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 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 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 descending towards the coast where I glimpsed a hint of golden beach, a tiny piece 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 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 was continuing 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.