Kylesku is a small, remote fishing hamlet in Sutherland

Sutherland

Sutherland is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic administrative county of Scotland. It is now within the Highland local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh , Asainte , and Cataibh...

 in the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

. Until 1984, it was the site of a free ferry.

Village

Kylesku is located where Loch Glencoul and Loch Gleann Dubh join to form a sea passage Loch a' Chàirn Bhàin which links to Eddrachillis Bay. It is in the Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 council area of Highland.
The village stretches back along the road from the slipway that used to be the southern end of the ferry crossing. Now by-passed by the main road carried over the bridge, the Kylesku Hotel overlooks the slipway. Nearby are Eas a' Chual Aluinn

Eas a' Chual Aluinn

Eas a' Chual Aluinn in the parish of Assynt, Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, is Britain's highest waterfall with a sheer drop of 658 ft . When in full flow it is over three times higher than Niagara Falls....

, Britain's highest waterfall and Kerrachar Gardens. Both can be visited on a boat trip aboard Statesman.

Kylesku sits at the centre of a 2000 square kilometre area which has become Scotland's first 'Global Geopark

Geopark

A Geopark is defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in its UNESCO Geoparks International Network of Geoparks programme as follows:...

'. There is abundant wildlife and a wide range of outdoor pursuits in or on the lochs, mountains and white sandy beaches, including bird watching, seal and otter spotting, fishing, climbing and hill walking.

Ferry

There was a passenger ferry (a rowing boat) in the early 19th century. Commercial traffic mainly comprised cattle on their way to central Scotland, and they had to swim across. Over the years, various ferries came and went, and small car-carrying ferries first appeared between the wars. The Kylesku Ferry was unusual in being free for much of its life.

The Maid of Kylesku, a two car ferry, was built for the Kylesku crossing in the early 1950s, where it served until replaced by the Queen of Kylesku in 1967. When no longer needed, the Maid of Kylesku was simply beached and lay, grounded on the opposite side of the bay.

In 1976, the , built in Ardrossan

Ardrossan

Ardrossan is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in south-western Scotland. The name "Ardrossan" describes its physical position — 'ard' from the Gaelic àird meaning headland, 'ros' a promontory and the diminutive suffix '-an' - headland of the little promontory...

, became the first vessel capable of carrying fully loaded commercial vehicles. After the opening of the Kylesku Bridge she went on to serve as the Corran Ferry

Corran Ferry

The Corran Ferry crosses Loch Linnhe at the Corran Narrows, south of Fort William, Scotland.-Description:Operated by Highland Council, the Corran Ferry is one of few remaining mainland vehicle ferries in Scotland...

.

Bridge

The bridge was opened, in 1984, by the Queen. It is 276m long and crosses a 130m stretch of water. The curving, five-span, continuous, pre-stressed concrete, hollow bridge, has been described as one of the most beautiful bridges in the world. The bridge was built by Morrison Construction Group, designed by the architects Arup

Arup

Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...

 (to complement the natural beauty of the site) and has won several design and construction awards.

A cairn on the north side, erected in 1993, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the formation of the XIIth Submarine Flotilla, a unit of "X-craft

X class submarine

The X class was a World War II midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44.Known individually as X-Craft, the vessels were designed to be towed to their intended area of operations by a full-size 'mother' submarine - - with a passage crew on board, the operational crew...

" and "Chariot" miniature submarines, which trained in Lochs Glendhu and Glencoul from 1943.