Читать книгу The Isle of Skye. Graded walks and scrambles throughout Skye, including the Cuillin онлайн

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WALK 1.8

Leitir Fura

Start/Finish Woodland car park, Kinloch Forest (NG704161) Distance 7km (4½ miles) Total ascent 218m (715ft) Map OS Explorer 412

This very agreeable walk visits Kinloch Forest and the site of Leitir Fura (Letterfura), a scattering of lonely homesteads finally vacated in 1782, of which very little remains apart from a few collapsed and overgrown crofts. The place was not one affected by the Highland Clearances, but was abandoned progressively because of the hardships of subsistence living.

During the 18th century, the natural woodland at Leitir Fura was by far the largest on the island, although barely more than 5km (3 miles) in length. Today, Leitir Fura is the most westerly ashwood in the UK, and has some nationally important bryophytes and lichens. In recent times, many non-native species have been removed and the ground opened up to allow natural regeneration to occur.

Throughout the walk, the Sound of Sleat is a constant companion, set against the mainland hills that backdrop Glenelg and the Sandaig Islands, the latter made famous as ‘Camusfearna’ by Gavin Maxwell in A Ring of Bright Water.