Tuesday 1 July 2014

Western Isles 2014 - Day 2: Sand Bowls and Tent Towns

Our second day began bright and early; the beds had been incredibly welcome but we had a date in Castlebay with Donald McLeod, his boat the Boy James, and a bunch of islands, so a lie-in to further review them was out of the question!  The hostel provided us with much needed cereal, toast and coffee, which we thoroughly enjoyed before packing up and heading to the car, acquiring a climber with matching destination as we did so.

Leaving Castlebay
The Boy James
 A short drive to Castlebay later and we were on the ramp leading to Donald’s boat surrounded by climbers on their way to Pabbay, a small, unassuming and uninhabited island to the south of Barra. Although home to some of the tallest sea cliffs in Scotland, climbing them is a relatively recent development with prescribed routes yet to be defined, which obviously added an element of frisson to the mix as our car guest had waited nearly twenty years and joined an elite climbing association to have a go on them!

One of the few remain areas of the country with a number of sizable islands that we hadn't yet visited, the Barra (or Bishop) isles thread their way south from Barra itself to reach the terminal headland of Barra Head (or Berneray) with its clifftop lighthouse. Five of the group are large enough to support a Marilyn, making them popular with summit baggers, and several of them have a history of habitation and human use. Mingulay is probably the most well known, having been evacuated in 1912 leaving the village, with church and schoolhouse, intact. If you want to visit these islands, Donald McLeod is your man, and he knows the waters as well as any. 


Birds nesting on Sandray
 We boarded the boat floating in calm waters, and after everyone was settled and had read the rules, we were on our way. The first stop Donald made, with the help of an able assistant and an apprentice, was to drop Sam and I off on Sandray, small, uninhabited (save for some sheep) and with about 2 hours for us to explore.

The Barra and Vatersay Historical Society note that Sandray was previously occupied but population suffered from emigration to Nova Scotia in Canada, and that it was finally abandoned for good in the 1830's, however Wikipedia suggests it was 1934. Based on the seriously ruinous nature of the walls and buildings on the island, the earlier date seems reasonable, now only sheep-pens and enclosures remain, without even a permanent landing place for the shepherd, just a few points where the rocks are flat enough to jump ashore. 

Sand-Ray - the last visitors?
Awesome sand formations
Updated Sign
 Ciders at the ready, we made our way across Sandray to snuffle out a tidal island Sam had seen on a map previously, whilst taking care not to stand on any one of the gazillion caterpillars scattered around the floor like so many discarded moustaches. When we reached half-way or so, we came across an awesome sand bowl with fun yet scary precariously steep sides, barren apart from a simple rock formation reading “2013”. This called for a brief stop to pal about in the sand and update the rocks, but as time was limited it wasn't long until we continued our journey and arrived at the beach on the other side of the island. We were greeted with a potential tidal island on the far right end of the beach, so we bagged it as it was right there, agreeing to confirm later. 

There were tens of thousands of these guys all over the island
Sandray beach - tidal island?
Sheep enclosures by the landing place on Sandray
 Donald’s boat was heard across the water on his return trip from Castlebay so we hot-stepped it back to the landing zone, and lounged in the warm sunshine until his assistance arrived with a tender to take us back to the boat. Our next stop was Pabbay, supposedly uninhabited , however there seemed to be more people here than we saw on the whole of Barra. A small town made entirely of tents and positively bustling with activity was visible as we approached the island, and more people arriving in their kayaks by the minute. We had less time to check out Pabbay, had we spent more time I would have liked to have seen the Pictish Stone, but at least I have a reason to go back one day!

With a more reliable evacuation date of 1911, Pabbay has a slightly more detailed history than Sandray, but also more tragic, a storm in 1887 having laid rest to all five able-bodied men of the island, leading to the ultimate decline. Now owned by the National Trust for Scotland, there are reportedly only two sheep on the island, which is just enough for it to make it onto our list, though the impossibly picturesque views from the beach and the tranquility of the remote location must make this one of the best too. 

Pabbay Landscape
Ruined house
Pabbay beach
The landing place on Pabbay
On the ride to the next island, Donald took an interest in our bagging activities and cottoned on to what we were trying to achieve. As we explained that the islands need only to be big enough to support a couple of sheep or so, we could see the cogs turning in his eyes as he sought to impress us with his deft knowledge of the sea. At that exact moment, Donald became a True Island Hero and subsequently landed us on the Marilyn island of Muldoanich and the smaller islet of Snausamul (a former prison island!), bagging the last one with us as he hadn't landed there before himself!

Muldoanich 
On Snausamul with Donald
 Once back in Castlebay and with some time to burn, I insisted that we take the ferry over to Kisimul Castle Island, which had attracted me since we went by in the ferry on our first island trip three years ago. The crossing took only a few minutes and we had a good look around the castle i.e. we went all the ways and read all the signs, even so only taking about half an hour before we were ready to be ferried back to Castlebay.

Kisimul Castle Courtyard
From Kismil Castle
On the ramparts
Inside the walls

 As we were still enjoying gorgeous sunshine we hopped into the car and zipped over to Vatersay to bag it and some of its tidal islands, where we befriended yet another dog on our way who schooled us in a role-reversed game of fetch. The warm weather and beaches of white sand even allowed us a lovely little paddle on the shore before we headed to our second hostel of the trip, the Dunard Hostel right in the middle of Castlebay. 

Vatersay could well have ended up as another of the abandoned islands south of Barra, but its population of ninety are now connected the the services and supplies of Castlebay via the causeway built in 1991. This means prospects are good for the Westernmost permanently inhabited island of Scotland, it doesn't hurt that it is also one of the prettiest.

   Uineasan - Vatersay 
Vatersay Beach
 Having stopped off at the hostel and bagged our beds for the night, the evening was showing signs of closing in, but this far north in May it takes an absolute age for the sun to go down, so we knew we had time to bag a couple another island if we tried. In the end we made a complete circuit of Barra, starting out west on the main road, heading through the village of Borve and the stunning Atlantic beaches of the west coast before looping east again to take the turning to the left at Northbay and on to Eoligarry. 

A quick moment here for a word about the marvelous Traigh Mhor, also known as Barra airport, one of only a handful of airports in the world where arrivals are dependent on tide times, with the small planes landing and taking off along the acres of sand exposed when the tide leaves it behind. Whilst we weren't able to schedule a flight in to this trip, it's still high on the list of things to do when you're in the Hebrides.

Orasaigh - Eoligarry
Last bag of the day 
Barra "airport"
Just past the airport and further along the beach is the large tidal island of Orasaigh (which is what they are all called), and with the sun starting to leave us we made the crossing of the beach at an amble. What with a long day of bagging (eleven islands in total) and still a fair bit of sleep to catch up with from the drive, there was time for a quick sit down on the slope looking back over the beach to the airport buildings and a couple of photos before we headed back to the car and completed the loop of the island to the hostel. Another day with Donald was the plan for tomorrow. 

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