Absentee landowner at risk of putting community ferry out of business
A HISTORIC Scottish ferry service said to be the last of its kind in the entire world is facing an uncertain future due to a millionaire “absentee landowner”, it has been claimed.
The ferry service between Glenelg on the Scottish mainland and Kylerhea in the Isle of Skye – a former drovers’ route in use for at least 400 years – is now run by the community using the MV Glenachulish, which is reputedly the “last manually operated turntable ferry in existence”.
“It's so finely balanced that one person can push that deck round with six cars on it,” Jo Crawford, the chief executive of the community interest company (CIC) that runs the ferry, said. “It's a really historic little piece of culture.”
The ferry crosses around 800-metres of water between the mainland and Skye (Image: Isle of Skye Ferry CIC)
The CIC has proven a success in the 20 years since it was established, now employing 22 people either part- or full-time, winning Social Enterprise of the Year both in Scotland and UK-wide in 2023, and being awarded a Red Wheel Plaque for its importance to transport heritage.
However, an obscure ancient entitlement held by the landowner on the Skye side – former financier Richard Oliphant of that Ilk – has created a situation which “cannot be sustained” and may threaten the ferry’s future, Crawford warned.
Oliphant of that Ilk holds “rights to ferry” – a little-known legal entitlement said to date back to the Lord of the Isles – over the Kylerhea Narrows. As such, he is paid a percentage of the Isle of Skye Ferry CIC’s annual turnover.
Richard Oliphant of that Ilk (centre) pictured at Edinburgh Castle in an image which tops the clan's website and Facebook page (Image: Facebook)
The CIC signed a similar deal with the Burton Property Trust, the landowner on the Glenelg side, after it was realised that they also held “rights to ferry” – which they have recently transferred to community ownership.
Crawford said: “The trust never asked us for any money, even though the lease agreement said that they could. They supported the community.
“Richard Oliphant of that Ilk, on the other hand, absolutely charged us, right from the word go, and has continued to do that for the past 20 years.
“When the ferry was non-operational in 2020 because of Covid, he still claimed his dues.”
Crawford told the Sunday National that while paying Oliphant of that Ilk had “cost a fortune over the years … the lease also states – this is the awful bit – that he can never be paid less than a previous year”.
“Last year, happily for the ferry company, we had our best year ever in terms of income,” she went on. “He was paid close to £10,000.
“This year, the weather's been awful, so our income is down 20% … but we can't pay him less. He’ll get £10,000 no matter what.”
Crawford said it is “galling” to have to pay Oliphant of that Ilk “for nothing” when the money represents “a part-time seasonal job that somebody locally could be having”.
Oliphant of that Ilk is the current clan chief of Clan Oliphant. He made headlines in 2003 after hiring Hugh Peskett – the acclaimed genealogist who traced Ronald Reagan’s family to the tiny Irish village of Ballyporeen – to prove his claim to the chiefship.
The Scotsman reported at the time that the “millionaire City banker” had funded a 16-year trawl through historical records to oust his Perthshire farmer cousin who had been thought to hold the clan chief title. Oliphant of that Ilk told the paper that there had been "no recognised or official chief of the Oliphant clan before my claim, and therefore it was not a challenge to anyone else’s title".
The Sunday National attempted to contact Oliphant of that Ilk through his clan, and was told our request for comment would be passed on. However, nothing was returned before going to print.
The community took ownership of the ferry two decades ago after its former operator put it on sale due to the Skye Bridge becoming toll-free. There were concerns, Crawford said, that the loss of the ferry would have an irreversible impact on the Glenelg community.
“It's a dead-end down here without a ferry service,” she said. “It would have changed the peninsula entirely. In these small and rural communities, the numbers start to drop, the school roll starts to drop, there's not enough people to merit a GP service anymore, all of that.
“It was just a very small group of local people, none of whom were expert legal experts; they were just impassioned about keeping the ferry here in Glenelg for the benefit of the local communities on either side.”
Crawford said that newly formed CIC had then been “effectively forced into signing the lease” with Oliphant of that Ilk in order to “ensure that we had the correct permissions in place in order to get the grant money in order to buy the boat in the first place”.
“If something catastrophic happens … [and] we still have to pay him £10,000, that's the end of the ferry company, its operation here, and all of the benefits that it brings to the local community,” she added.
The old lighthouse serves as a merchandise store on the Glenelg side of the ferry (Image: Isle of Skye Ferry CIC)
Crawford said that the CIC has a small merchandise shop on the Glenelg side which, using an honesty-box system, brings in around £10,000 per year.
They had hoped to put something similar in a disused phone box on the Skye side – which was described as a “mess” – to help cover costs, but were allegedly blocked from doing so by Oliphant of that Ilk.
“The short version of his response was, ‘Yes, you can tidy up, that'd be great, but no, you can't use it’,” Crawford said.
“He's extracting financial funds out of the ferry company, while being absolutely obstructionist to any form of sustainable development.
“I feel that we have a responsibility to flag this up and do something about it because this ancient right to ferry is nonsense.
“The Community Empowerment Act has legislation in place for salmon fishing rights and mineral rights over land, but not rights to ferry because it's so unusual, so we can't even use that legislation to do something about this.”
Crawford added that they are in discussion with Government bodies about including the ancient rights in land reform legislation, and said the Isle of Skye Ferry CIC was "more than happy to be contacted" by anybody who may be able to help their situation.