Hidden Scotland
Sign in
The green valley of Glendale running down to a deep blue bay under high cliffs.
Waternish, Dunvegan and Duirinish

Glendale

The crofting township of north-west Skye whose Land Leaguers stood up to their landlord, with a shop, a café and a hall at Lephin.

Welcome

Glendale is the crofting township in the far north-west of Skye, on the Duirinish peninsula, in a wide, green valley running down to a deep bay under high cliffs, named twice over as a valley, glen in Gaelic and dalr in Norse.

In the 1880s its crofters, led by John MacPherson, kept their stock on grazing they said had been taken from them, in spite of a court order. The police could not shift them, a government man came on the gunboat HMS Jackal, and their leaders, MacPherson among them, went to Calton Jail in Edinburgh for two months as the Glendale martyrs. A royal commission followed in 1883, and the Crofters' Act of 1886. Community ownership began in 1904, though it took the crofters more than fifty years to pay for the estate. A memorial to the Land Leaguers stands by the road on the way in from Colbost.

At Lephin are the shop and post office, Café Lephin and the community hall, where makers sell their work at a craft fair on summer Tuesdays. The road goes on through Waterstein to Neist Point, the westernmost point of Skye, with its lighthouse.

Round the cornerCafe LephinA small black timber café in Glendale on the road to Neist Point, with a wood-burning stove and tall cheese scones.1 min by roadSee itCafe Lephin
Before you go

Glendale is on the B884 west of Dunvegan, on the way to Neist Point.

The shop and post office, Café Lephin and the community hall are at Lephin.

Getting there
By road over the Skye Bridge, then west of Dunvegan on the B884.
Beyond
The road to Neist Point.
Where it is

Glendale, Duirinish, north-west Skye, IV55 8WW.

Close byWest of Dunvegan.
  1. Skye WeaversSkye WeaversA small weaving mill in Glendale, making tweed, throws and scarves from Skye wool on bicycle-pedal looms.1 mile2 min by road
  2. The Old School at Colbost, home of Skye Silver.Skye SilverA jewellery maker in the Old School at Colbost near Dunvegan, designing in silver and gold for fifty years.2 miles2 min by road
  3. Milovaig LoopMilovaig LoopA two-mile loop round the crofting township of Milovaig in Glendale, above Loch Pooltiel.2 miles3 min by road
  4. Neist PointNeist PointThe most westerly headland on Skye, with a lighthouse of 1909 at its tip and cliffs on every side.4 miles5 min by road
  5. Sheep standing in tall grass on a coastal hillsideRamasaig to Orbost Coastal WalkFourteen miles of cliff top down the Duirinish coast, from Ramasaig to Orbost.4 miles6 min by road
Directions
Black wood burning stove behind a safety guard, with a wicker log basket and sheepskin rugCafeCafe LephinA step away
GlendaleBlack Box CabinSleeps 4 · 1.2 miles
A dark timber-clad gabled cabin with a chimney and skylights glows warmly from within at dusk on a grassy hillside.Isle of SkyeHarlosh Wood hSleeps 6 · 2.5 miles
A white house with a dark slated roof sits above a rocky headland and sea, a weathered bench in the garden.MilovaigMilovaig HouseSleeps 4 · 2.7 miles
Whitewashed cottage with grey slate roof behind a pale blue picket fenceColbostThe Three ChimneysPlace to stay · 2.9 miles
A white bungalow with a glazed gable end sits before an autumn hillside, a wooden bench on the lawn in front.South ClunesTigh an TobairSleeps 8 · 2.9 miles
An aerial view shows a white and timber-clad house set among autumn trees above a bay dotted with small islands.Waternish, Dunvegan and DuirinishLochviewSleeps 4 · 2.9 miles
Two walkers cross a curved white sand beach beside green coastal hillsAttractionsCoral Beach4.4 miles over the water
The Black Shed, DunveganSkinidinThe Black ShedSleeps 2 · 4.5 miles
Stay nearby

Places to stay near Glendale, and when each is next free.

Black Box Cabin
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Glendale
  • A mile from Glendale
Check datesA dark timber-clad gabled cabin with a chimney and skylights glows warmly from within at dusk on a grassy hillside.Harlosh Wood h
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Waternish, Dunvegan and Duirinish
  • 2 miles from Glendale
Free 31 Oct – 3 NovA white house with a dark slated roof sits above a rocky headland and sea, a weathered bench in the garden.Milovaig House
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Milovaig
  • 2 miles from Glendale
Check datesWhitewashed cottage with grey slate roof behind a pale blue picket fenceThe Three Chimneys
  • To stay
  • In Colbost
  • 2 miles from Glendale
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in Waternish, Dunvegan and DuirinishAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
Hidden Scotland, the magazine

Scotland, in print.

Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.

Get Issue 13Read it here
Find out more

For further reading, before you go.