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What Skye Means To Me

By Charlie Lyons


I transferred with my family from Edinburgh to Skye in 1989 whilst working as an Ambulance Technician with the Scottish Ambulance. On arrival at our rented accommodation, on a very cold January day, we were greeted with a roaring coal fire and a cooked chicken dinner ready and waiting for us. This was our first taste of Highland Hospitality, and boy were we impressed.

Over the next 20 years we very much became part of a closely knit community, with me in the Ambulance Service and my wife working as a receptionist in Portree Hospital. No matter how many times during these years, when transferring a patient from Portree to Raigmore in Inverness did I take it for granted, the beautiful scenery that I was travelling through. It was also a privilege, on a daily basis to meet so many interesting people, who all had a story to tell. Skye has so much to offer, with endless scenic beauty and tranquillity. I chose this photograph, which I felt summed up everything that Skye means to me.

Collage of nine images which summarise what Skye means to the story submitter. The words 'festivals', 'nostalgia', 'characters', 'contentment', 'winter', 'summer', 'peace', tranquillity' and 'back door views' over lay the bottom of each image. Image provided by Charlie Lyons

What Skye Means to Me, a collage by Charlie Lyons


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