the story):

The walk soon left the shoreside and headed up the hill. Shortly thereafter there was a (planned) schism in the group – Jo and I turned down onto the “Knoydart in a Nutshell” trail, just as we saw Gordon approaching with a little Jack Russell in tow. The poor little dog had wandered away from the community so Gordon used his spare lead to take him back to his owner.

Meanwhile the main team pressed onwards and upwards:

While Jo and I meandered down the Nutshell trail and back towards the Old Forge, which was now open – time for lunch and a beer:

We were eventually joined by Gordon, who held the table for the rest of the group while Jo and I headed off to find the Knoydart Brewery:

We had a nice chat with the owners then headed back to the pub where the team were now gathered:

Their walk stats were:

What we missed as we went to the Brewery was the Pride march:

Obviously not all locals! Even the butch barman in the pub was showing his support:

Some of our group only had time to rush down a swift half before our return ferry arrived. Most had earlier been booked on the later ferry but had decided – probably wisely – that a 3 hour afternoon session in the pub wasn’t a great idea and took the opportunity to catch the 3 pm boat instead.

Dinner that night was at the adjacent Chlachain Inn (https://www.chlachaininn.co.uk/), a nice pub but one that had been promising their house ale would be ready – and it never was. The pub was mobbed and it was extremely noisy over dinner so some of us were glad to escape back to the tranquility of our hotel for a nightcap.