Looking north towards Tarbert
Looking south west towards Direcleit
Old bath
Looking south east to Eilean Mor
Looking south west to Direcleit
Harris from the island
Island from the smaller unnamed island
Thursday, 30 August 2018
Island 444 - Eileanan Direcleit 1, Harris
Eileanan Direcleit are a string of six tidal islands located 400 metres to the east of the hamlet of Direcleit on the east coast of Harris. I only visited the first island in the chain, which I thought was called Eilean a' Ghuail. However I now realise that this name refers to an island to the east of the one I visited, which is not tidal. I don't think the island I visited has an individual name but it is big enough to count as an island. It is roughly round in shape and about 50 metres in diameter. The grass looked like it had been grazed by sheep recently, although none were present during my visit. There is an old bath on the island, which is presumably sometimes used as a water trough. I crossed to the island via another even smaller and also unnamed island following a path made by visiting sheep.
Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Island 443 - Eilean Orasaidh, Cromor, Lewis
Eilean Orasaidh is a rocky, uninhabited tidal island located off the east coast of the Isle of Lewis 1 km to the east of the village of Cromor. It is 750m from north to south by 600 metres from east to west at its widest point and the highest point on the island is 53 metres above sea level. The name means "tidal island" in Gaelic.
There is a waymarked 2.25 mile circular walk from Cromor, which offers the option of crossing to Eilean Orasaidh at low tide. However there aren't enough waymarks to see from one to the next, the path is not always discernible and if you want to do the full circular route, you have to cross the outflow of Loch nam Bodach, which involves wading through knee deep water over slippery rocks. There are also several steep ups and downs.
I visited on an overcast but warm and humid morning and was getting a bit cross at the lack of waymarks, when I walked to the crest of the hill overlooking Eilean Orasaidh and looked up in the sky just as a golden eagle flew by! A minute later another golden eagle flew by. This was the first time I have definitely seen a golden eagle - I waited half a century for this moment and then two came along at once!
There is an unnamed grass covered island in between Eilean Orasaidh and mainland Lewis and then there is a section of slippery seaweed covered rocks to negotiate to get on to the island. There is then a dry stone wall to climb over to get on to the island but there is a gap in the wall at the northern end. The island is covered in rough grass, bracken and heather. Tormentil was in flower when I visited in June 2018 and I spotted an orchid in flower.
There is a waymarked 2.25 mile circular walk from Cromor, which offers the option of crossing to Eilean Orasaidh at low tide. However there aren't enough waymarks to see from one to the next, the path is not always discernible and if you want to do the full circular route, you have to cross the outflow of Loch nam Bodach, which involves wading through knee deep water over slippery rocks. There are also several steep ups and downs.
I visited on an overcast but warm and humid morning and was getting a bit cross at the lack of waymarks, when I walked to the crest of the hill overlooking Eilean Orasaidh and looked up in the sky just as a golden eagle flew by! A minute later another golden eagle flew by. This was the first time I have definitely seen a golden eagle - I waited half a century for this moment and then two came along at once!
There is an unnamed grass covered island in between Eilean Orasaidh and mainland Lewis and then there is a section of slippery seaweed covered rocks to negotiate to get on to the island. There is then a dry stone wall to climb over to get on to the island but there is a gap in the wall at the northern end. The island is covered in rough grass, bracken and heather. Tormentil was in flower when I visited in June 2018 and I spotted an orchid in flower.
Lewis from Eilean Orasaidh
Eilean Orasaidh
Looking north from Eilean Orasaidh up Camas Orasaidh
Gap in the wall
Unnamed island with Eilean Orasaidh beyond
Eilean Orasaidh from Lewis
Orchid in flower on Eilean Orasaidh
(possibly a heath spotted orchid?)
Sunday, 26 August 2018
Island 442 - Holm Beag, Luskentyre, Harris
Holm Beag only just makes it into the "island" category, as it is only separated from the mainland of Harris by a very thin strip of water at high tide. It is located at the south east end of the beautiful Luskentyre Beach on the west coast of Harris. The island is about 100 metres from north to south by 75 metres from east to west. It is low lying and when I visited in early June 2018 thrift, bird's-foot trefoil, irises, buttercups, lousewort, tormentil and cotton grass were all in flower. There are also patches of heather, thistles and silverweed on the island.
Looking north from Holm Beag up Luskentyre Beach
Luskentyre Beach from Holm Beag
Mainland Harris from Holm Beag
Crossing point - looking south over to Holm Beag
Friday, 24 August 2018
Island 441 - Eilean Dubh Chollaim, Harris
Eilean Dubh Chollaim is a small rocky uninhabited tidal island located half a mile to the south east of the hamlet of Collam on the east coast of Harris. It is roughly round in shape and is about 250 metres in diameter. The highest point on the island is 29 metres above sea level.
There is an easy way to reach the island, which is to walk down a track leading to a couple of houses and then to walk round the last house and down to the shore. However I didn't want to intrude on anyone's privacy and also didn't want to be refused permission to access the island, so I chose the longer alternative route, which avoided the houses and involved walking over the hill to the north of the island and then over to the east coast. It started well with a grazed field but after the first field the route became very overgrown with no discernible paths. The ground was uneven and I couldn't see where I was putting my feet. At some points the undergrowth was almost as tall as me. Thankfully it wasn't boggy, as it hadn't rained for several weeks. I eventually made it to the crossing point and over 30 metres of seaweed covered rocks to the island.
The island is covered in bracken and heather with a few patches of rough grass, a few very small elder and birch trees and some bare rocky outcrops. Tormentil, milkwort, lousewort, cottongrass were in flower when I visited in early June 2018. There is evidence of old peat cuttings but the island doesn't seem to be grazed at the moment.
On my return journey I spotted what looked to me like the remains of an old stone fish trap located to the north east of Eilean Dubh Chollaim between an unnamed rock and the mainland (grid reference NG 15676 91370). There is a fish trap listed on the Canmore website at Collam but not at the location of the one I found. I can't think what else it could be. I took a photo of it - see below.
There is an easy way to reach the island, which is to walk down a track leading to a couple of houses and then to walk round the last house and down to the shore. However I didn't want to intrude on anyone's privacy and also didn't want to be refused permission to access the island, so I chose the longer alternative route, which avoided the houses and involved walking over the hill to the north of the island and then over to the east coast. It started well with a grazed field but after the first field the route became very overgrown with no discernible paths. The ground was uneven and I couldn't see where I was putting my feet. At some points the undergrowth was almost as tall as me. Thankfully it wasn't boggy, as it hadn't rained for several weeks. I eventually made it to the crossing point and over 30 metres of seaweed covered rocks to the island.
The island is covered in bracken and heather with a few patches of rough grass, a few very small elder and birch trees and some bare rocky outcrops. Tormentil, milkwort, lousewort, cottongrass were in flower when I visited in early June 2018. There is evidence of old peat cuttings but the island doesn't seem to be grazed at the moment.
On my return journey I spotted what looked to me like the remains of an old stone fish trap located to the north east of Eilean Dubh Chollaim between an unnamed rock and the mainland (grid reference NG 15676 91370). There is a fish trap listed on the Canmore website at Collam but not at the location of the one I found. I can't think what else it could be. I took a photo of it - see below.
Looking north west from Eilean Dubh Chollaim towards Collam
Collam from Eilean Dubh Chollaim
Old peat cuttings on Eilean Dubh Chollaim
Looking south east from Eilean Dubh Chollaim towards Caiream
The seaweed covered crossing point
Old fish trap?
Eilean Dubh Chollaim is in the background
Looking south towards Eilean Dubh Chollaim
Wednesday, 22 August 2018
Island 440 - Sgeir Ghlas Ceann an Loch, Balallan, Lewis
Sgeir Ghlas Ceann an Loch is a small, low lying, uninhabited tidal island located at the far western end of Loch Eireasort, 400 metres to the south of the long thin village of Balallan (Baile Ailein) on the island of Lewis. The island is about 75 metres from east to west by 50 metres from north to south.
I parked in a small layby with an information board on the B8060, 300 metres to the west of the island and crossed a field of grazing sheep and lambs to reach the crossing point to the island, which is a narrow natural rocky causeway partially covered in seaweed. Once again I followed the path used by the local sheep.
The island is covered in grass, which when I visited in early June 2018, was fringed at the shoreline by carpets of pink thrift in flower. A snipe was busy drumming away, a cuckoo was very vocal and there were a couple terns squealing away in the sky nearby. There were goose droppings in various places around the island but no geese were present during my brief visit.
I parked in a small layby with an information board on the B8060, 300 metres to the west of the island and crossed a field of grazing sheep and lambs to reach the crossing point to the island, which is a narrow natural rocky causeway partially covered in seaweed. Once again I followed the path used by the local sheep.
The island is covered in grass, which when I visited in early June 2018, was fringed at the shoreline by carpets of pink thrift in flower. A snipe was busy drumming away, a cuckoo was very vocal and there were a couple terns squealing away in the sky nearby. There were goose droppings in various places around the island but no geese were present during my brief visit.
Looking east from Sgeir Ghlas Ceann an Loch
Looking south west - carpets of thrift
Looking south east across the causeway towards Sgeir Ghlas Ceann an Loch
Monday, 20 August 2018
Island 439 - Torais Eilean, Balallan, Lewis
Torais Eilean is a small, low lying, uninhabited tidal island located at the western end of Loch Eireasort and half a mile to the south of the long thin village of Balallan (Baile Ailein) on the island of Lewis. Torais Eilean is about 300 metres from north east to south west but it also has an "arm", which juts out to the north from the middle point of the island.
The western end of Loch Eireasort is a sea of soft mud at low tide but I found a safe place to cross where there were lots of seaweed covered rocks forming a natural narrow causeway. As usual I followed a path made by the local sheep which obviously visit the island to graze. In places the mud was a bit sticky but not deep. The rocks were warm to the touch, as they are dark and it had been a very warm day and so they were emitting the heat they had absorbed earlier in the day.
Most of the island is covered in rough grass but there are also some patches of thistles and silverweed, buttercups and lots of cotton grass. There were carpets of thrift in flower along the shore when I visited in early June 2018 and tormentil, lousewort, milkwort and bird's foot trefoil were in flower. An overhead electricity cable crosses the island, which is obviously visited by geese as there were droppings in various places.
The western end of Loch Eireasort is a sea of soft mud at low tide but I found a safe place to cross where there were lots of seaweed covered rocks forming a natural narrow causeway. As usual I followed a path made by the local sheep which obviously visit the island to graze. In places the mud was a bit sticky but not deep. The rocks were warm to the touch, as they are dark and it had been a very warm day and so they were emitting the heat they had absorbed earlier in the day.
Most of the island is covered in rough grass but there are also some patches of thistles and silverweed, buttercups and lots of cotton grass. There were carpets of thrift in flower along the shore when I visited in early June 2018 and tormentil, lousewort, milkwort and bird's foot trefoil were in flower. An overhead electricity cable crosses the island, which is obviously visited by geese as there were droppings in various places.
Looking north east across a sea of thrift flowers on Torais Eilean towards Balallan
Mainland Lewis from Torais Eilean
No fishing due to the overhead wires
Thrift in flower on Torais Eilean
A large bird died here!
Looking south from Torais Eilean
Looking north across Torais Eilean towards Balallan
Saturday, 18 August 2018
Island 438 - Fraoch Eilean, Balallan, Lewis
Fraoch Eilean means "heather island" and this small uninhabited tidal island at the far western end of Loch Eireasort on the island of Lewis, is indeed partly covered in heather. The rest of the island is covered in grass, which is grazed by visiting sheep. It can be reached at low tide across a 60m long natural rocky causeway from a layby off the B8060 half a mile south of the western end of the long thin village of Balallan (Baile Ailein). The island is roughly round in shape with a heather covered hummock in the middle, which is a bit over 10 metres above sea level. It is about 100 metres in diameter. When I visited on a warm evening in early June the local cuckoo was in good voice, tormentil was in flower and two rams were grazing at the north end of the island..
Sheep grazing on Fraoch Eilean - looking north towards Balallan
Looking north east from Fraoch Eilean to Torais Eilean
Looking north west towards Balallan
Looking south from Fraoch Eilean
Fraoch Eilean from the mainland
Thursday, 16 August 2018
Boreray, Stac Lee and Stac an Armin - St Kilda
I haven't landed on Boreray and am never likely to, so I can't count it as part of my personal "collection". However it deserves its own blog post.
Boreray is located 3.5 miles to the north east of Hirta. It has two enormous rock stacks flanking it: Stac Lee, which lies to the west of Boreray and Stac an Armin, which lies to the north. Most of St Kilda's seabirds nest on Boreray and its stacks: gannets, fulmars, guillemots and puffins.
Jim Crumley sums up Boreray very well in his prose to go with Colin Baxter's photographs in their 1988 book St Kilda: a portrait of Britain's remotest island landscape:
"Those three essential elements of St Kilda, rock, sea and seabirds, coincide and collide nowhere more forcefully than Boreray and its stacs - Stac Lee and Stac an Armin - and all their rocky hangers-on."
There is evidence that Boreray was inhabited in prehistoric times. It is an extremely difficult island to land on but the top of the island is covered in lush grass. The island rises to a height of 384 metres above sea level. There are a number of stone cleits and bothies on Boreray.
The St Kildans used Boreray to graze some of their sheep and a distinctive breed of Boreray sheep still live a feral existence on the island. They are the descendants of the now extinct Scottish Tan Face with a bit of Hebridean Blackface added to the mix at some point. Boreray sheep are small and have short-tails They shed their fleece naturally and are long lived. Most of them are creamy white in colour with some black, tan or speckled markings on their faces and legs and sometimes also on their bodies and shoulders. A few sheep are a darker colour. This breed of sheep was originally also kept on Hirta but in 1930 when the island was evacuated, all the sheep were taken off the island. However those living on Boreray were left to fend for themselves.
Stac an Armin is the highest sea stack in Britain at 196 metres above sea level. This qualifies it as a Marilyn (relative hill). The St Kildans visited the stack regularly to collect seabirds and eggs.
In 1727 three men and eight boys from Hirta were marooned on Stac an Armin for nine months. They had been left on the stack on about 15th August, supposedly for a few days to harvest seabirds, but after their departure there was a smallpox outbreak on Hirta, which killed all but 4 adults and 26 children. This meant that there weren't enough men to row a boat over to Boreray to pick them up. They sheltered in a small bothy on the stack and survived an entire winter by eating seabirds and their eggs and drinking spring and rainwater. They were finally rescued on 13th May 1728 by the steward.
In 1840 the last great auk ever seen in Britain was caught on Stac an Armin and killed by two St Kildans, who thought it was a witch!
Stac Lee is 172 metres above sea level and therefore is also a Marilyn.
I will leave the final word to Jim Crumley from his 1988 book:
"It matters that a place like St Kilda exists and that within it there should be places left to their own devices, wild for their own sake."
Boreray is located 3.5 miles to the north east of Hirta. It has two enormous rock stacks flanking it: Stac Lee, which lies to the west of Boreray and Stac an Armin, which lies to the north. Most of St Kilda's seabirds nest on Boreray and its stacks: gannets, fulmars, guillemots and puffins.
Jim Crumley sums up Boreray very well in his prose to go with Colin Baxter's photographs in their 1988 book St Kilda: a portrait of Britain's remotest island landscape:
"Those three essential elements of St Kilda, rock, sea and seabirds, coincide and collide nowhere more forcefully than Boreray and its stacs - Stac Lee and Stac an Armin - and all their rocky hangers-on."
There is evidence that Boreray was inhabited in prehistoric times. It is an extremely difficult island to land on but the top of the island is covered in lush grass. The island rises to a height of 384 metres above sea level. There are a number of stone cleits and bothies on Boreray.
The St Kildans used Boreray to graze some of their sheep and a distinctive breed of Boreray sheep still live a feral existence on the island. They are the descendants of the now extinct Scottish Tan Face with a bit of Hebridean Blackface added to the mix at some point. Boreray sheep are small and have short-tails They shed their fleece naturally and are long lived. Most of them are creamy white in colour with some black, tan or speckled markings on their faces and legs and sometimes also on their bodies and shoulders. A few sheep are a darker colour. This breed of sheep was originally also kept on Hirta but in 1930 when the island was evacuated, all the sheep were taken off the island. However those living on Boreray were left to fend for themselves.
Stac an Armin is the highest sea stack in Britain at 196 metres above sea level. This qualifies it as a Marilyn (relative hill). The St Kildans visited the stack regularly to collect seabirds and eggs.
In 1727 three men and eight boys from Hirta were marooned on Stac an Armin for nine months. They had been left on the stack on about 15th August, supposedly for a few days to harvest seabirds, but after their departure there was a smallpox outbreak on Hirta, which killed all but 4 adults and 26 children. This meant that there weren't enough men to row a boat over to Boreray to pick them up. They sheltered in a small bothy on the stack and survived an entire winter by eating seabirds and their eggs and drinking spring and rainwater. They were finally rescued on 13th May 1728 by the steward.
In 1840 the last great auk ever seen in Britain was caught on Stac an Armin and killed by two St Kildans, who thought it was a witch!
Stac Lee is 172 metres above sea level and therefore is also a Marilyn.
I will leave the final word to Jim Crumley from his 1988 book:
"It matters that a place like St Kilda exists and that within it there should be places left to their own devices, wild for their own sake."
First sight of Boreray
Boreray, Stac Lee and Stac an Armin from The Gap on Hirta
Boreray from The Gap on Hirta
Stac Lee
Gannets on Stac Lee
Stac Lee
Stac Lee
Stac an Armin - the sky is thick with gannets
Stac an Armin
Stac an Armin
Kilda Cruises' boat sailing by Stac an Armin
Stac Lee
Boreray
Boreray
Sgarbhstac off the SW coast of Boreray
Sea cave on Boreray
Boreray and Stac Lee in the distance
Boreray
Stac Lee
Stac Lee - white with guano and nesting seabirds
Farewell Boreray
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