Mallaig

Mallaig
Scottish Gaelic: *Malaig*
Mallaig Scottish Gaelic: Malaig;
Population	797
OS grid reference	NM674968
Council area	Highland;
Lieutenancy area	Inverness;
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MALLAIG
Postcode district	PH41
Dialling code	01687
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Ross, Skye and Lochaber;
Scottish Parliament	Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber;
	List of places UK Scotland

Mallaig (Scottish Gaelic: Malaig, pronounced [ˈmal̪ˠɛkʲ] Ma-lig) is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line (Fort William & Mallaig branch), completed in 1901, and the town is linked to Fort William by the A830 road – the "Road to the Isles".

The village of Mallaig was founded in the 1840s, when Lord Lovat, owner of North Morar Estate, divided up the farm of Mallaigvaig into seventeen parcels of land and encouraged his tenants to move to the western part of the peninsula and turn to fishing as a way of life.^[1] The population and local econonmy expanded rapidly in the 20th century with the arrival of the railway.^[1] Ferries operated by Caledonian MacBrayne and Bruce Watt Sea Cruises sail from the port to Armadale on the Isle of Skye, Inverie in Knoydart, and to the isles of Rùm, Eigg, Muck, and Canna. Mallaig is the main commercial fishing port on the West Coast of Scotland, and during the 1960s was the busiest herring port in Europe.^[1] Mallaig prided itself at that time on its famous traditionally smoked kippers but today only one traditional smokehouse remains, Jaffy's and Sons.

Mallaig and the surrounding area is a popular area for holidays.

Education

Mallaig has extensive distance learning facilities allowing the local population access to all forms of education from leisure classes to university degrees through Lochaber College and the UHI Millennium Institute. The College is one of the most successful of its kind in the UK, with over 8% of the local population accessing its facilities. The college has published a PDF version of the 19th Century Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands report.^[2]. Recently the Learning Centre has opened a Marine specific vocational centre and is at the forefort of developing Marine Certification courses for fishermen, as well as being a RYA certified centre.

Mallaig has its own Primary School which recently accepted the Gaelic Medium schoolchildren from neighbouring village Morar Lady Lovat Primary School, to allow that school to focus more on their English medium students.

Mallaig also has its own High School, opened in 1989 (however previously a secondary school existed in a slightly different location before this.) which caters for Mallaig, neighbours Morar and Arisaig, along with the nearby "Small Isles" Eigg, Rùm, Muck, Canna and finally for the nearby Knoydart Peninsula. The school has increasing numbers of pupils from the Small Isles, and as daily travel from home to school is impossible, these pupils are boarded in the schools Hostel.[1]

Transport

The West Highland Line links Mallaig railway station by rail to Fort William, Oban and Glasgow. Sheil Buses run a bus from Mallaig to Acharacle. There are also ferry links from Mallaig to Ardvasar on the Isle of Skye, Lochboisdale and the Small Isles.

Mallaig as a filming location

The Mallaig railway is used during the filming of the Harry Potter series of films, and the Hogwarts Express can often be seen in the summer during periods of filming. Many other local areas are used for location filming.

The 1996 film Breaking the Waves was largely filmed in Mallaig and the surrounding area, and the beach scenes of Local Hero were filmed at Morar and Arisaig, a few miles to the south.