Suisnish, Isle of Skye: The atmospheric ruins of a Clearance village
Beauty now reigns in a tragic spot where hundreds of villagers suffered during the Clearance


A visit to the ruins of Suisnish, one of the most haunting of all the Clearance villages, involves a five-mile walk from the beach at Camas Malag, past waterfalls and old marble quarries.
In a glorious setting, with roofless cottages and views over Loch Slapin, it is incredibly moving, particularly as we know hundreds of villagers traipsed through snow, their homes razed, and many died.
Visiting geologist Archibald Geikie described the scene in 1853: ‘A strange wailing sound reached my ears. I could see a long and motley procession winding along the road... A cry of grief went up to Heaven, the long plaintive wail, like a funeral coronach. The sound re-echoed through the wide valley of Strath in one long prolonged note of desolation.’
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Falls of Glomach, Ross and Cromarty: Britain's most isolated, and perhaps most spectacular waterfall
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Annunciata is director of contemporary art gallery TIN MAN ART and an award-winning journalist specialising in art, culture and property. Previously, she was Country Life’s News & Property Editor. Before that, she worked at The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, researched for a historical biographer and co-founded a literary, art and music festival in Oxfordshire. Lancashire-born, she lives in Hampshire with a husband, two daughters and a mischievous pug.
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