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 been 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 as 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 on the track 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 farther. 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.