Shirley Spear

Shirley Spear and her husband Eddie, together with their two young children, moved to the remote crofting community of Colbost in the Isle of Skye, from Croydon, South London, in October 1984. They bought The Three Chimneys Restaurant, housed within a traditional stone cottage, close beside the sea on a single-track road leading to the most westerly edge of the island. They were following their dream of running a welcoming, bistro-style restaurant, specialising in genuine, home-cooked Scottish food using the best local ingredients available. It was a huge step for them to make as neither of them had any professional training or experience of running a restaurant. With Shirley in the kitchen as Head Chef and Eddie front-of-house as Maître d’ and self-taught Sommelier, they developed The Three Chimneys into a very successful 5-Star Restaurant with Rooms, with 3 AA Rosettes for food. Over their first 20 years they won many awards and accolades along the way. These included being listed by Restaurant magazine as one of the Top 50 Restaurants in the World in 2002 and 2003. Shirley’s first book, “The Three Chimneys, Recipes and Reflections from the Isle of Skye”, was published in 2002 to wide acclaim. She has written many articles about Scottish food and was asked to produce “The Three Chimneys Marmalade Bible”, by her publishers, Birlinn, in 2015. Her famous Hot Marmalade Pudding had a permanent place on the Menu for 35 years. Shirley stepped-back from running the kitchen in 2005, handing over the reins to a younger Head Chef and a larger Brigade, but remaining active within the business. Until the couple sold The Three Chimneys to new owners in 2019, she continued to work as an ambassador for the Scottish hospitality and tourism sectors, always promoting the importance of good food and fresh ingredients. In 2016, she was awarded an OBE for Services to Food and Drink (Scotland). After 35 years of hands-on work, the couple are now enjoying retirement near their wider family in Edinburgh and Peebles, her original hometown in the Scottish Borders. They live beside the sea in North Berwick, where Shirley continues to write.