The Machair Way

Saturday 6th June 2015

After a wet and windy night spent at the Kilbride Campsite where surprisingly I got a good night's sleep despite some people in the campsite thinking my tent was going to blow away in the night. With the windy weather continuing I set off along the grass verge between the road and the sea along the south coast of South Uist. A faint path in the verge led me to the Pollachar Inn where a signpost pointed north beside the west coast of the island along the Machair Way. For the whole rest of the day I would be following the Machair Way, unfortunately this was the only sign for the Machair Way that I saw on my walk beside the coast so I had no help in finding my way. At first I had a clear path to follow with the sun shining brightly and a strong wind coming off the sea making the walking more difficult but with stunning views out to sea made more dramatic by the wind-churned waves. On the land I encountered several occasional artefacts of an earlier age starting with a standing stone near the signpost that had directed me up the Machair Way.

Apart from the strong winds the weather was good most of the day, but occasionally heavy showers came over forcing me to put my waterproofs on only for the rain to stop soon after and with the sun coming back out I soon had to take those waterproofs back off. This was really annoying by the end of the day and ultimately didn’t endear me to a walk that was long and tiring despite being on the flat grasslands on the west coast of South Uist that are known as machair. These grasslands are highly fertile so are used extensively for farming with cattle on some sections or ploughed for crops in other areas. In the summer the machair is covered in flowers and when I was in South Uist four years ago there was a spectacular display of wildflowers particularly clover, buttercups and daisies. That was just a month later in the year but was a much better display than I got on this walk which was disappointing for me as I think more flowers on this walk would have enlivened the long trek.

As I made my way north it was difficult to decide the right way to go as there was no coherent path along the way. Occasionally there would be a farmer’s track to follow but all too soon this would swing back inland and I would have to try and find a pathless route through the dunes or on the western edge of the machair. Whenever I felt prompted to go down onto the beach I was buffeted by strong winds and assailed by the stench of rotting seaweed that was at times overpowering and forced me back inland. After several hours walking I thought I must be near an archaeological feature marked on maps as an Aisled House, or a wheelhouse. I couldn’t find any trace of it, but an internet search now says there is little trace of it now on the ground so it’s probably not surprising that I missed it. Instead I followed a track that headed inland across the machair to Daliburgh where a Co-op provided me with food for lunch and for the next few days.

The weather was good at this time and I had a lovely, sunny walk on this extensive diversion, but on my way back to the coast I had the wind right in my face so ultimately this also wasn’t very pleasant. This diversion had taken me more than an hour and when I finally resumed my trek north with a much heavier rucksack I was a lot more tired and hardly stopped when I reached a well-signposted roundhouse that is marked on maps as Taighean Cruinn Cladh Hàlainn. This sunken ring of stones did little to excite me and as I headed away from it I was actually more excited by the prospect of coming to the northern edge of my first map, even if my excitement was dampened by the knowledge that I had another four maps to go. After finding my way through a golf course (fortunately the strong winds had kept the golfers away) I found a better track that took me through the dunes and north beside the coast. The afternoon progressed much as the morning had with a clear track to follow for only some of the time and often I had to find my own way.

I felt like I had been walking for hours but was making little progress on the map and this was getting me frustrated as the time seemed to be advancing quickly but my destination still seemed a long way away. After an age I realised that the path I was following was turning west towards the rocky promontory of Rudha Aird a’ Mhuile. I had walked around this headland four years ago and was in no mood to extend my walk now so when I could I turned and headed inland on a clear track until near Loch Bhornais I turned north again along another clear track. I had had enough of this walk by now and just wanted it to end as quickly as possible. Instead of trying to stay beside the coast, even when there wasn’t a track to follow, I decided I would stay on tracks all the way even when they veered far from the beach. So it was that with wearying legs I struggled on with an increasingly heavier rucksack and yet a grim determination to reach the youth hostel at Howmore even if it killed me.

Despite the weather throwing another heavy rain shower at me that forced me to put my waterproofs on again (and had me shouting at the rain!), I soldiered on until eventually I reached a road near Stoneybridge. On paper I thought this was going to be an easy day with a gentle stroll along the flat machair grassland, but the strong winds and lack of a clear path had made it very tiring. This walk took me a long time so that by the time I collapsed in the Howmore Youth Hostel I was really tired, but happy to see at the hostel the Italian guy who I’d last seen in Castlebay on the Isle of Barra. He’d had a much easier journey than me as he hadn’t walked the whole way. The weather on this walk was both good and bad. Bright sunshine had accompanied me for much of the day, but so had strong winds and occasionally this brought heavy rain. By the time I reached the hostel I was so weary I was in pain and could barely stand straight, though oddly as soon as I took my rucksack off I felt as light as a feather and immediately bounded off to the local post office only to find that it had shut several years ago. This was a long, tiring walk beside a smelly beach against strong winds. I’m sorry I didn’t enjoy it.