About the desk

The Passing Place is a desk kept for anyone who has to hire a car and drive it on the islands at the end of the road. It exists because the questions are specific and the answers are scattered: which group of car suits the B887, what a hire agreement actually holds you to, how a car is taken across the Minch, where the road stops and the boat begins.

How a card is written

Each card answers one question and keeps to it. We read the operator's own conditions, the published timetables, the highway guidance that applies in Scotland, and the notices that island businesses put out when the weather turns, then write what a driver has to do rather than what a brochure would like them to feel. Where a figure can change, we give the rule and, when it is stable enough, the figure with the date we checked it.

What the desk keeps

Four drawers. Hiring a car covers the agreement, the groups, the checks and the deposit. Island roads covers single-track driving, passing places, gradients and weather. Ferries and crossings covers taking a car across the Minch and the smaller sounds. Seasons and journeys covers light, wind, midges and the shape of a day through the year.

Corrections

Island services change with the seasons and with the operator. If a card has gone stale, write to the desk with the page and what you found: cards are revised in place and the revision date on the card changes with them. Nothing on this desk is for sale, and no card is sponsored.