Kyle Of Lochalsh, General

Kyle of Lochalsh This doughty village has developed inauspiciously behind the rugged Plock of Kyle in scarcely more than a century, its raison d'etre the railhead connection with the ferry to Skye. From 1897, when the London Midland and Scottish Railway extended its Dingwall- Stromeferry line of 1870 to terminate here, Kyle Akin - a ferry crossing from at least the 17th century - superseded Kyle Rhea as the principal channel for crossings to Skye, and a ferry and steamer port was established where previously there existed just an inn (established 1701, later called Kyle House and still in evidence at the core of the present Kyle Hotel) and a few houses and shops. Kyle had a frontier post feel to it a century ago, but gradually its houses became more substantial, as incomers were offered land at nominal prices to build on. Today its bustling character is in flux as the mixed blessings of the new Skye Bridge take effect, and the village is transformed from bottleneck to corridor for Skye-bound traffic. Lacking Plockton's picture postcard charm, Kyle nonetheless offers one or two colourful glimpses of gabletted cottages clamped to the rock, somehow managing to propogate lush gardens, rampant Ponticum, and even the odd palm tree.

Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk