Category: Scotland
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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 Dale—Gleann 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 — Ormiclate Castle — 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 Uist’s highest mountain. From the west, it looks like nothing more than a bulky lump, and its name, meaning simply “big hill” in Gaelic, is repeated all over Scotland. It did not promise much. Yet the summit ridge took us by surprise. From the…
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Eriskay : Whisky, Royalty and Fiction
This photo captures the striking turquoise waters of Caolas Eiriosgaigh, with the curving causeway unfurling across it, linking Eriskay to South Uist. The changing blues of the kyle on either side mark the subtle shifts in depth. Eriskay, though small—only four kilometres long and two and a half wide—is the largest island in the Sound…
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Benbecula: Island of Fords and Forgotten Classrooms
And so to Benbecula: flat, battered by wind, the Atlantic on one side, soggy peat and bog on the other. In the middle of it all stands a single hill, Rusbhal, soaring to the dizzying height of 124 metres. It qualifies as a landmark largely because nothing else bothers to rise. The island’s name, Benbecula,…
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Balranald: A Crofted Landscape, Shaped by Struggle
Our final day next to the RSPB Balranald nature reserve in North Uist, extended by two days thanks to Calmac Ferries. No complaints. Balranald has been generous — rich in wildlife, history, and atmosphere. The reserve stretches across rocky headlands and quiet bays, with dunes, machair, grasslands, saltmarshes and inland lochs. It was set up…
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Eabhal: A Hill in a Sea of Bog
After three days of being battered by westerlies and trudging across wind-scoured machair, dunes, and silvery beaches, we decided we had earned a change. The wind was easing, so we chose to climb a hill. Not just any hill, either. Eabhal is the highest point on North Uist, a towering 347 metres above sea level…
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The Rainbow over Cille Mhuire
Last night a double rainbow arched cleanly over the burial ground at Kilmuir — Cille Mhuire — which rises, just slightly, out of the flat expanse of the Hougharry machair. This evening we walked there, to the graves and the crumbling kirk. Among the remains is a gneiss cross, still bearing its boss though both…
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Tràigh Iar and the Shadow of St Maolrubha
A day of fierce wind, restless skies and an early downpour. We turned north again for a circuit of Berneray — once an island, now leashed to North Uist by a causeway built in 1999. The route included two kilometres along Tràigh Iar, or West Beach — a stretch of spotless, deserted sand that lived…
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Sponish House: Industrial Echoes at Loch Nam Madadh
I faced a choice for today’s photo: a Mesolithic Chambered Cairn or a Neolithic Stone Circle. Both tempting, both suitably mysterious. But they can wait. Instead, here is Sponish House, a 19th-century structure crouched on the shore of Loch Nam Madadh. Built for Lord Macdonald’s chamberlain or sheriff, it later served as a sporting lodge.…