Month: May 2025
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Trying to Name the Mountains of Harris
Studied the map, guessed that was OireĂ bhal rising beyond Luskentyre, with Tioga Mòr beside itâthough no doubt someone will correct me. Took the photo from Bulabhall. Taransay sits to the left, once home to Castaway (2000). Not worth the noise, as I remember.
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Clach Mhic Leoid
A lone standing stone on a windswept Hebridean headland, Viking graves nearby, hints of lost structures beneath the sandâClach Mhic Leoid keeps its secrets well.
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The Quiet Legacy of Linda Norgrove
A bike ride out to the headland at Ăird Mhòr Mhangarstaidh was the plan. On the map, it looked unremarkableâa bleak stretch of land with some decaying post-war military leftovers and, presumably, sea cliffs worth seeing. On the way, we met a farmer just back from taking his âdryâ sheep onto the moor. I assumed…
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Valtos: A Quay Built After the Storm
A village built on stone, debt, and salt water. Boats lost, promises broken, and a quay that came when the fishing was in decline. This is Valtos.
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The Bernera Riot of 1874
An idyllic beach yet hiding a dark history. In 1874, crofters defied a tyrannical factor, faced eviction, marched in protest, and won. It was the beginning of the fight for land reform in the Hebrides.
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Taigh aâ Bheannaich
A ruined chapel, vanishing huts, and a handful of monks who chose isolation on the edge of the Atlantic. Taigh a’ Bheannaich is where faith met the wind and held fast for 1,400 years.
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A Day Among Norse Horizontal Mills
A day of water-millsâhorizontal ones, no less. We visited eight, or so I believe; one quickly loses count. It took me some time to grasp how they worked. The water wheel sits flat in a channel, its blades catching the water and spinning the millstone directly above. No gears, just force and gravity. The mills…
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TrĂ igh na Berie
This will be home for the next few days. A pause in the travelling. TrĂ igh na Berie lies on the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. According to those geomorphologically minded the beach, dunes and machair are expanding, apparently a rare occurrence in Scotland. This is going to be such a hardship.
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Ben Wyvis: A Hill Long Avoided, Finally Bagged
After years of driving past Ben Wyvis, I finally climbed itâthrough cloud, inversion, and a descent the guidebook called âgrassyâ but which turned out to be anything but. A solitary giant, well worth the wait.
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Badenoch: The Drowned Land with a Golden Shore
Off to Badenochâwhere the land is âdrowned,â the beach is golden, and the names are mangled by history and tourists alike. A break from the Moors, into the Highlands.