大象传媒 Scotland - 大象传媒 Scotland - Last ferry to Skye 鈥� 鈥楾here were people with tears in their eyes鈥�

Last ferry to Skye 鈥� 鈥楾here were people with tears in their eyes鈥�

Locals gather to say goodbye to an old friend

On a wet day in October twenty-four years ago, the car ramp on the Skye ferry was raised up for the last time.

The ferry was a vital lifeline between Kyle of Lochalsh on the Scottish mainland and Kyleakin on the east coast of Skye.

After centuries of bonnie boats speeding over the sea to Skye, in 1995 a new bridge was built between the island and the mainland halting boats like this one that had been serving the island community for almost 400 years.

When it came time to say goodbye, there was a crowd of misty-eyed islanders on the dock and when they saw the bridge toll prices, for some, tears turned to anger.

With never-before-seen footage, The Battle of Skye Bridge tells the classic David and Goliath story, told by those who were there, set against the stunning backdrop of Skye and the Highlands.

鈥楾he last ferry...it was very sad.鈥�

As the Skye road bridge was complete in 1995, locals were faced with a teary goodbye.

As tourism to the island grew in the 1980s, demand for the ferry service became very high causing long delays for tourists and locals alike.

MV Loch Fyne | The last ever car ferry from Kyle of Lochalsh to Kyleakin on Skye

In the final days of the crossing two new sister ships, the Loch Dunvegan and the Loch Fyne, ran 24 hours a day, every day as the newly commissioned Skye road bridge slowly took shape in the background.

It fell to the Loch Fyne to carry out the last ever sailing and upon the bridge's completion. Both she and her sister had their ramps folded and they sailed to the James Watt Dock on the Clyde. A crowd of locals watched on in silence, the end of an era unfolding before their eyes.

‘The last ferry, it was very sad’, local B & B owner Celia Munro says in the programme.

Archive footage shows people young and old wrapped up in raincoats as in horizontal rain, they watch their old friend depart.

Local journalist David Ross remembers the atmosphere on the dock.

"Silence. Just a lot of the local people were quite quiet I felt. That was my impression that they knew their island was changing forever."