seaside crofting: October 2016

October has been a month for glorious beaches,

the very best in the world !!

We spent a week on the beautiful island of Berneray,
a small island 3 miles by 2 miles, between south Harris and north Uist.

Berneray has a 3 mile long white sandy beach on the west coast
and a mile long sandy beach on the east coast
and while we were there the sun shone for us all week.

Yes, of course I had to try out the water.

sand dunes ..

rocks ..

and white sand ..

I think I've fallen in love with Berneray !

patterns in the sand ..

We rented a restored, one bedroom, thatched "black house" on the shore,
couldn't get any nearer to the water!

The walls of these old black houses are about 4 to 5 feet thick,
with the window about half way in, amazing.

Hilary and Anna, the owners of the cottage, had thought of everything,
even down to providing Berneray produced wool and kinitting needles .

The cottage windows looked out onto the bay

where we had fabulous views of the seals lazing around and putting on
the occasional performance for us.

All over the islands and indeed Scotland you can find abandoned croft houses

and Berneray is no exception

in this one even the kitchen range has been left behind

They seem to be crying out for someone to restore them back to life again

The thatched roofs used to be netted and tied down with stones

to prevent them from being blown off by the strong winds.

Just one pane of glass left hanging on in there

The original roof timbers used, just as they had been felled

Just a short walk from the cottage was the well stocked Ardmaree Stores
and the delightful ajoining Lobster Pot Tearoom
run by Bob and his wife who are now ready to retire.

So anyone fancying a change of lifestyle and a new venture
on the isle of Berneray, here's your chance !

Bob also has a sense of humour,
hence the sign outside

Wilma enjoyed her holiday too,
taking in the scenery

striding along the beaches

and hiding in the sand dunes

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The cottage had a wonderful selection of books, around 300 books,
all on the Islands, Highlands and Scotland,
we need another visit to finish reading them.

One on the books was "The Silent Weaver"

We were so intrigued by the story of Angus MacPhee
we took ourselves off to find his birthplace
at 52 Balgarva, Iochdar, South Uist

Sadly the once thatched cottage on the shore is now derelict,
similar in size to our holiday cottage,
this cottage was home to his parents and 4 children.

Amazingly, on the rocky shore below the cottage,
we were able to find Angus' initials, "AMP"
that he had carved into the rocks before he left to go to war in 1939.

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Another book in the cottage that was also delightful
was "Storm Biscuits"
by the poet and artist Pauline Prior-Pitt

and this poem I thought suited the holiday.

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Views around Berneray

This must be one of the loveliest youth hostels ever !

While we were in the Outer Hebrides we travelled further south
to Eriskay to see the Eriskay ponies

where the ponies seem to own the roads !

and the hilltops

The beaches on Eriskay are also breathtakingly beautiful.

This beach by the harbour is where Bonnie Prince Charlie came ashore
on his way to the Battle of Culloden

Driving back through South Uist we stopped for lunch at the
West Kilbride café (great café and open all year round)
and made two new friends, Heather and her very shy friend !
who are now known to us as the "scarf ladies"

Looking forward to seeing you next year x

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Scotland is not short on historical sites
and not far from Stornaway are the
Calanais Standing Stones

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This next photo is a strange one to include,
the public toilets at Rodel, Isle of Harris

The reason for it's inclusion is that it is the only public toilet I have ever come across
that has a visitor's book complete with a jar of pens !

Thank you to the locals of Rodel who kindly upkeep this facility
for it's visitors, very much appreciated.