THE WILDS OF NORTH UIST

Typical N. Uist landscape

Set out from the Hamersay House, an excellent hotel in Lochmaddy, to explore the very northern tip of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Roads continue to be single-track with passing places and the one this morning goes all the way around the north of the island, with a few no-through lanes darting off to the coast.

The country here is flat, wind-swept, and has no trees at all. Sea lochs penetrate inland and it was low tide. The colours of the landscape are green, yellow, brown, and the blue of the sky. Houses and crofts are well separated, and sheep predominate. It feels remote and it is. Strangely beautiful in all its guises and in all lights.

Scolpaig Tower

As we wound around the top of N. Uist, we came upon the remains of a tower perched on an islet in a shallow loch. In the distance could be seen the island of Hasgeir with a light house on top. These uninhabited islands are home to the breeding colonies of gannets, kittiwakes, and many species of seabirds. The time to visit for birding is in the spring, of course. Though I did nearly run over a cock pheasant today.

A beautiful croft at Traigh Bhalaigh

The most amazing feature here are the shallow, wide sea lochs that the ebbing tide turns into acres and acres of white sand. They are quite stunning. Beside one we came upon a restored croft with a thatched roof held in place by rocks attached to chicken wire. Peat is still cut and used for fuel here – it is the brown pile beside the animal's byre on the right of the photo.

There are many more abandoned and neglected crofts in the Outer Hebrides than there are those that are still occupied. The ones that are lived in are mainly now bought by owners from the mainland wanting a holiday home or for retirement. The climate in North Uist is mild and rarely drops below -2C in the winter, despite the winter storms and gales that roar over the island.

Tigharry

At Tigharry is a huge bay with many sandy beaches and on the left-hand headland is an RSPB reserve (Balranald). Sadly we didn't stop here, as much as I would have liked to, as my husband was still not feeling up to walking. But, it is beautiful - sandy, grassy plain that sports a carpet of wild flowers and is home to 600 pairs of wading birds, as well as otters. From May to August, visitors can take guided walks with the staff. A must-do, IMHO.

As we returned to Lochmaddy for a late lunch in the pub overlooking the sea, we made a six mile detour along Locheport, a sea loch that almost reaches the west coast of North Uist. Here the landscape changes a bit, with purple mountains in the distance. It is achingly beautiful in the sun with blue waters, crofts, brown streams, rock bridges, sheep everywhere, and heather growing on the granite outcrops.

Locheport and Mt. Eabal

IMAGES: © Photos by Pharos 2014

              All rights reserved

BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE AND WILD HORSES

Eriskay in front; South Uist in distance

The ferry from Barra sailing north deposits visitors on Eriskay, a delightful isle filled with romance — for example, the famous Love Lilt and the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie landed. He set foot on a beach here in the summer of 1745 on the west of Eriskay. I stood on the exact spot.

The isles from Barra north to North Uist are Catholic and statues and

The prince set foot on the sand just below the grass

shrines to the Virgin Mary are dotted along the highways here. I noticed the ticket office on the ferry had several crosses pinned to the walls. The churches are small but exquisite.

I ate a lousy lunch at the pub, MV Politician, memorializing the wreck of this ship that Compton MacKenzie wrote of in Whisky Galore. The movie of the same name was filmed here and on Barra. It took me just an hour to drive all the roads on Eriskay before crossing the causeway onto South Uist to the north.

Loch Druidibeag

South Uist is a long narrow island deeply indented with sea lochs on the east and is one long sand beach and dunes on the west. Inland is moorland rising up to small mountains in the centre of the isle. The Isle of Benbecula separates S. Uist from N. Uist and they are connected by causeways. Today it was very warm with little wind and good visibility.


I stopped at Kildonan Museum and was struck by the hard lives of those who eked out a living here before WW1. They survived by fishing and digging peat. Today they still fish but also farm sheep and some cattle. These roam freely and are often found in the middle of the roads.

I also took some detours from the main north-south road and saw thatched crofts, castle ruins, and many Mute Swans on the lochs. The history here dates back to Neolithic times and Christianity arrived very early. I tooks some photos of some ruined chapels that were built in the 13th century but probably were a Christian worship site much earlier.

A wild pony on N. Uist

My highlight on North Uist was a side trip to Lochs Druidibeag and Sgioport, down a long winding lane to the east coast. At the very end, beside the ruin of a croft were two wild ponies. They are small, like Shetlands, and were quite unfazed by my presence. On the way back to the main road, I stopped and photographed a herd of blonde ponies grazing beside the road and stepping delicately around the heather.

After seven hours of driving, I arrived at the Hamersay House in Lochmaddy on North Uist. This is a modern hotel with a bar and a recommended restaurant. However my duck breast was overdone, which was disappointing.

It was a long day of driving, but rewarding. I'm happy that I have three nights here and, hopefully, a rest before moving on to Harris and Lewis.

This tour of the Outer Hebrides was customized for us by McKinlay Kidd and saved us the bother of figuring out and booking ferries and hotels. They also gave us the places we should see on our travels here. So far, it has proved to be perfect.

IMAGES: © Photos by Pharos 2014. All rights reserved