Summer 2022: Carnish

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Carnish Byre, Uig, Lewis

Uig is a beautifully scenic area on the south-west coast of Lewis. Our accommodation, shown above, was a converted byre in Carnish (Carnais), a small settlement at the end of a tiny single-track road. Having looked at Google Street View before departing, we can be forgiven for not recognising it. The Google car had not passed that way for 13 years, as the screenshot below shows!

Screenshot from Google Street View

Inside, the place was beautifully constructed, the best bit being the glass extension at the front which was our dining area. This was our view every time we ate. How fabulous was that?

Dining at Carnish Byre

The locals were very helpful, keeping the lawn nicely mowed, though they did get rather too bold in the end, coming right up to the front door and knocking! Perhaps they wanted a tip after their hard work? We didn’t open the door to find out (all photos taken through glass).

Carnish sheep
Carnish sheep
Carnish sheep
Carnish sheep
These ones have just knocked on the door!

There was beautiful coastal walking straight from the door. Even on the brightest days it was not warm, but can you spot the intrepid swimmer? I was not so daft!

Back of Carnish Byre
Carnish sheep
Coast at Carnish
Coast at Carnish
Anabel
John
Coast at Carnish
Carnish sheep
Carnish sunset
Intrepid swimmer
Coast at Carnish
Coast at Carnish
Coast at Carnish
Looking over to turf roofed house
Turf roofed hose

We were also lucky to have within walking distance the Abhainn Dearg (Red River) Distillery, a tiny farmyard operation founded in 2008 and producing around 10,000 bottles a year. Our helpful guide, Laura, explained that everything was local except the yeast and was kept as traditional as possible, e.g. cylindrical stills rather than pot stills, because they are the same shape as old illegal stills. There is no wastage – everything is recycled, with the malt and left over liquid being used for cattle feed. After an informative tour we got down to the main business – a tasting! There might have been a bottle came home with us.

Entrance
Anabel with chessman
Car park open
Chessman
Gruffalo bench
Tasting room exterior
Tasting room interior
Tasting room interior
Tasting room interior
Laura, our guide
By the stills
Barrels
Tasting!

So much for our local area – more about what we did elsewhere on the island coming soon.

Scotland, UK , , , , ,

61 Comments »

  4. What cute and kindly neighbors you had. I wonder what would have happened had you opened the door and invited them in. After all, they did keep your lawn nicely mowed.

    What an idyllic place to stay and I’m sure the tasting induced some tipsiness. 🙂

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  5. Hi Anabel – what a wonderful place to discover and for us to see the before and after – very appropriately converted. Gorgeous … while the distillery is fascinating – personally whisky is no no, but I love the history … what fun – cheers Hilary

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  13. Ab fab! Brings back some memories of my trip last May. One day we parked up by the distillery, so close to where you stayed. And after our walk on the cliffs we walked over the beach to the car park near to the giant chessman.

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  16. That byre has been through a magnificent transformation. The property is very appealing, especially that glass area offering all those superb views, but I like the way they have kept it sympathetic to the landscape and the history of the place. I can imagine you had a really lovely time staying there.

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  22. A gorgeous place for a holiday cottage, I’m not surprised the owners put the dining area where they did. I love the 4-legged lawnmowers and the sunset is beautiful 🙂

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