10th – 14th June 2024
Introduction
It has certainly been difficult having our daughter and grandchildren
living five hours drive away but their Ayrshire home has one considerable
advantage. It acts as a staging post and launch pad for trips to the north. And
the easy transport links from Ayr to Glasgow Airport and the Scottish Isles
made it the idea base to start our journey to the Outer Hebrides for a trek up
the southern section of the Hebridean Way. My annual adventure with David
Tucker therefore began, on Sunday 9th June, with the long drive
north for a meal, catchup and sleepover with the Scottish branch of the family.
Monday 10th June 2024 Vatersay – Craigston
Landing on a Beach
The almost seamless transport
connections from Ayr were seriously disrupted last year when the station hotel
burnt down. Trains are still not running from the town and a bus link to
Prestwick has now been in operation for well over twelve months. My son-in-law
kindly offered to drive us to the temporary railhead so we could get on our
way. The airport bus-link goes from the rear entrance to Paisley Gilmour Street
and we were checked in, through security and having a light breakfast in the
airport lounge in very good time for our flight to Barra. The Twin Otter plane
looked miniscule compared with the surrounding airliners. We walked out across
the tarmac and were greeted by a smart young lady who ushered us aboard, gave us
the safety talk and then jumped into the seat beside the captain and flew the
plane. We felt in good hands as we descended into Barra in the middle of a rain
storm where we dropped onto the beach at the northern end of the island and
taxied up to a small terminal building at the far end. The taxi that we had
booked was nowhere to be found then Neil Campbell sped into the car park
claiming that the plane was early. He drove us directly over the causeway to
Vatersay, bypassing Castlebay as we went. A café in the community hall was the
perfect solution to our food issues and the time had come to begin our walk.
The start of the Hebridean Way was
marked by a rather unimposing metal upright on a mound opposite the café. It gave
a fabulous view over the beach and coastline around the eastern side of
Vatersay. The marked route headed north along the road we had driven down. The wreck
of a plane crash, the RAF Catalina seaplane on a training exercise in 1944, was
scattered around the shoreline. The road kept to the coast around the hillside giving
views of Castlebay across the water. Over the causeway to Barra, the road
turned right in front of an industrial building. After a further 400 meters, a
footpath sign pointed up the hillside on a steep grassy path which led to a
false summit and then across a marshy gully to the actual high point. Suddenly
views to the north opened up and we picked our way down to the rocky shore. The
direction posts led over rough ground to the east bringing us gradually down to
a sandy beach and the most famous hotel on the island, the Isle of Barra. We
walked through the hotel on our way back to the coast road. It appeared modern
and expensive so we quickly moved on into Craigston and passed a Catholic
chapel as we looked for for our guest house/farm. David eventually rung on a
doorbell of a roadside house to ask for directions. We had overshot our
destination and had to retreat back along the lane and into an unmarked
farmyard. Here we had found Gearradhmor and our accommodation for the evening.
Anne proved a homely cook and wonderful host.
Vatersay dep. 13.40, Craigston arr. 16.37
GPS 8.18 miles in 3hr 50mins 29secs
walking time with 20 mins butty stop on the hillside.
Stayed at Gearradhmor Guest House in
Craigston and were offered a meal of soup, haddock and chips and ice cream
fortified by a bottle of red wine, ‘La Clape’ from L’Oratoire des Quatre Vents.
Tuesday 14th May 2024 Craigston – Daliburgh
Whisky Galore
Part 1 Craigston – Ardhmor Ferry
Early alarm for a 6.45am breakfast. Anne saw us on our way with a cooked
breakfast, lots of toast and a gallon of coffee. By 7.20am we were on our way:
we had a boat to catch. The lane headed up the valley passing an RSPB
noticeboard about their Corncrake conservation work. The tarmac gave way to a rough
track leading onto the moor. A steep grassy path led north up the hillside
which took us across a wet traverse beneath the summit ridge. The route
suddenly turned sharp right and climbed to a low point on this ridge and then
descended into a coire with magnificent views opening up in front of us of the
east of the island and the sea beyond. The ground became marshier as we lost
height but we soon scrambled onto a track that brought us passed a lochan to a
quiet road. Keeping an eye on the time, we decided to stay on the official
route and not bail out round the roads. Over another moor we strode with now
less than an hour before we were due at the ferry. The coast road to the terminal
was now down below us but we were still heading away from the ferry as the
route contoured around the hillside. We abandoned the path and headed down a
grassy valley on a short cut to the road. This worked out well; we even found a
gate onto the tarmac. It was now only a short way along the road and we arrived
in good time for the boat. A tiny café in the terminal building gave us shelter
from the cold wind and a coffee for our elevenses. We sat chatting with a
couple of girl cyclists whilst watching the ferry boat sailing towards us. Then
we were invited to walk down the concrete ramp and into the passenger seating
area. We had completed our walk across Barra. It had seemed a very brief visit.
GPS 6.82 miles in 3 hours 2 mins and 29 secs.
Part 2 Eriskay – Daliburgh
This time it was up the steep concrete ramp onto Eriskay and our third
island. A road headed north but we took a path through the marram grass at the
back of the dunes. This emerged onto the road near a walled cemetery perched of
a mound of high ground. Beyond was the pub, the Am Politician, named after the
famous ship that was wrecked off the Eriskay coast, the story behind the film
‘Whisky Galore’. I could not walk past, so I persuaded David to sit with me for
a few minutes whilst I tried the waters. Then it was out again into the wind to
cross the long causeway onto South Uist. This connection between the island was
only completed 22 years ago but now carries a wide and busy road to our fourth
island. The first three miles on South Uist were on the flat and open coast
road with few features of interest until we came upon a café run by a young
couple in West Kilbride. After scones and coffee, it was back to the serious
business of making miles up the west coast, first on the road and then around a
coastal trod to the Polochar Inn. Here we joined the Machair Trail, a route we
would come across several times over the next few of days. The main feature of
the next section was the flatness, the fertile greenness and the scattering of
modern houses on the original crofting land. Eventually the houses began to
cluster together as we approached the only village in miles. We turned inland
down a narrow lane for a mile or so to find our hotel.
Eriskay Ferry Terminal 11.56, Borrodale
Hotel arr.16.50
GPS 11.53 miles in 4hrs 10mins 28secs
walking time plus 20 mins in the Am Politician (Seven Peaks, IPA 3.9% from
Drygate) and 20 mins in West Kilbride Cafe.
Stayed at the Borrodale Hotel, Daliburgh.
Dinner of halibut followed by bread & butter pudding. The beer was Skye
Gold (4.3%) from Isle of Skye Brewing, and a bottle of Merlot from Tierra del
Rey, Chile.
Wednesday 12th June 2024 Daliburgh – Gerinish
Uist Unearthed
A full Scottish breakfast was an important factor, there not being much
chance of a café today. As we walked the mile down the lane back to the
Hebridean Way, we were overtaken by two ladies who intended to catch a bus back
to the hotel in the afternoon. We however were attempting a much longer day,
well over 20 miles, to the Orasay Inn in the north of the island. Our only
chance of an escape was a recommended taxi driver on neighbouring Benbecula. We
rejoined the two ladies at the ancient site of the round houses at Taighean
Cruinn Cladh Halainn. Further progress on the beach seemed easier than the path
through the dunes although, when the beach became stony, we withdrew from the
seashore and found better going on the adjoining golf course. A grass track then
headed north up the coastal plain with ground nesting birds complaining about
our presence all the way. Some standing stones were indicated on the map so, at
a ‘Uist Unearthed’ sign, we headed off left into some sandy hillocks. Finding
nothing ancient or modern, we continued on our way until a farmer/ranger,
standing beside his tractor talking to a woman, told us the standing stones
were buried. He then went on to explain what Uist Unearthed was all about and
how we could benefit from downloading their app. Not suitable impressed, we had
a quick drink and more emergency rations and strode on until we met with a
coast road looping out towards us.
A Dutch couple, with their state-of-the-art mobile home, proudly showed
us a photograph they had just taken of a short-eared owl sitting on a post. Much
as we scanned the landscape, we could not spot it. Another dune edge path left
the tarmac and looped round to rejoin the road near Howmore. We ignored the
turn off to the hostel and continued north for a short while to the right-hand
turn into Drimsdale where we crossed the main road. Before we set out over the
moor we phoned the local taxi and asked for a pick up from this same road but
further north after we had completed our inland diversion. The moorland path
made a change from the coastal grassy track over the machair. It was a narrow
but well-maintained trod across the marshy heather with footbridges and
causeways across the waterways linking the lochans. After an hour of this
weaving and winding, the road appeared and we emerged through an RSPB car park.
The sky was cloudless and we felt the warmth of the sun as we walked through a
herd of wild ponies on our route back to civilisation and a very busy trunk
road. Heavy trucks sped along this single tracked highway with passing bays and
no protection for tired walkers. Another text alerted our taximan to our
imminent arrival and, after passing below a hilltop rocket tracking station
with the village of Gerinish ahead, we saw the taxi coming towards us quickly
jumped in. Iain drove us round to the Orasay Inn and we were glad to have kept
the day down to a sensible mileage. We had time for showers and a rest before
we took our places in the lounge for a beer and gin & tonic. In turn we
were called to table where our much-earned meal awaited.
Daliburgh dep. 09.09, Gerinish arr.16.30
GPS 18.55 miles in 7hrs 06mins 47secs
walking with 15 mins for butties near Tobha Bornais.
Stayed at the Orasay Inn. Our meal
started with a shared starter, crab cakes, then I had a chicken curry. A bottle
of Innes & Gunn preceded the wine, a 2016 Pinotage from Kleinkloof.
Thursday 13th June 2024
Gerinish – Nunton
Dancing Culla Bay
A generous breakfast and huge cafetiere of strong black coffee and we
were paying our dues to the wonderful hosts at Orasay. Bang on 9am, just as we
had arranged, a taxi drew up, not Iain this time but his wife Mary. In ten
minutes, she had us back round to where Iain had pick us up, dropping us by a
lonely fingerpost pointing over a featureless moor. Now we were faced with a
five mile crossing of a remote moor just to get back to where we had spent the
night. The path was in surprising good condition, easy to follow and a firm dry
line that weaved between the hundreds of small lochans. Three wind turbines
dominated the view ahead and, after nearly two hours walking, we turned towards
them and joined the wide access track to the road at Lochcarnan. The oil-fired
power station (on stand-by) lay on the coast off to our right. Exercising our brains,
we speculated on the speed to the tips of the turbine blades. 60mph was our
estimate. Another moor, this time poorly signed, led to the Ardmore road and
the busy A-road. Calling in at a supermarket/post office in a vain attempt of
finding a coffee, we were directed to a café nearly a mile off-route. No
chance! On we continued over the causeway onto our fifth and final island,
Benbecula, and yet another supermarket. The Co-op had no coffee but at least we
now had sandwiches for lunch. The next couple of miles were a drag along a flat
straight road with houses spaced at regular intervals for as far as the eye
could see.
It was a relief to arrive at Liniclate, a large group of buildings that included a school and a hotel. Our route took us right past the entrance to the Dark Island Hotel and we could not resist the popping in to see if they would make us our elevenses. Our coffee was accompanied by slices of cheesecake, so it was a much-refreshed duo that walked down to the beach and around another wind turbine, A friendly lady pointed out the path along the dunes but we preferred the beach and the prospect of seeing otters. Back of the coast path, we stopped momentarily to eat our Co-op sandwiches and then rounded the south west tip of the island and turned northwards one more. A very long stretch of beach now beckoned and, for more than half an hour, we trudged toward a natural harbour in the rocks at the northern end. Back onto the road for a short while, we finally came to a sandy track that dropped us into Culla Bay. David’s Scottish Dancing Group had introduced him to the Strath Spey dance of the same name and he was determined to reproduce a few steps on the beautiful beach. Specks of rain were falling as we traversed the sand and climbed into Aird, a small suburb of Balivanich. Our route turned away from the town and headed back south into Nunton, passing a distillery on our way to the hostel at Nunton House. The owner, Donald, had seen us and came out to settle us into our room and to offer us a lift back into town for a meal. He even popped into the Stepping Stones to reserved us a table. Such was the kindness and welcome of the people we met with on our trip.
Gerinish dep. 09.10, Nunton arr.16.30
GPS 16.22 miles in 6hrs 10mins 44secs
walking time plus a 40 mins lunch stop in the Dark Island Hotel.
We stayed in Nunton House Hostel
and ate in the Stepping Stones Restaurant, chicken & mushroom pie and cake
& custard for pudding. A bottle of Innes & Gunn started the evening followed
by a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Ladera in the Chile Central Valley. It
had begun the rain so we texted Iain and rode home, dry and warm, in his taxi
Friday 14th June
2024
Nunton – Benbecula Airport
From the Mountain to the Sea
We had been very lucky with the weather so far, cold but dry for much of
the week. But that luck deserted us last night as a band of heavy rain came
through from the west. It still had not cleared when we emerged from the hostel
for our last session of this year’s trip. It started with some road walking,
half-a-mile back to the route and four miles in a straight line to the foot of
a mountain. The route up to the summit of Rueval was almost entirely invisible
both on the ground and without any sort of marker posts. We stumbled through the
heather up the hillside that got steeper and steeper. At least the rain had
stopped and the clag was clearing off the tops. By the time we reached the
summit cairn, we had views over the surrounding lochs and moorland but not into
the far distance. As we started the long and gentle descent, the coastal
panorama appeared out of the mist and the end of our expedition came into view.
Weaving our way round the open waters, we eventually came to a fence that we
had to step over, not the end of the Hebridean Way we had expected.
Out onto the main coast road, we turned for the airport and another three miles of road walking. A black cloud was hurrying towards us and by the time we reached the terminal, we were soaked once more and had to change in the gents’ toilets. There was no café so we ate our emergency rations and tried to get the coffee machine to work. The plane was late arriving and 15 minutes late leaving. The lady captain made up time back to Glasgow and we were so fast getting out of the terminal that we caught the bus we had always intended to take. Back on schedule we jumped on the 5.40pm train to Prestwick and the replacement bus to Ayr. Calling into a supermarket to grab a bottle of wine, we walked round to my daughter’s house in perfect time for a lovely meal that my very talented granddaughter, Charlotte, had prepared. A perfect end to a perfect trip.
Nunton House dep. 09.00, Benbecula Airport arr. 12.56
GPS 9.68 miles in 3hrs 56mins 05secs
Conclusion
Such was the remoteness of this
trail, the logistics in the planning and travel arrangements were a challenge.
But everything worked out perfectly, mainly because all the people involved,
airline, taxi drivers, hotel receptionists etc went out of their way to be
helpful and faithfully to their commitments. Having a base in Scotland to leave
the car and break our journey was a Godsend. Hebridean weather was on our side
and kept the worst of our spring rain away. All in all, it was everything that
we had hoped for. Fabulous landscapes and beaches, wonderful moorland and
birdlife and the occasional mountain. 70 miles completed (65 miles on-route)
and in a good position to complete the trail on our next visit. Next year, God
willing, we shall fly into Benbecula and fly home from Stornoway six days
later. Let us hope that we get to finish this amazing adventure.
