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Joyce Campbell: Tourists can be a challenge but deserve a warm welcome

SUMMER VISITOR: Curlews are a welcome sight around Armadale Farm at this time of year.
SUMMER VISITOR: Curlews are a welcome sight around Armadale Farm at this time of year.

Spring has finally sprung and thank goodness as I’ve felt this winter very hard and I’m glad to see it gone.

The air is filled with birdsong from skylarks to the cries of curlews, oyster catchers and peewits.

Large skeins of geese have been gathering overhead, heralding their long migration north for summer. I’m not sorry to see them depart as I’ve recently felt like a full-time goose-scarer, keeping them off our good grass parks.

Peewits  are nesting on Joyce Campbell’s farm at Armadale.

My heart goes out to anyone at the height of their spring work during the first two weeks of April. They were brutal conditions with an extreme wind chill accompanied by snow and hard frosts, as the whole country was flooded with a chilly Artic blast.

We’ve just started lambing and calving.

You quickly fall back into familiar routines and lambing rounds. Conversations revolve around questions like  “how long has she been at it?” or “what’s his belly looking like?”.

Painful hacks open up on your hands which make you flinch when you accidentally get a splash of strong iodine on them.

As the warmer weather arrives, and the country’s lockdown restrictions are eased, the Highlands, like so any other rural communities, are gearing up to welcome back tourists.

The Kylesku Bridge spanning Loch a’ Chàirn Bhàin in the Scottish Highlands and a landmark on the North Coast 500 tourist driving route.

Last year I didn’t open up our holiday cottage other than to friends and family. I didn’t feel comfortable enough with the cleaning procedures and I left the property empty between the few guests we did have.

Now armed with my first Covid vaccine and a better understanding of what’s ahead of us, I recently opened up our booking calendar. The demand has been amazing and this summer filled up within a matter of days.

It seems the whole country feels ready to be unshackled from coronavirus restrictions and enjoy some freedom.

Are we all ready for the influx of visitors? Probably not.

The tone I occasionally hear locally around the arrival of tourists sometimes disappoints me. I know the roads get busy and some can’t cope with passing place etiquette, but we can’t become consumed with narrow provincial viewpoints.

Just as in life, there are a few bad eggs but the majority of the folk taking a break just want to enjoy themselves.

Diversification

Many crofts and farms benefit from the diversified tourist incomes, myself included. A couple of years ago my first lamb sale cheque was back £10k on the previous year. The financial deficit was covered by our two-bedroomed croft house overlooking Armadale bay and I was very glad of it.

Local shops, cafes, hotels and cleaning firms are all gearing up locally by recruiting staff. They’ve all had a challenging year. Just because some of us have enjoyed the peaceful roads, we shouldn’t forgot those who’ve taken a real financial and emotional hit.

Visitors will soon be on their way north.

Last night as I headed off around my single lambs’ hill park I met two cheery cyclists on the road. They were laughing at my dogs on the quad all vying for my attention and cuddles. After the year we’ve endured that wee bit off human a connection made me smile.

There’s lots of challenges around tourism, but let’s not lose our warm Highland welcome while we try to strike a balance.