Tanera Mòr

Tanera Mòr is the largest of the Summer Isles in Loch Broom, part of the Inner Hebrides. It sits in a sheltered bay called An Acarsaid on its east side, surrounded by Torridonian sandstone hills covered in peat and rough pasture. The highest point is Meall Mòr, a rounded hill reaching 124 metres. The island has no proper roads, only a single path that circles the anchorage. A small salmon fish farm operates here, along with a café and post office that has issued its own stamps since 1970. The Summer Isles can be seen from the ferry between Stornoway and Ullapool, and boats run from Achiltibuie or Ullapool to reach Tanera Mòr. The island was once home to 118 people in 1881, but all had left by 1931 after the herring industry collapsed. Frank Fraser Darling lived here in the 1930s and 1940s, writing about island life and wildlife in books like *Island Years* and *Island Farm*. In 2017, Ian Wace bought the island and began a large regeneration project, restoring derelict buildings and building five kilometres of new roads. The project now employs 130 people, many in their thirties, working to revive the island’s economy and environment. Visitors find a mix of old and new. The former café and post office serves as the island’s social centre, while restored cottages and a cinema now welcome guests. Chrome basins in the cinema’s bathroom were salvaged from wartime German U-boats. The island’s wildlife thrives, with northern marsh orchids, otters, seals, and rare birds like the red grouse. The sheltered bay and surrounding hills offer quiet walks, and the sea is alive with basking sharks and porpoises in summer. The regeneration has brought new life to a place once left to decay.