Cool place of the week: Skye Shepherd Huts

It only seems fair that to discover a country’s most breathtaking scenery you’re sometimes required to trek right to its remote, outer edge, where turbulent seas and moody skies mould masterpieces of geology.

This is certainly true of Skye, whose multitude of feathery peninsulas are fronted by Atlantic battered cliffs and a thousand sheltered bays, while inland dramatic mountain ranges rise like jagged teeth from boggy peat moors. It’s the sort of place that reminds you just how beautiful and wild the natural world can be.

Bang in middle of all this, Janet Ward's Skye Shepherd Huts gaze out onto grass-covered moorland and a shimmering lochan backed by a low fringe of mountains. There’s a truly wonderful sense of isolation here – silence, but for the wildlife, and starry nights that much of the rest of the UK simply can’t compete with.

There are just two huts on the site, and Janet does everything she can to make a stay here special, arranging a time that’s convenient for breakfast and appearing with a tray laden down by whatever selection of goodies you’ve chosen from the menu –porridge with Talkisker whiskey, eggs from her own hens, local organic sausages and bacon, Stornaway black pudding and more.