Hebridean Hop 13: North Uist

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Thursday 9th August 2018

Traffic jam North Uist style

The main road heads up the spine of South Uist and Benbecula to North Uist, where it turns into a loop. Pretty as it is, we didn’t want to keep driving up and down the same stretch so decided to cover as much of North Uist as we could in one day, tackling the loop clockwise.

First stop was for coffee and scones in Kirkibost Hebridean Kitchen, another of the fabulous community enterprises that have sprung up since our last visit. We had a cheek really, given how much hotel breakfast we had eaten, but the scones proved too hard to resist.

We attempted to walk them off at Balranald RSPB Nature Reserve (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). We saw more cows than birds, but the scenery was beautiful, a mixture of machair and beaches. At the end, we were unaccountably peckish again and stopped at the campsite’s catering caravan for some delicious home-made lentil soup.

We got glimpses of the abandoned islands of St Kilda from the nature reserve, but after lunch we headed (by car) up the hill of Cleitreabhal a Deas where there is an observation platform with telescope. It was actually clear enough to see the islands with the naked eye. If you look very carefully at the horizon in the first picture below there is a hump slightly to right of centre, Boreray, and a more elongated form to the left is Hirta. Boreray, much zoomed, is in the second picture flanked by Stac Lee and Stac an Armin.

Back in the car again, we made a quick stop at Scolpaig Tower, an 1830s folly in the middle of a loch.

This sightseeing is thirsty work – the next stop was the hotel in Lochmaddy, North Uist’s largest village, for a coffee, then a quick walk over a funny little suspension bridge to The Hut of the Shadows. This structure is Neolithic in appearance, but was created as an artwork in 1997 – inside it’s a camera obscura and an image of the loch lapping peacefully appears on its walls.

By this time it was half past 5 – and so much more to do! A circular walk would have taken in two ancient sites – the Neolithic tomb of Barpa Langass and the stone circle of Pobull Fhinn (Fingal’s People), but in the end we drove between them. It’s no longer possible to go into the tomb because of roof falls – relief from me, but John would have been game.

Pobull Fhin is the largest stone circle on Uist with about 24 stones (not all still standing).

We’d reached the end of the loop now, but made a couple more stops on the road as it headed south to Benbecula. We turned off at Baleshare, following signs to a road-end sculpture which turned out to be a sweeping ceramic tiled seat designed by local schoolchildren (tbh we were expecting a bit more than this!)

Our last visit was to the Church of the Holy Trinity, site of a medieval monastery and college. To get there, we had to walk alongside the Ditch of Blood commemorating the Battle of Carinish on 1601 between the MacDonalds and the MacLeods (if there are any MacDonalds or MacLeods reading, the MacDonalds won).

It was now quarter to 8, and far too late to get back to our own hotel for dinner, so we stopped off at the Dark Island Hotel in Benbecula. I can report that they do good pizza.

We finally got back to Lochboisdale about 10pm. “Our” view was still there and the ferry was in – once again, we were staying somewhere that we could watch the ferry arrive in the evening, and hope it did not wake us up with its early morning departure. This one serves Mallaig on the mainland so would not be the one we would catch in a few days time – we had another island as our destination.

It had been a long day and we were glad to turn in. The following morning we planned to head back up to Benbecula to explore it further.

Scotland, UK , , , ,

41 Comments »

  3. Ahhh Anabel, one should never miss an opportunity for fresh scones! That nature reserve is incredibly beautiful. I love the lime green grass near the beach and ocean, such a gorgeous combination of colors. And the tower in the middle of the loch… has a fairytale feeling to it.

    Love all your photos, they have such a tranquil feel to them, and are very painterly.

    Peta

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  5. Isn’t Scolpaig Tower the cutest thing? Beautiful excursions and photos, Anabel, and so lucky with the weather. You guys sure were on the go with super full days. Quite exhausting as we are finding out these weeks in Zesty. But, our daylight hours have shrunk substantially, compared to your summer adventure. So, at some point, we have to find a place to park for the night and cook dinner, which means the end of another full day of hiking or sightseeing. 🙂

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  7. Hi Anabel – yes please pass on compliments to your photographer – who is not afraid to ancient tombs! I don’t blame you though! I suppose you’ll be surprised to say I’ve just read about an Angus Monk who, aged 13, made his way to Vancouver Island from Benbecula … (the description:)

    “this barren, windswept archipelago is Europe’s answer to the Queen Charlottes -minus the trees.
    The rigours of life out there, at the mercy of the North Atlantic, necessitated a tough and fearless constitution, a characteristic that Angus embodied fully. ….”

    From the book ‘The Golden Spruce’ – by John Vaillant … about one man and one tree – yet it is much more than that. JV has written a work that will change how many people think about nature …

    Worth while checking out … as you love trees – this has a bit more to it than that … I’m finding it fascinating … and it had Benbecula mentioned – wonders never cease!!

    Cheers Hilary

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  8. Hi, Anabel – Thank you for more great photos of an awesome adventure. I especially liked your opening shot of the cows.
    BTW – Why do I often have a strong urge for a good cup of coffee when reading your posts?!

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  10. What a lovely place to walk! I really think you are so fortunate to live near such beautiful scenery and to be able to enjoy it. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us!

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  12. Loved the romp as always. The beaches looked so inviting, but I expect we’re rather chilly. The names of all these places I know I couldn’t begin to pronounce. You’ll have to give me lessons! I understand your disappointment at the Baleshare sculpture. The refreshments sound delightful.

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  13. Another wonderful post, Anabel! This scenery is wonderful and it sounds like you had a marvellous time exploring and trying the local delicacies. I’m sure I’ve seen a TV program where Tony Robinson visited St Kilda.

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  15. You did so well to see so much of North Uist in just one day. Our cottage that we stayed in was not far from Scolpaig tower. Our dog Hugo wasn’t to keen on the suspension bridge which we crossed to visit the Hut of Shadows, but he made it over. We sat on that bench at Baleshore too. Loving your posts! X

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  17. Again, great photographs – John is to be commended. The Battle was interesting, but then I’m a MacLean of Duart, so it no concern us :o) The Church of the Holy Trinity was interesting as were the remaining standing stones. Loved the Suspension Bridge – how brilliant. I thought it was just fantastic -strange and understandable – but fantastic none the less.

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