Toscaig

Toscaig from the North

Toscaig is the most southerly of the line of small settlements that run south from Applecross village on the west coast of the Applecross Peninsula.

Village Cottage Fisherman's Shed

It lies at the north end of the south-facing Loch Toscaig and at the end of the road you find Toscaig's harbour. Or, rather, what is left of it, for signs prohibit access to the remains of a pier that is self-evidently not far from complete collapse into the sea.

Despite this, piles of lobster pots suggest that some fishing still takes place from here, though we assume that with the demise of the pier most activity moved a little up the coast to Ard-dhubh and Camusterrach. This is a shame, because for a while from the mid 1950s, Toscaig became the terminus for a motor boat service linking the peninsula to Kyle of Lochalsh. This seems to have ceased operation some time in the 1970s.

Toscaig is also of note for lying at the end of the Parliamentary Road built westwards from Kishorn and over the Bealach na Ba in 1822 and then south down the western shore of Applecross.

Loch Toscaig

Remains of the Pier

This is covered in more detail on the Applecross Peninsula feature page, but it is a sign of how values have changed that in 1910 the contract for the maintenance of the road from Toscaig up to Applecross then inland, over the Bealach na Ba and down to the shore of Loch Kishorn was let for the sum of £50 per year.

North of its harbour the tiny hamlet of Toscaig lies mostly on the rising ground to the west of the flat salt marsh valley of the River Toscaig as it approaches the loch.