Run Britain Days 136 and 137: From Ullapool to Lochinver

Both Ullapool and Lochinver are beautiful little villages. Between them is a whole lot of spectacular emptiness. 

The roads are narrow and incredibly hilly, which means running is pleasant (because there are very few cars), but tough. 

And then there is ‘The Summer Isles’. Between the name and the signs on the main road directing you to these isles, it would be easy to think that these are magical lands. I am sure that on a calm day in the summer, it is a very beautiful and peaceful spot. 

But when it’s windy and rainy, the Summer Isles are bleak and brutal. Our campervan was surrounded by a moat after a few hours of heavy downpour. And the wind that rattled the van in the night was enough to make us fear that we may be picked up and hurled into the sea. 

There is an ‘all year round’ campsite in this absolutely crazy place. But they charge £10 for a load of washing, which makes me think they may not get quite as many visitors in the summer months as the campsite at the far less isolated Big Sand. 

But another run over a road which was deemed ‘not campervan friendly’ and I am back in civilisation - or at least what feels like a community. Lochinver has a police station (although no one we spoke to in the town had ever seen the police officer), a bank on wheels and a yoga class. It’s also home to Lochinver Larder which two different Scottish people, on finding out I had visited, informed me that they were the best pies in the whole of Scotland. I would agree and the pie, chips and peas (served with the best gravy I have ever had) has joined the podium of best meals I have eaten on Run Britain.