Tanera Mòr, the main island of the Summer Isles, lies just 1.5 miles off the coast at Achiltibuie and 25 miles from Ullapool and is for sale at £1.95 million with a considerable income for tourism activities, including holiday cottages and it has the right to issue its own stamps.
These islands rarely come on the market and Tanera Mòr is 1.2 miles wide and 1.6 miles, covering some 800 acres in total. It has a coastline of approximately seven miles with cliffs, coves and beaches, picnic spots, fresh water lochans and leisure activities including swimming, sailing, diving and fishing.
According to agents Savills there is a safe anchorage in the bay and the long summer days and the warm current of the Gulf Stream ensure Tanera Mòr's seawaters are a rich feeding ground for fish including mackerel, cod, pollock, coalfish and ling. There are also lobsters, crabs and langoustines off the coast and porpoises, dolphins, basking sharks and otters are seen in the waters around Tanera Mòr.
‘Tanera Mòr has all the mystique, privacy, tranquillity and charm associated with island life,’ says the Savills brochure. It adds that the landscape is one of ‘outstanding beauty’ and from its highest point, Meall Mòr, the views are towards its sheltered bays, hidden lochans and traditional cottages.
‘The horizons provide a wonderful display, with the Outer Hebrides to the west, the mountains of Coigach and Assynt to the north and east and the Fannich and Torridon hills to the south. The views from the island are truly stunning and ever changing according to the weather, light and seasons,’ it explains.
‘The natural topography of the island creates a wide range of habitats, and the past and present sensitive management maintains and encourages its diversity of flora, insects and birds. A great variety of wildlife visits the island and otters are often seen playing in the turquoise waters on the rocky foreshore along the south east corner of the island whilst the more dramatic west coast attracts a variety of seabirds including Arctic terns, great northern divers, grebes and little auks,’ it adds.
On the mainland Achiltibuie has a village shop, Post Office, a well known hotel and restaurant and a primary school. Ullapool is the main town and provides a range of shops, medical practice and secondary schooling as well as a number of hotels and good eating establishments.
Inverness is 83 miles away and is the principal city for the region with all the facilities of a modern city including its airport with regular flights to the south and parts of Europe and a train station with services which include an overnight sleeper service to London.
Over the past 15 years the current owners have planted in excess of 164,000 native trees as part of an ongoing woodland regeneration scheme. With no deer or rabbits, and sheep only in a very restricted area, these trees have flourished, creating a lush and green landscape. Once windswept paths are now sheltered by semi mature trees and the approach to the island is softened by the woodland which comes down to the shore along the eastern coastline.
Savills says that the island itself is self sufficient with regards to private water and power supplies. The Old Schoolhouse is the largest dwelling on the island and occupies a prominent location high above the bay looking over the water to Achiltibuie and the backdrop of the Assynt Mountains, of which Stac Pollaidh is the most famed.
Most of the island houses are traditional stone built houses which have been sympathetically restored for permanent use or holiday cottages and divided into three clusters at the northern, southern and western sides of the bay, each of which has its own jetty.
The Old School House has three bedroom and one reception room while Rosslyn Cottage has two bedroom and two reception rooms. The farmhouse has four bedrooms and two receptions. The Old Inn has two bedrooms and one reception room.
There is also Port Cottage with three bedrooms and one reception room, Tigh an Quay Cottage with three bedrooms and one reception room, Rowan Cottage with three bedrooms and one reception room, Murdo’s Cottage with three bedrooms and one reception room, and Fuchsia Cottage with four bedrooms and two reception rooms.
All cottages have private drainage to a septic tank, a BT phone line connection and a private water supply drawn from the fresh water Loch Allt a Mhuilinn.
Tanera Mòr is currently managed and run as a successful tourist enterprise, incorporating a number of different facets. The established holiday letting business has been expanded to include residential and non-residential courses. The café and Post Office operate from a building lying close to Ard-nagoine Pier and are open for seasonal daily visits from tourist boats from Ullapool and Achiltibuie as well as yachts and sea kayakers and the occasional larger cruise ships such as the Hebridean Princess.
The private postal service on Tanera Mòr was inaugurated in September 1970 with the approval of the Post Office. In return for administering the postal service to and from the mainland, the owners are allowed to issue private Summer Isles postage stamps, and these are much sought after by collectors. Past issues reflect the plant life, birdlife and wildlife associated with the island.
The current owners' boat operates as a post boat, delivering the island's mail to the Royal Mail Post Office at Achiltibuie and returning with postal items.
