Friday, 16 May 2025

Western Isles - Day 12

In the morning we used the showers in the sports centre. Scott's was fine, but unfortunately Shirley could only get cold water from hers!

We drove five minutes up the road to park for our walk outside a large playpark and adventure playground.



We then set off on our walk round the Butt of Lewis, the most northerly point of the island. First we went west to the beach, then a clifftop walk where there was loads of pink Sea Thrift growing.






At the furthest north point we arrived at the Butt of Lewis, with its lighthouse.


After a lunch stop there we carried on to complete the circular walk. The settlements in this area are mainly crofts, with each house having a long strip of land attached. Some are cultivated and some have sheep kept in them.

On returning to the van we drove over to the east and took a short walk to Dùn Èistean, a ruined fort on a sea stack. Unfortunately the bridge across to it is closed as it's in a dangerous condition.



We drove towards the south west of Lewis, and visited the restored Blackhouse at Argol. It's closed as they're rethatching the roof. However there are other parts of the site you can freely wander about.




Further down the coast at Gearrannan is a whole Blackhouse village that's been restored, and some of them are available as self-catering rentals. We wandered around, got a talk from the guide and watched a Harris Tweed weaving demonstration.







A short way back up the coast is our camping spot for the night, a beach car park near Shawbost. Again, a £10 donation to the local community is requested. We had a walk to the other side of the beach, then settled down for the night.




We had pizza for dinner. Later there was a spectacular sunset.



No comments:

Post a Comment