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A rusted water wheel turning against a stone mill wall, autumn foliage growing along its base
Isle of Skye

Waternish Farm

A working farm near Stein, farmed for corncrakes and wildflowers, with coffee, cake and a guided walk.

Welcome

A long drive leads down from the road at Stein to Waternish Farm, past stone walls and wind-bent trees to an old waterwheel and a stone arch with a bell tower above it.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

From the farmhouse windows the view goes out over the sea to North Uist.

It is a working farm of grassland, rough grazing, woodland and shore, with black cattle in the fields in summer and sheep on the rough ground in winter, and it is farmed as much for birds and wild flowers as for its stock. Visitors are welcomed into the farmhouse kitchen by Lucy Montgomery for coffee and home-made cake, and she can give a talk on the farm's conservation work; on afternoon visits she also leads a walk round the fields and ponds. In late spring, listen out for the rasping call of the corncrake in the long grass.

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The Daily for 31 October, from Scotland with love. A ring of standing stones set among mist and autumn birch
Before you go

Visits are booked ahead, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and begin in the farmhouse kitchen.

Afternoons
3pm: coffee and cake, an illustrated talk on conservation and a guided walk round the farm, £20 a head. The walk goes ahead in any weather.
Mornings
10am: coffee and cake, or coffee, cake and a talk for £15 (children 5 to 14 half price).
Dogs
Welcome on a lead on the walk, but not in the farmhouse or tea room.
Getting there
From the B886, turn left at the T-junction towards Stein; the farm drive is immediately on the right. Park by the waterwheel and the stone arch.

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Did you know

Cattle grazing in a field bordered by dry-stone walls, hills rising beyond a scattering of farm buildings
Did you know

Mown from the middle out.

The farm leaves its silage uncut until after 1 September, and mows each field from the centre outwards, so corncrakes and other ground-nesting birds can run to safety at the edges.

Grassy headland rolls down to a calm sea dotted with distant islands beneath an overcast sky.
Did you know

Rhubarb for the corncrakes.

Corncrakes arrive in late April and need tall cover at once, so the farm plants beds of nettles, flag irises and rhubarb in thick dung and fences them off. Three calling males have been heard in two years.

A curving bay bordered by hills and a scattering of houses under a heavy sky
Did you know

Down to 446.

Corncrake numbers fell so fast after the Second World War that in 1994 only 446 calling males were recorded in the whole of Britain, mostly because of fast mowing machines.

Black cattle grazing in a field before a white farmhouse, hills rising beyond
Did you know

Old Grannie's descendants.

The farm's herd is Lowline Angus, bred back 35 generations to Old Grannie, a cow who lived 35 years, had 29 calves and was killed by lightning in 1859.

A herd of cattle grazes in a field bordered by wind-bent trees, a white cottage visible on the hillside beyond.
Did you know

Sheepdogs since 1984.

The Waternish Sheepdog Trials have been run on the farm since 1984, one of four trials on the Hebridean circuit with North Uist, Harris and Lewis.

Rocky, lichen-covered outcrops edge a calm bay beneath rolling green hills.
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Where it is

On the Waternish peninsula, by the village of Stein, in the north-west of Skye.

Close byThe places nearest the farm, on Waternish.
  1. SkyeskynsSkyeskynsSheepskin clothing and homeware, made on Waternish for nearly 40 years.Under a mile 2 min by road
  2. The wood-burning stove and menu board in the yurt.YURTea&CoffeeA summer tea tent at Skyeskyns, with a woodburner and home-made soup.Under a mile 2 min by road
  3. The wood-panelled bar.The Stein Inn BarThought to be the oldest inn on Skye, built around 1800, with around 130 malt whiskies.1 mile 3 min by road
  4. Skio PotterySkio PotteryA two-potter studio on the Waternish peninsula, looking over Loch Bay.2 miles 4 min by road
  5. The church ruin inside its walled graveyard.Trumpan ChurchThe roofless ruin of a church on a bare headland at the end of Waternish.4 miles 6 min by road
  6. Coral BeachCoral BeachA white beach of crushed red seaweed north of Dunvegan.13 miles 20 min by road
Directions
Purple honesty box with "Homemade Scottish Tablet" sign beside a fenced hillside pathShoppingDonnie's Tablet Shed4.4 miles
Ruined stone castle walls stand roofless on a grassy clifftop above the seaWalksWaternish Point4.4 miles
The Fairy Bridge on Skye: a low stone arch of dark rock carrying the road over a shallow burn, moorland and blue sky beyond.WalksFairy Bridge4.5 miles
The Old School at Colbost, home of Skye Silver.ShoppingSkye Silver5.9 miles as the crow flies
The Dunvegan, DunveganDunveganThe DunveganPlace to stay · 8.1 miles
Shelves of books under a sloping ceiling at Waystone Books, a window seat by the window.ShoppingWaystone Books8.2 miles
Whitewashed thatched cottage with a "Regiant Angus Skye Museum" sign outsideAttractionsGiant MacAskill Museum8.2 miles
Dunvegan Bakery and its garden.CafeDunvegan Bakery & Coffee Shop8.5 miles
Stone cottage with millstone in garden, wooden decking and outdoor seatingRestaurantsEdinbane Lodge8.9 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

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

The Dunvegan, DunveganThe Dunvegan
  • To stay
  • In Dunvegan
  • 6 miles from Waternish
Check datesAn aerial view shows a white and timber-clad house set among autumn trees above a bay dotted with small islands.Lochview
  • Sleeps 4
  • In the Isle of Skye
  • 6 miles from Waternish
Check datesA white bungalow with a glazed gable end sits before an autumn hillside, a wooden bench on the lawn in front.Tigh an Tobair
  • Sleeps 8
  • In Colbost
  • 6 miles from Waternish
Check datesWhitewashed cottage with grey slate roof behind a pale blue picket fenceThe Three Chimneys
  • To stay
  • In Colbost
  • 6 miles from Waternish
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay on SkyeAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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Scotland, in print.

We want to show you the best that Scotland has to offer. The makers and the creatives, the enduring experiences, the evocative tales, the concealed corners. The roads less travelled that take you to places that matter. The adventures that gather you up and sweep you away. The blend of the wild and the artistic that makes Scotland what it is. We’d love for you to join us.

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What we have written about it, the collections it is in and more on Skye.

From the magazineWaternish Farm – Conservation, Cake and Corncrakes on Skye’s Quiet SideCollectionActivities on the Isle of SkyeCollectionSkye's Hidden Side
More on Skye
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For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .