Click above to buy this book on Amazon.
Lewis & Harris
Although Lewis and Harris, one of the last great wildernesses in the British Isles and by far the largest of the Scottish islands, are one island, they are effectively separated by a large mountain chain. Both geographically and historically each has its own unique identity, but one thing they do have in common is religion – this is one of the last outposts of the UK to adhere strictly to Sunday observance.
Slideshow
The Summer Isles are a group of small islands located about 12 miles northwest of the mainland ferry port of Ullapool. The nearest point on the mainland is the village of Achiltibuie. Boat trips to the islands operate from Ullapool on the Summer Queen or from Achiltibuie on the MV Hectoria. The largest and only inhabited of the islands, Tanera Mor, is famous for its otters, seals and seabirds. In addition to a fish farm, there is also a post office on the island, which issues its own unique Summer Isles stamps. A self-catering cottage is available to rent.
Stornoway, the capital and administrative centre of Lewis and Harris, is the only large town in the Western Isles. A major fishing port during the 19th century, the town and its immediate surrounding area has seen its population decline in recent years to a low of around 8,000 – 30% of the total population of the Western Isles! Lews Castle, seen in the distance, was built in the mid-19th century by Sir James Matheson from a fortune made in the Far Eastern opium trade. Now awaiting restoration, it served as a naval hospital during World War II and then as a Technical College until 1989. Its 600 acres of grounds of mixed woodland are open to the public.
As famous as, and probably older than Stonehenge, this megalithic stone circle, with its 15½ft-high central stone and four avenues of standing stones is located at Callanish on the west coast of Lewis overlooking Loch Roag. Composed of locally quarried Lewisian gneiss, they were erected around 5,000 years ago and many theories, including an ancient temple or a calendar system linked to astronomical movements, have been put forward for their existence. During archæological excavations in 1857, large amounts of peat were removed from the site. This not only revealed the full height of the stones, but also a burial cairn within the central circle. This historic site, in the care of Historic Scotland, with its own car park and visitor centre, is signposted from the A858.
Dun Carloway is located in a well-defended position on a commanding hilltop overlooking Loch Carloway on the west coast of Lewis. A masterpiece of drystone walling, this Iron Age broch is one of the finest examples of its kind in the Western Isles. Built around 2,000 years ago, it is now peeled open to reveal its double-skinned walls, staircases and floor levels.
Linked to the west coast of Lewis by a concrete bridge (via the B8059) since 1953, the small island of Great Bernera (6 miles x 3 miles) is owned by Count Robin de la Lanne Mirrlees (also known as Prince of Incoronata) – an anti-monarchist and Buddhist. Based at Kirkibost on the shores of Loch Roag, Great Bernera has been an important centre of the local lobster fishing industry for around 200 years.
On the west coast of Lewis, the magnificent sweep of Uig Bay is dominated by the island’s mountainous interior with its highest peak, Mealisval, rising to a height of 1,883ft. In 1831, a magnificent 78-piece Viking chess set was discovered in sand dunes near Uig Sands. Dating from the 12th century, the set is beautifully carved from walrus tusk ivory. Although the originals are now in mainland museums, copies of the chess set can be seen in Stornoway Museum.
Sheltered by the small island of Eilean Iuyard at the entrance to Loch Sealg, the remote fishing village of Lemreway is reached at the end of a long and winding road in the Lochs region of eastern Lewis. To make way for more profitable large-scale sheep farming, Lemreway’s population fell victim to the infamous ‘clearances’ of the 19th century, dropping from 179 in 1841 to a depressing 18 in 1851.
Scalpay lost its unique island status when a new road bridge, linking it to South Harris, was opened by Tony Blair in 1997. Avoiding the infamous ‘clearances’ of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the island with its sheltered north and south harbours has for centuries been an important base for the local shellfish industry. With a population of over 300 ‘Scalpachs’, this small island (3 miles x 2 miles) has a fairly high population density compared to its neighbours.
With its white sandy beach and crystal clear water, Husinish Bay is as close as you can get to Paradise on a fine day on Harris. From left to right on the horizon are the island of Taransay, Toe Head peninsula on South Harris and the island of Pabbay.
Room with a view – overlooking the now-uninhabited island of Scarp (on left) from the north side of the isthmus at Husinish on the northwest coast of Harris. It was from Scarp in 1934 that the German rocket engineer Gerhard Zucker (1900-1985) tried to demonstrate, unsuccessfully, that rockets could be used to deliver mail to remote locations.
Located at Bunavoneadar, northwest of Tarbert on North Harris, this solitary brick chimney is all that remains of a whaling station originally built by a Norwegian company to process whale carcasses in the early 20th century. The station was bought by Lord Leverhulme, the owner of Harris from 1919, in the early 1920s and continued in use until around 1930. Dominated by the North Harris mountains, the chimney is now classed as a Scheduled Industrial Monument by Historic Scotland.
Located just over one mile from the northwest coast of South Harris, the twin-peaked island of Taransay with its white sandy beaches shot to fame in 2000 when it was chosen as the location for the BBC TV series Castaway. It has also been used more recently as one of the locations for the film The Rocket Post. Privately-owned and run as a working sheep farm, Taransay is also the site of two early Christian chapels, one dedicated to St Taran and the other to St Keith. Two self-catering units are available to rent on this otherwise uninhabited island.
Exposed at low tide, the vast expanse of Luskentyre Sands in South Harris is interlaced by several small rivers, which are fed from inland lochs such as Loch Carran. In the distance, the mountains of North Harris form a natural barrier between Lewis and Harris. A paradise for hillwalkers, the four highest peaks in this range (from west to east) are Tirga Mor (2,228ft), Oreval (2,165ft), Uisgnaval (2,392ft) and Clisham (2,622ft).
Located in the village of Rodel at the southernmost tip of the Isle of Harris, St Clement’s Church is one of the most spectacular in the Western Isles. Built on the site of an earlier church by Alastair (Hunchback) MacLeod of Harris in the early 16th century, St Clement’s became the burial place for the MacLeods of Harris and contains many fine tombs and carved gravestones. It is now a place of pilgrimage for MacLeods from around the world.
North Uist
Apart from a few peaks, much of North Uist is covered in moorland, bog and hundreds of small lochs. The island, rich in early archæological remains, was ruled for 500 years by the MacDonalds of Sleat until 1855, when it was sold to Sir John Powlett Ord. While over 2,000 islanders had been ruthlessly evicted by their previous laird, those that were left fared little better. Today most of North Uist, with its much reduced population of around 1,600, is owned by the North Uist Estate Trust.
Slideshow
Located in the northwest of North Uist, Scolpaig Tower is a folly that was built on the site of an Iron Age broch in the 1830s by Dr Alexander MacLeod. The original broch, the stone of which was used to build the folly, was the scene of a murderous family feud between members of the MacDonalds during the 16th century.
Located at Carinish in the south of North Uist, Trinity Temple was once an important monastery and college of international standing founded by Beathag, daughter of Somerled. It was enlarged in the late 14th century by the wife of John, Lord of the Isles, but destroyed after the Scottish Reformation. Although restored in the 19th century, it is now in a very sad state of repair.
Benbecula
Now linked by causeways to North and South Uist, Benbecula was for centuries a stronghold of the all-powerful Clan Ranald, until falling into the hands of the infamous Colonel Gordon of Cluny in the 19th century. Following a century of decline, the building of an airfield, military base, local authority administrative centre and new schools have all contributed to a reversal in population decline and brought about brighter prospects for the islanders’ future.
Slideshow
Benbecula’s remote east coast is heavily indented by many sea lochs such as Loch a’ Laip near Creagastrom - a favourite haunt of otters and seals.
This sad, derelict house, near to Benbecula’s small 19th century fishing harbour at Peter’s Port, is typical of the hundreds that can be seen dotted all around the Outer Hebridean landscape.
South Uist
After centuries of Viking and traditional Clan rule, South Uist was sold to the notorious Colonel John Gordon of Cluny in 1838. Within a few years, half of the island’s poverty-stricken and starving population had been forcibly evicted by their new landlord and shipped out to Canada. An island of geographical extremes, South Uist today is also home to one of Scotland’s most important National Nature Reserves and to one of Europe’s most important missile testing ranges.
Slideshow
Founded in 1958, the National Nature Reserve at Loch Druidibeg includes over 4,000 acres of land and loch that stretch across South Uist from the western coastline to the eastern mountains. Managed by Scottish Natural Heritage, the reserve contains important breeding areas for wading birds and thousands of resident greylag geese.
Born on a tenant farm in Milton, South Uist, Flora MacDonald took Bonnie Prince Charlie, disguised as a maidservant, from Benbecula to Skye in 1746. On arriving at Portree, the Prince left for Raasay before catching a ship back to France. Flora never saw him again but was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
The peace and tranquility of South Uist is portrayed in this view from South Glendale across the Sound of Eriskay to the causeway-connected island of Eriskay. South Glendale Primary School, now demolished, was the setting of Christina Hall’s excellent book Twice Around the Bay, in which she tells the true story of her life as a teacher on South Uist in the 1940s and 1950s.
Typical of the landscape on South Uist’s west coast, this stretch of machair, or sand dune pasture, is being seeded to provide oats and rye as fodder crops. The machair is also an important habitat for rare wild flowers, such as orchids, along with many species of bird including twite, dunlin, ringed plover and, when the cover is high enough, the often-heard but rarely seen corncrake.
After many years of neglect, some of the traditional single-storey crofts in the Outer Hebrides are now being restored as comfortable holiday homes. Here, on South Uist on the southern shores of Loch Baghasdail, are views across to the ferry port of Lochboisdale and the rugged eastern half of the island.
Much of the Outer Hebrides are formed of an ancient rock known as gneiss. Where this is found, the soil is acidic and unproductive but, in waterlogged areas, is overlaid by deposits of decayed vegetable matter known as peat. As well as an excellent indicator of climate change peat, in its dried form, is also an important source of fuel. Lines of drying peat, such as these near Crossdougal on South Uist, can still be seen throughout the Outer Hebrides.
Eriskay
Eriskay’s poor soil probably saved it from a fate worse than death during the 19th century ‘clearances’, when displaced crofters from South Uist boosted the island’s tiny population and turned it into a thriving centre for the herring fishing industry. After decades of terminal decline following World War II, this real-life Whisky Galore! island was thrown a lifeline in 2002 with the completion of a new causeway to South Uist and an improved ferry link with Barra.
Slideshow
Mounted on a bracket in the grounds of St Michael’s Church is the ship’s bell from the World War I German battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger. Displacing 31,200 tons and launched in 1913, she saw action in the North Sea at the Battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland. Her crew scuttled her on 21 June 1919, after she had been interned at Scapa Flow.
Built at a cost of £9.4 million (roughly £70,000 per head of the island’s population) and opened on 11 September 2002, this brand new causeway now links Eriskay with South Uist, seen in the distance. New ferry terminals were also built on both Eriskay and northern Barra to complete the last link in the important communication chain between the islands of the Outer Hebrides.
The white sandy beach at Coilleag a’ Phrionnsa on Eriskay’s west coast was where the exiled Bonnie Prince Charlie first set foot on Scottish soil, when he was landed here by the French frigate Doutelle on 23 July 1745.
Once common throughout Britain, the corncrake is now only found on a few Hebridean islands such as Eriskay. They arrive from overwintering in Africa in April and May and prefer to spend their time hidden in tall vegetation such as irises, cow parsley or nettles. Sadly, modern farming practices such as early mowing for silage have destroyed much of their habitat, and they are now an endangered species in Britain. Although their distinctive rasping call can often be heard during the summer, corncrakes are rarely seen.
Barra & Vatersay
Ancestral home of the MacNeil Clan, Barra and its predominantly Gaelic-speaking people suffered grave injustices at the hands of its ruthless landlord, Colonel Gordon of Cluny, during the ‘clearances’ of the mid-19th century. Since then, the MacNeils have reclaimed their estate and given most of it back to the people of Scotland. Both Barra and Vatersay, the latter owned by the government since 1908, are renowned for their abundance of rare wildflowers during spring and summer.
Slideshow
On the regular service from Glasgow and Benbecula, a British Airways De Havilland Twin Otter comes in to land on the vast expanse of Traigh Mhor beach. Barra is the only airport in the world where scheduled flights land on a beach.
Oystercatchers take a break on an unspoilt beach near Borve Point on Barra’s west coast. Common throughout the Scottish islands, the oystercatcher has a strong flattened bill which it uses to prise open cockles and mussels.
Built as a three-storey dwelling in the 15th century for a member of the MacNeil Clan, this stone tower, known as Dun Mhic Leoid, stands on a small island in landlocked Loch Tangasdail.
Testimony to the declining population of the last 150 years, the islands of the Outer Hebrides are littered with deserted and ruined houses. On Vatersay, this majestic example stands like a monolith overlooking Castle Bay and Barra. Vatersay was physically joined to Barra in 1990 with the opening of a new causeway.
Castlebay, the capital of Barra, is dominated by the impregnable 15th century Kisimul Castle and the 19th century Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea.
Strategically located on an island in Castlebay harbour, Kisimul Castle was the seat of the MacNeils of Barra from the 15th century until it was abandoned in the mid-18th century. Following bankruptcy in 1838, the MacNeils lost their lands on Barra but, in 1937, an American descendant, Robert Lister MacNeil, bought back much of the estate and spent the next 30 years restoring the castle to its former glory.
St Kilda
Formed from an extinct volcano, St Kilda is an archipelago of four islands and several sea stacks located about 40 miles out into the Atlantic west of Benbecula. In 2005, in recognition of both its natural beauty and habitats and its historical heritage, St Kilda became one of only 24 places in the world to be awarded Dual World Heritage Status by UNESCO. Owned by the National Trust for Scotland, St Kilda is definitely one of the top destinations that you must visit before you die!
Slideshow
Protected under the Ancient Monuments Act, the settlement on Hirta has been uninhabited since 1930 when the remaining 36 inhabitants were evacuated to the mainland.
The pattern of Hirta’s settlement is best viewed from the summit of Ruaival (728ft). The modern military installation is conveniently hidden from view behind this stone cleit – one of around 1,400 that are dotted around the island and used for centuries as larders or stores by the hardy islanders.
Covered with thousands of nesting gannets, the cliffs of Boreray rise vertically out of the sea to a height of over 1,000ft. Landing on this island is fraught with danger and prior permission is required from the warden on Hirta. For centuries, St Kildans risked their lives on these cliffs, sometimes at night, to collect gannets and their eggs. The remains of three bothies on the island were used as shelter by these fearless men and women and by shepherds attending sheep.
In the foreground, Stac Lee with its gannet colony rises from the sea to a height of 564ft. This stack, along with Stac an Armin Boreray, Hirta and Soay, the latter two seen in the distance, are the remains of a rim of a volcano that was active about 60 million years ago. Rising to a height of 1,411ft, the seacliffs on Hirta are the highest in the British Isles.
Gannet City! The world’s largest colony of gannets, 60,000 pairs, breed on Boreray and the two adjacent stacks of Stac Lee and Stac an Armin. During the breeding season, every crevice of these sheer cliff faces is covered with nesting gannets, while the sky above witnesses the spectacular comings and goings of these magnificent birds. With a wingspan of over 6ft, gannets dive from a height of over 100ft, reaching speeds of 60mph as they plunge deep into the sea to catch fish for their young.
