Rum By Starlight

This peaceful island offers stargazers a rare window into the cosmos, untouched by light pollution

- by DANIELLA THEIS and JACKI JOYCE

DID you know that a small island in the Inner Hebrides holds a status shared by only one other place in the UK and just 22 worldwide?

The Isle of Rum, the largest of the Small Isles, was last year declared a “Dark Sky Sanctuary” – a designation by the organisation DarkSky, which works to tackle light pollution and its effects.

This is more than a token badge or a lure for visitors, however. The title comes with responsibilities, including continuous measurements of Rum's dark skies, shaping the habits of locals and the island's wildlife.

By day, Rum is much like other Inner Hebridean isles: quiet. There are no busy roads or rush hour. A few 4x4s belonging to locals crawl along dirt tracks on the island that is otherwise car-free.

Around 40 people live on Rum permanently, joined in summer by tourists exploring or staying in the bunkhouse.

"Life here is slow - but not slow in a bad way," says Elle Duffy, visitor services manager for the island, who runs the bunkhouse with her husband. "It's slow in the way of you wanting to slow down. You actually want to take your time.

"We don't have a lot of electricity here, so all the kettles are always on a stove top, so you're taking an extra five minutes for your kettle to boil. Even something like that, you're just deliberately slowing everything down."

Elle moved to Rum in 2024, leaving behind a busy career as a journalist for the BBC in Glasgow.

"It's incredible for your mental health," she says. "When you're on the mainland or when you're in the city, you're constantly having to do something, and you need to always be on the go.

"Here, you can just take your time. You can stop in the middle of the nature reserve and know you won't see a single soul for miles. You don't hear anything; there's no cars. You just hear proper silence. It's something that I've never experienced before coming here. It's honestly the best feeling."