Strathchailleach
The place
The small cottage of Strathchailleach, in the far northwest of mainland Scotland (Cape Wrath area, near Sandwood Bay). Described as "the last primitive inhabited dwelling in Britain", with thick stone walls and a tin roof, isolated near a stream and a few sheep. Likely built in the 1840s, it appears in census records from 1851, occupied by shepherds until the late 19th century. James McRory-Smith, known as "Sandy", lived there for 40 years after leaving the Clyde shipyards — a hermit with no gas, electricity or telephone, occasionally coming down to collect his pension. When Sandy became too old to stay there, the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) carried out a full renovation in 1999 — materials flown in by helicopter over one week, the roof entirely replaced and floors redone. An MBA bothy ever since. One of the most remote in the network; no electricity or running water, but a near-inexhaustible source of peat nearby.
Getting there
Cape Wrath Trail, near Sandwood Bay (NW Scotland).
The setting
Cape Wrath, Sandwood Bay, Northern Highlands.
