The Road to Tolsta

Tuesday 16th June 2015

After the problems that I had endured over the past couple of days with selecting my route to Stornoway, on this walk my problems were more mundane: persistent rain. For over a week in the Outer Hebrides I had enjoyed good weather with almost no rain, but now the rain was back and showed no sign of ever going away. My problems a few days previously had been due to my trying to decide between whether to follow the route taken by Peter Clarke as described in his book, "The Timeless Way", or to try and find the route of the Hebridean Way, which was under construction when I was in the Western Isles. With hindsight I wish I’d followed the Timeless Way as for most of the way I couldn’t find the route of the new Hebridean Way, mostly because was still being built. From Stornoway I no longer had to choose between the routes as the Hebridean Way ends in Stornoway until further funding can be located to extend the trail all the way to the Butt of Lewis.

With only the Timeless Way as my inspiration I set off from Stornoway and immediately deviated from the course that Peter Clarke had taken as he had crossed the mud and sands of Tong on a route that even he concedes he was advised against on the grounds of safety by local officials. Just as on the fords between the islands of Uist I stuck to the safer option of walking beside the road and headed out of Stornoway taking the right turn in Newmarket for the Tolsta road (and a certain song came to mind until I realised that I wasn’t going to Tulsa!). The weather was already poor, grey and miserable, and what is called in Scotland ‘dreich’, but at least it wasn’t raining yet as I walked beside the road, the B895, to the township of Tong. It was obvious that rain was going to come soon and when I reached the sea above Tràigh na Fainge the rain finally started to fall.

Peter Clarke had tried to avoid following the road as much as possible and the first off-road diversion he took was around the cliff-tops of Tong Head where a faint path could be followed above the rocky foreshore. At the northern end of Tong Head I came upon the extensive Coll Beach, which would have been a great place for me to have walked beside the sea, but since it was raining I cut through a caravan park back onto the road. At the end of the beach, on the outskirts of the township of Coll I took a track that passed between the sea and the narrow fields that mark up the crofts of Coll. It was very windy at this point, which was not making it pleasant or desirable to be walking, so when I reached Brevig Harbour I stopped and headed inland as I didn’t want to continue walking in such poor weather. I headed into the township of Back until I reached a bus shelter where I could finally get some respite from the never-ending rain.

The weather was so awful at this point I was wondering whether it was worth continuing and even why I was doing this, but in the end the rain eased and I headed back to the coast following a faint path above the sand and pebbles of Tràigh Rèbac. With the broad sands of Gress Beach looking gloomy under the grey skies I returned to the road just south of Gress Bridge and after passing the monument to the Gress Land Raiders I decided that I would just stay on the road for the rest of the day. Beyond Gress the road passes through an area of unpopulated moorland where occasional loops of the old road gave me an opportunity to get off the modern road while at other times I was able to walk on a wide verge beside the road. Earlier in the day there had been a marked footpath at the side of the road that made the walking feel easier and safer than it had been the day before on the scary road to Stornoway. However, the road was so quiet I never felt any danger in walking beside it.

The rain continued to fall as I walked through the township of Tolsta and started to descend towards the coast where I glimpsed a hint of golden beach, a tiny piece of sand at the northern end of the huge Tràigh Mhòr. I couldn’t ignore the diversion so I dropped down to a small car park where, on a tongue of land created by the sweeping river, I noticed that someone else had pitched a tent. Despite it still being early, about four-thirty, I decided that I would also stop and camp up at this point as the rain continued to fall. This didn’t feel like the sort of day to keep going, but rather to stop and wait for another day when the weather may be better. This was not a great day and I had no wish to prolong it any further.

Later in the evening the rain stopped for a while so I took the opportunity to get out of my tent and have a wander down to the great beach of Tràigh Mhòr where I was able to have the most fun I had had all day by playing with the waves and enjoying the stunning views along the length of this two kilometre beach. This was a welcome end to a wet and trying day mostly spent walking along a road. Ever since entering the Isle of Lewis I had been walking along roads and I was fed up with it. On Tràigh Mhòr I was reminded of the fun and sunshine that I had enjoyed earlier in my holiday on the beaches of West Harris, Berneray and South Uist.

The Road to Stornoway

Monday 15th June 2015

My course for this day had been set the day before at Bowglas when I decided I would follow the main road north from the Isle of Harris to the Isle of Lewis rather than following the route of Peter Clarke’s Timeless Way across the Morsgail Forest past Kinlochresort. The Morsgail route would have taken me through difficult and wild, pathless terrain with few signs of civilisation and no shops to restock on food. When I had last stocked up with food, in Tarbert, two days before this walk, I hadn’t bought enough food to keep me going for the long excursion through the Morsgail Forest, which was partly because I hadn’t fancied carrying the weight up the zigzags on the Postman’s route to Rhenigidale. However, the main reason why I decided to take the more direct route to Stornoway was because I was beginning to get tired of the whole idea of walking the length of the Outer Hebrides. I had come to Scotland two weeks before and I still had another week to go, which was longer than I’d ever taken on a holiday before and it was beginning to wear on me.

Another reason for walking along the road was to see if I could find signs of the new Hebridean Way that was being constructed at this time, and in the Aline Community Woodland I did find this long distance trail, but elsewhere it hadn’t been constructed or construction had only just started. I ended the previous day on the road to Balallan where I walked along a peat road onto the vast Lewis Moor where I wild camped beside Loch na Craoibhe. The weather was so stunning in the evening that after dinner I went out onto the moor to explore and to see if there was any trace of the Hebridean Way on the moor. I knew from Public Contracts notices that the trail went near Loch Cuthaig so I continued along the peat road further into the moor to where the people of Balallan had been cutting the peat and stacking them up to dry before taking the peat home to burn over the winter. It was fascinating to see signs of this ancient labour still being practiced in this day and age. Near the northern shore of Loch Cuthaig I climbed to the top of the small hillock of Cnoc Dubh Iaruinn and from there I spotted a line of cut turf running from the west to join the peat road.

This was a raised, turfed path, created by digging either side of the track and laying the spoil down in between. This was clearly the Hebridean Way and joins the peat road at the eastern end of Loch Cuthaig, but where the Hebridean Way proceeds from there I couldn’t be certain as the eastern branch of the peat road disappeared into a morass near Cnoc an t-Siomain Bhig. This was a fabulous evening with stunning, sunny weather and gorgeous views across the moor. Lewis Moor has some detractors, but on that entrancing evening with bright sunshine and a stiff, cold wind it was a fabulous place to be. Unfortunately the following morning it reverted to expectations with overcast skies, no wind and an abundance of midges. I had my breakfast and packed up very hastily before setting off back along the peat road into Balallan to begin my excruciating walk along the road into Stornoway.

I really did not enjoy this walk as there was not a grass verge to use so I was dangerously close to the cars speeding by as I walked on the side of the main road from Balallan through Laxay. This walk was dangerous at worst, and at best it was just tedious as I trudged along the road through a scary, bendy section until I reached a road junction that is described on bus timetables as Cameron Terrace, near the township of Leurbost. There I reached a petrol station that has a well-stocked shop where I was able to get a few more calories inside me before continuing along the terrifying walk beside the busy road to Stornoway. So far the road that I had been walking along was quiet by mainland standards, though not by Hebridean standards, but I was now walking at the side of the fastest and busiest road in the Western Isles with the traffic from Uig and the west coast of Lewis joining the traffic from Harris for the straight run down into Stornoway. With hindsight I wished that I had stocked up with more food and tackled the route of the Timeless Way across Morsgail Forest.

Ultimately I was in the Outer Hebrides too early to try and follow the route of the new Hebridean Way, as I should have waited a year or two before attempting that walk. Instead I should have committed myself to following the route of the Timeless Way and I would have probably thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I’m sure the Hebridean Way is going to be great walk when it is finally officially opened but until then I was wasting my time trying to follow it. When I finally reached the outskirts of Stornoway I immediately came off the road and entered the grounds of Lews Castle where I wandered for a few hours around the magnificent woodlands thankful that I was still alive after my hair-raising walk. The consequence of taking this direct route to Stornoway was that I was in the largest town in the Outer Hebrides a day ahead of schedule and I had no intention of going any further. I wandered down a path in improving weather beside the River Creed (aka Abhainn Ghrioda) with the tensions of the morning slowly draining away.

When I was previously in Stornoway I hadn’t taken the opportunity to walk around the castle grounds so I was appreciative of being able to on this occasion. I followed the river all the way to the mouth of the Creed where I turned left and followed the coastline opposite the ferry terminal heading inland beside the Bayhead River until I eventually left the castle grounds through the arch of the Porter's Lodge and into Stornoway where I managed to get a bed in the popular Heb Hostel. Until I reached Stornoway this had been a very gruelling day with an abundance of road walking that was not only dangerous and tedious, but gave me my first blisters of the holiday. I would not wish anybody to have done the day that I had just had, but once I reached Stornoway I had a thoroughly relaxing walk through the grounds of Lews Castle and that is something that I would recommend for anyone who is in Stornoway, and was just what I needed to clear my head of the frustrations and terrors of my walk along the road.