Vatersay and Barra

Thursday 4th June 2015

Soon after my first visit to the Outer Hebrides in 2011 I had the idea of walking along the entire length of these western isles from the southernmost inhabited island all the way up to the northern tip on the Isle of Lewis. At the time it was a very grand idea that was nothing like anything that I had done before, but in the intervening years I have been preparing and practicing until finally I felt I was ready and unwilling to delay another year so with extra holiday booked from work I set off to achieve my audacious goal. Catching the train to Oban I got onto the ferry to the beautiful island of Barra. When I reached Castlebay I was greeted with fantastic weather and stunning evening views out to sea across the bay and past the castle-topped rock that sits in the middle of the bay. I felt excited at the prospect of spending the next two weeks in the Outer Hebrides with scenery as stunning at this.

Unfortunately the following morning it was overcast and as I waited for the bus it started drizzling. This early morning bus, which had just me and an Italian cabbie (who I would meet again several times during my holiday), dropped us off on the tiny island of Vatersay between Vatersay Bay and West Bay just before reaching the township of Vatersay. When I had been in the Outer Hebrides in 2011 I had bought a small booklet of Walks in the Western Isles (published by Hallewell) and the last walk in the guidebook describes “A short loop through the beaches and grazing land of the southernmost inhabited island in the Western Isles” around Vatersay, so I thought that would be a good place for me to start my epic Hebridean trek. Taking a path across the wildflower-rich machair I soon reached Tràigh Siar, West Beach, and the first of many beaches that I would walk upon in this holiday.

The weather may not have been great but at least it wasn’t raining as I explored the small beach before climbing the grassy hills above the bay and left my Italian companion behind to do his own walk. The views from the top of the old fort, Dun Bhatarsaigh, across the bay and towards the township of Vatersay were so peaceful and tranquil that I felt the chaotic, modern demands of spreadsheets and presentations just drift away. Following infrequent wooden posts I headed south across the rocky, and at times boggy, terrain until I eventually reached the southernmost tip of this southernmost inhabited island in the Outer Hebrides. The island of Sandray loomed large across the sea while other uninhabited islands, Pabbay and Mingulay among many others, continue the chain south, but Vatersay is the southernmost inhabited island so this was my starting point. A huge slab of rock and a strong smell of rotting seaweed was all that I found at Heillanish, the southernmost tip, so I turned around and headed towards South Bay.

This is a gorgeous beach with almost white sand fringed by a shingle bank, but rain brought my waterproofs back out just before the sun came out as I was climbing above the bay and onto the grassy machair to the east. There followed at this point a pleasant walk across a grassy hillside that was covered with primroses and other wildflowers including occasionally the delightful spotted-orchid. Above the abandoned settlement of Eòrasdail the route turned and on approaching the waters of Vatersay Bay headed back west towards the white sands of East Beach not far from the township of Vatersay. At the northern end of this beach I had reached the end of the Vatersay Circular Walk and now I had to make my own way north. Not wanting to walk along the road I veered off after passing the old school house and followed a line of electricity pylons on what I thought was a path, but was probably just sheep trails or maybe the course of an old wall.

Except for visiting a memorial beside a Second World War aircraft wreck, I followed this turfed-over old wall past the Uidh peninsula before dropping back down onto the road beside a jetty. My enthusiasm to find off-road routes didn’t last very long as once I was back on the road I stayed there around the edge of Cornaig Bay and up to the small causeway that links Vatersay to Barra. Once back on the Isle of Barra I stayed on the road all the way back to Castlebay while the weather gradually improved so that by the time I was having lunch looking out over the bay the sun was shining. Leaving Castlebay behind I started climbing the hill out of the town and left the road at the highest point onto the steep hillside up to the highest point on the island of Barra, Heabhal. There are stunning views from the slopes of Heabhal across Castlebay towards Vatersay and beyond to the uninhabited islands south. I paused many times during the steep climb to look at that view while catching my breath.

Near the top of Heabhal is a white statue of the Virgin and Child looking across the bay. Such statues are common in Catholic countries, but I have never seen any in the United Kingdom, except in the Outer Hebrides where Catholic symbols are commonplace. The summit of Heabhal is not far from the statue, but cloud had enveloped the top so I didn’t linger and passing along the summit ridge I continued heading north, which would always be my ultimate aim on this holiday, along the ridge of hills that form the backbone of Barra. Despite the overcast skies and cold breeze the weather seemed mild and I enjoyed making my own way along the pathless hills heading over Hartabhal, Grianan and Beinn Bheireasaigh along the main ridge of the island. There were little variation in height on the ridge and gradually headed downhill, so it was without much effort I enjoyably made my across the island and eventually came onto the road at the western end of Loch an Dùin near North Bay.

It had been my intention to catch a bus back to Castlebay from North Bay, but I had failed to check the timetable and if I had I would have seen that the only bus was an hour later. Rather than wait I started walking towards Castlebay along the east coast road hoping to catch the bus when it came up behind me, however that bus took a west coast route so two hours after leaving North Bay I eventually reached Castlebay in the pouring rain. Despite this wearying end to the day this was a sensational walk that the rest of the holiday would find hard to beat and was a good start to my trek up the Hebrides, helped by not carrying a heavy rucksack. The Vatersay Circular Walk was a definite highlight of the day, but the traverse of the line of hills that run up the centre of the island was also an enjoyable part of the day. Although there were a lot of ups and downs on this holiday I didn’t climb any mountains so that astonishingly Heabhal, just 384 metres high, was the highest point I climbed on my entire holiday.