Spellbound At Split Rock (Clachtoll)


I adore a holiday during the enchanting season of autumn and this spellbinding view is the reason we booked a week at Split Rock Croft House.  Our stay in this special place was everything we hoped for and more...

Off the main road from Ullapool to Lochinver, a 6 mile single track leads to the hidden treasure of Clachtoll, with its scattering of crofts and fisherman's cottages overlooking the summer isles and the wild atlantic. 

Three sandy beaches are a 1, 3 and 5 minute walk from the garden. Sea views and reflections of the water are visible all around the house. 

Regular wanderings across the land to our nearest beach - carved so close to the garden gate it is almost within touching distance - were shared with little piglets, highland cows and sheep. Undulating fields, like elemental furrows above the cliffs, seem to mimic the rolling waves below, as if frozen into form during a sudden ice storm. 

A short walk away, we discovered an old salmon fishing station, which overlooks the biblical 'clachtoll', a slab of sloping rock, split in two by forces of nature and defiant against its descent into the sea. A wander along the boardwalk leads back to Flossie's Beach Store and warming mugs of real coffee.

A short drive away, the Clachtoll road leads to the simple amenities of Lochinver, or onto another single track, revealing the pristine beach at Achmelvich. Heading in the other direction, the back road to Kylesku is an unnerving drive through rocky moorland, beyond the sweeping sands and open atlantic at Clashnessie.

Back in our luxurious home-from-home, our crofting hosts provided an abundance of logs for the wood burner, home-grown vegetables - parsnips, carrots, onions, cabbage - and the freshest eggs from their own hens. So, we were easily inspired to cook and bake in the fabulously equipped kitchen, before dining overlooking panoramic sea views, then curling up with a wee dram in front of the cosy fire. When we fancied a no-cook night, the obvious choice was a selection of the much celebrated pies from Lochinver Larder. Our hosts organised local, creel-caught prawns from Lochinver boat 'The Fortitude' too - a memorable, scrumptious final holiday supper. 

This is a place for wandering, pondering, reading, beach combing, favourite films, evocative soundtracks, feasting, hot chocolates and drams. Mostly though, it's for curling up by open french windows, watching and listening to the ever changing moods of the atlantic ocean; then, as the sun descends, looking upwards to find that darkness has revealed a new moon and bright constellations scattered across the western sky. Magical. xo

Book the house or cottage and learn more via airbnb.co.uk/rooms/7443019

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