Isle of Skye, Scotland

Before I moved to Scotland 1995 to continue my education, I picked up a Michelin map of Britain and Ireland. Within a matter of years, it was to become out of date. When the map was made, the controversial Skye bridge was absent and the A87 designation had yet to be extended to the road serving Broadford, Sligachan, Portree and Uig. It was to be nearly four years later, as I neared the end of my time in Edinburgh, before I actually set foot on the island. By then, the aforementioned bridge was in place and costing the same as the ferry that it replaced, much to the fury of the locals. More visits were to follow before the first SNP Scottish Government was to abolish those hated tolls.

1999 saw me enjoying a circular cycling itinerary that took in Dunvegan and the island's west coast while based in Portree. Reluctantly, I left the place, such an impression had it made upon me. 2001 saw me return to focus my attentions on the Trotternish before travelling onward to Armadale to cross over the sea to Mallaig. Speaking of crossing the sea, I stood in Uig that year to ponder a hop to the Western Isles, a scheme that didn't see fulfilment until nearly seven years later. 2002 saw a fleeting visit to escape advancing rain from the east before it overtook me. Again, it was the Trotternish that saw my footfall. My longest sojourn was in 2005 when I walked between the Cuillin and the Red Hills from Elgol to Sligachan of a Tuesday before returning to those contorted hills in the north-east to walk from Brogaig to Uig. In 2008, I spent a day exploring around Ben Tianavaig before a ferry trip was to get me to Harris, another beguiling spot. On all of these, I was never without a camera and that's something that was just as well since Skye is one of my favourite places.