Rum - The Forbidden Isle and Midge Magnet

Our next voyage through the Small Isles took us to the Island of Rum.  This is a wild and mountainous place with just one anchorage on the east side.

View of Rum Island from the Sea
Rum has two interesting claims to fame.  One is the exotic and rather curious Kinloch Castle, a hunting lodge for a previous owner, Sir George Bullough.  Sir George used to have his staff fire at unwanted boats who dared to enter his waters, earning it the title of the "Forbidden Isle".
The other is that they boast the largest and most prolific population of midges - maybe not something you would normally want to advertise to potential visitors!

Kinloch Castle
The island was sold by the Bulloughs in 1957 and is now owned by Scottish National Heritage (SNH), a government funded organisation that promotes the natural environment for the public to enjoy.

The population is currently about 30 people and they have a primary school (described as "very remote, rural") with 1 pupil and 1 teacher!  Their power is generated by hydro-electric turbines and jobs mainly centre around tourism, the SNH, looking after the unique Rum wild ponies and deer hunting in the season.  There is a modern bunkhouse and some eco-huts for visitors but the community centre and café were a bit shambolic.

Our tour round Kinloch Castle was memorable, due to the unusual contents and the enthusiastic and informative tour guide who described the colourful lives of the castle residents - too racy to be described here!  Unfortunately, the castle was built on an iron frame that is slowly rusting due to the sandstone cladding that lets in rain water.  It is literally falling down year by year.  A popular hostel for 60 visitors had to close last year as it was deemed no longer safe.  These are some of the things inside that risk being lost as the building decays.

Kinloch Castle - Empire Room, with our Idiosyncratic Guide
The Great Hall - Kinloch Castle with Many Hunting Trophies
Our Guide Describing the Orchestrion
We were shown a very unusual musical instrument called an orchestrion, which is a motor driven barrel organ.  This is one of only 3 in the world and it was used to summon guests to dinner.  We were given a demonstration of it working.  This required an astonishing degree of manual input from our industrious guide - see below!


Yes, a truly memorable visit :)


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