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 ambitious 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 and 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 before reaching the township of Vatersay. When I was 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 grassland 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 out again just before the sun came out as I climbed 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 my route turned and on approaching the waters of Vatersay Bay I 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 to climb the hill out of the town, leaving the road at the highest point onto the steep hillside up to the highest point on the island of Barra, Heabhal. I had stunning views from the slopes of Heabhal that stretched across Castlebay and towards Vatersay and to the uninhabited islands beyond. 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 to head north, which would always be my ultimate aim on this holiday, along the ridge of the hills that form the backbone of Barra. Despite the overcast skies and a cold breeze the weather seemed mild and I enjoyed making my own way across the pathless hills heading over Hartabhal, Grianan and Beinn Bheireasaigh along the main ridge of the island. There was little variation in height on the ridge though I gradually was heading downhill, so 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 to walk 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 my 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, at just 384 metres high, was the highest point I climbed on my entire holiday.

Grey Mares Tail, Glen Falloch

Tuesday 2nd June 2015

A little later than usual I returned to Scotland for my annual trip to the hillwalker's playground of the Highlands, but before starting the main purpose for my coming to Scotland this year I had planned a day up a Munro, which means a mountain in Scotland more than three thousand feet high. I had intended on climbing one of the Crianlarich hills before moving on, but as is often the case in Britain bad weather intervened. Instead I decided to do a walk along the West Highland Way, the ninety-six mile trail that runs from the outskirts of Glasgow to the centre of Fort William, which is a walk that I did myself in 2004 on my first walking holiday in Scotland. Despite the wet weather I was looking forward to retracing my steps from all those years ago and to see whether anything had changed. The biggest change, however, was in Crianlarich and has happened in only the last year when a bypass was built to avoid the low railway bridge in the village. Soon after crossing the road beside the railway station, the link between Crianlarich and the West Highland Way crosses beneath the bypass and climbs steeply into the pre-existing conifer wood.

Once the hillside has recovered I suppose the road won’t look so bad, but as I climbed out of the village I was more interested in the views of the Crianlarich hills or what I could see of them below the clouds. A smattering of recently fallen snow on the hills further convinced me of the wisdom to stay at the bottom of the valley on this walk rather than venturing up high. I was finally reassured by the strong winds that greeted me once I'd passed through delightful woodland and reached the junction on the West Highland Way where the Crianlarich link joins. The rain had eased at this point so when I finally set off south along the West Highland Way I had pleasant views towards the Munros on the western side of Glen Falloch with intermittent bursts of sunshine that promised better weather to come, but it would ultimately failed to deliver.

This section of the Way, near Keilator, was particularly muddy and I had a suspicion that it had been this bad eleven years ago, which a check back to my blog from that time is confirmed as I made this comment: “I don’t know if it is a deliberate gesture by the Scots against a symbol of English domination, but the (old military) road was covered with animal mess. This made it one of the trickiest sections of the day, trying to avoid the muck, occasionally it was unavoidable.” I walked along this section of the Way again a year later, in 2005, and on that occasion dryer conditions made for a much more pleasant walk. That was not the case now as bands of rain passed overhead while I made my way along the trail down into the valley. The surface of the Way at this point is very rough indicating that it is a very old track and that a lot of feet have passed along it since any maintenance was done on it. To be honest, I think the track was more interesting to walk upon in this state than on a smooth, recently manufactured trail and so I gladly made my way down to the bottom of the valley where I eventually crossed the road and the railway line.

The tunnel under the railway on the West Highland Way amuses me as it is only chest height and so it requires an awkward stoop especially for those carrying a large rucksack (not uncommon on the West Highland Way!). Since I was heading against the usual flow of traffic on the Way I had already passed many, many people on this highly popular trail though as I continued beside the River Falloch the flow of traffic eased to give me a quieter walk beside the noisy river. After passing the construction area for a hydroelectric scheme in Glen Falloch the weather improved which provided me with fantastic views of the waterfalls and cascades on the river while the footpath widened into an estate track that took me all the way to Beinglas Farm. Just as I was beginning to think the weather was going to be good for the rest of the day, it started to rain as I approached the campsite and didn’t stop for the rest of the day.

Undaunted I turned left onto a heavily eroded path that snakes steeply up the hillside beside the Ben Glas Burn heading towards the waterfall, Grey Mares Tail. This is quite a common name for a waterfall in Scotland and in fact this is one of the lesser known Grey Mares Tails (the tallest and best known is near Moffat in the Southern Uplands), but I thought it would still look particularly spectacular due to the rain. First I had to climb the steep path with torrents of water pouring down the path itself, but the climb was enlivened by bluebells growing amongst the young bracken which kept me going until I reached the thunderous series of cascades. It was an awesome sight to see huge amounts of water pouring down the hillside, but the ground was so wet and muddy I was unable to get a good look at the waterfall. I found myself wishing that I could return in better weather, until I realised that then there’d be less water then and it would less spectacular.

Returning to the path I continued to climb above the cascades and onto the bleak moorland above the waterfall where the Ben Glas Burn snakes a course through a hanging valley with the Munro of Ben Chabhair hidden in the distance amongst the thick clouds. During a brief respite from the rain I tried to have my lunch beside the burn, but the rain soon started again so I packed up and made my way back down into the valley on an estate track that gave me a relaxing and easy descent down to the West Highland Way. As the rain continued to fall I made my way back along the Way all the way back up Glen Falloch to Crianlarich. I had intended on this walk to do a repeat of the walk I had done in 2005 around the Glen Falloch Group, but the high winds and persistent rain changed my plans. Nevertheless I enjoyed being back in the highlands and walking past those great mountains, even though on this occasion I wasn’t able to get to the top of them.