Tradespeople in Mallaig, Highland

Mallaig is a small fishing port and ferry terminal at the end of the A830 Road to the Isles, about 40 miles west of Fort William on the rugged western Highland coast.

The village has a working harbour that is one of the main landing ports for prawns and shellfish on the west coast and the CalMac ferry to Armadale on Skye and the Small Isles of Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna departs from here.

Mallaig is the western terminus of the West Highland Line and the journey from Fort William - crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct and passing Loch Morar and the white sands of Morar - is regarded as one of the great railway journeys in Britain.

The village itself is compact and functional, with a few shops, a heritage centre, a swimming pool and accommodation. Its appeal lies in its position as a gateway to the islands and in the wild, beautiful coastline that surrounds it.

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Highland is the largest council area in Scotland by land mass, covering more than 25,000 square kilometres from the Cairngorms in the east to the Atlantic coast in the west and from the Moray Firth northward to the tip of mainland Britain at Dunnet Head.

The region takes in an extraordinary range of landscapes - the Great Glen, Ben Nevis, Loch Ness, the Cairngorm plateau, the Flow Country peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland and hundreds of miles of rugged coastline dotted with fishing villages and sea lochs.

Inverness is the regional capital and the largest settlement, serving as the administrative, commercial and transport hub for the entire north of Scotland. Beyond Inverness, the population is spread across market towns and remote communities - Fort William beneath Ben Nevis, Aviemore in the Cairngorms, Thurso and Wick on the north coast, Nairn on the Moray Firth, Dingwall in Easter Ross and dozens of smaller settlements connected by single-track roads and ferry services.

Despite its remoteness, Highland has a diverse economy built on tourism, whisky distilling, renewable energy, forestry, aquaculture and a growing digital sector enabled by improving broadband connectivity. The region's cultural identity is deeply rooted in Gaelic language and tradition, clan history and a strong sense of place that draws visitors and new residents alike.

Transport links converge on Inverness, with the A9 running south to Perth, the A96 east to Aberdeen, rail services to Edinburgh, Glasgow and London and an airport at Dalcross. The more remote communities depend on trunk roads, the scenic rail lines to Kyle of Lochalsh, Wick and Thurso and the ferry services that connect the west coast to the islands.