About Skye
The Isle of Skye is much larger than expected by first time visitors. It is 70 miles by road from north to south and about 20 miles wide at its widest point. However, due to its 'winged' shape you will never be further than 5 miles from the sea at any point on the island.
Piping Competition - Portree, August each year
The population of Skye is currently about 12,500 and growing slowly. 200 years ago and prior to the infamous Highland Clearances and subsequent mass emigration from the region the population was approximately 80,000, hence so many ruins being visible around the island. It dropped below 10,000 as recently as the 1950s but despite there being an isolationist attitude amongst some of the older members of the island community the population is slowly growing mainly due to incomers settling here to live on their hard earned pensions in this quiet, beautiful but remote location.
Skye Museum of Island Life
The average age of the population is much older than the rest of Scotland and the UK. This is probably due to the lack of employment opportunity for younger people, which then excludes them from the housing market forcing them to move away. The crofting way of life is slowly dying out and with it any chance of younger people being able to afford land which would entitle them to a home being built on it.
This is an extremely emotive subject amongst the island population and results in some very divided communities where the problem is acute. Unfortunately the problem of affordable housing, which this boils down to, is not unique to this place as is believed by many. It has just taken a while to reach here when it has already blighted every other region in the UK for some time. Some people believe in preserving the crofting way of life to provide cheap land for local youngsters to build on. But without work they will simply have a mortgage and no means to pay it off. For incomers like us its best to keep out of the debate !
Skye Bridge and Cuillin mountains
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