Category: Scotland
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DĂšn VĂšlan
This was an unexpected discovery on South Uist, though the Gothic lettering on the map did hint at something worth noting. Rubha Ăird Mhuile is a low, sandy peninsula that juts into the Atlantic. Most of it is taken up by a shallow âinlandâ loch. On the summit of a storm-thrown shingle ridge, barely ten…
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Departing the Hebrides, Not Quite Yet
That is it. The Hebridean escape has come to an end. But while I drag myself back into a Yorkshire frame of mind, I can still make use of the heap of photos that never made it into the daily posts. This one shows the summit of Hacklett Uachdar, a rocky rise on the southern…
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Ardtornish Castle
After a smooth and unexpectedly quiet crossing of The Minch, with only dolphins or porpoises for company, the Sound of Mull offered a surprise: Ardtornish Castle. Once a key stronghold of the Lords of the Islesâdescendants of Somerled and rulers of the Western Seaboard until the late 1400sâthis ruined 13th-century fortress stands at the tip…
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Crash on Vatersay: The Lost Catalina of 1944
I had hoped to photograph the tombolo that links the two high points of Bhatarsaighâa narrow strip of machair, that low, sandy grassland so typical of the Outer Hebrides. But from the summit of Beinn Ruilibreac, I was just short of a clear view of the twin beaches that lie back to back on either…
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The Lost Graves of Ăird Allathasdail
TrĂ igh Hamara: a sweep of pale sand where today the Atlantic was rolling in quietly, one more perfect beach among many on Barra. But our attention was not on the beach. It was drawn to the headland opposite. Not the distant one, but the nearer stretch of low dunes and machair: Ăird Allathasdail. In 2005,…
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DĂšn SgĂšrabhal
DĂšn SgĂšrabhal stands on a low hill, facing the sea to the west and the expanse of TrĂ igh Eais to the south. What remains is a collapsed stone structure, but it is still recognisable. Among the rubble, archaeologists have identified a double wall with a gallery betweenâclear signs of Iron Age construction. Though it has…
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The Black Stacks and the Weaverâs Castle
There was a brief sense of relief when the ferry finally slipped past the headland. Several sailings had been cancelled thanks to the breezy weather. I then endured ten minutes on the poop deck being drenched by the bow spray before giving up and retreating indoors. The unease only lifted once our wheels touched the…
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Thairteabhagh: Ruins by a Quiet Sea Loch
Seeking some respite from the relentless westerly winds hammering South Uist, we turned east, following the narrow trail through North Glen DaleâGleann Dail bho Tuath in Gaelic. The path, often little more than a suggestion across bog and tussock, led eventually to Thairteabhagh: a calm, tucked-away sea loch flanked by the remains of a few…
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Ormiclate Castle: A Chateau and a Canal
The crumbling shell of Caisteal Ormaceit â Ormiclate Castle â sits quietly in a farm steading now, unmarked by the brown tourist signs, its past more dramatic than its present suggests. Once a grand new seat for Allan Macdonald of Clanranald, it burned to ruin on the same day he was fatally wounded at the…
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Beinn Mhòr: The Big Hill with No Goats
I had expected little from the climb of Beinn Mhòr, South Uistâs highest mountain. From the west, it looks like nothing more than a bulky lump, and its name, meaning simply âbig hillâ in Gaelic, is repeated all over Scotland. It did not promise much. Yet the summit ridge took us by surprise. From the…