Carminish Islands, Leverburgh, Harris
During a stay at Lackalee in East Harris in April, we paid a visit to friends who, coincidentally, were staying down at Leverburgh.
Earlier in the day we had visited the Harris Tweed workshop at Plockropool, Drinishader, on the coast road a few miles south from Tarbert. One of the attractions of Harris is that although it has many contrasting aspects and numerous small settlements, the distances are relatively short between them. So we had already found out about the local textile industry, seen how the equipment worked, and bought a couple of presents to take back with us, before we set off to the southern end of the island to visit our friends.
It turned out that they had booked into a designer holiday house (Black Sheep Cottage), built within the walls of an old black house and with a turf roof. The interior was bright with a high ceiling something like an upturned boat, and a big wide bay window looking out to the north-west over a small inlet from the sea. It's attracted some attention from the media and filming was due to take place for the Grand Designs TV programme later in the week.
When we arrived it was wet and windy, and the inlet was muddy at low tide. However, by the time we'd had a cup of tea the skies were brightening, and we decided to go out for a walk. The far side of the inlet seemed to offer a good prospect and we walked the short distance round to it, up the farm track, with another bay on the other side, then through a gate in front of the croft house into the first marshy grass field on the right. Those who had wellies on were fine - the rest of us were trying to find spots of dryer ground to hop onto.
Beyond the field we walked over a succession of grassy mounds then down the other side, crossing dry stone walls and areas of deep mud. We spent some time watching the girls walking out onto the mud of another little bay, and looking back across the inlet towards the holiday house. I was concerned in case it was deep mud, but Frances said it was firm wet sand, and they had lots of fun running across it.
It was quite a walk for all of us, into a brisk wind with these unusual hummocky landscape features. At times we had to take quite a bit of care, either to avoid slipping on rocks or to keep out of the mud. Some people returned with muddy trousers or gloves after losing their balance! We passed one of those typical Hebridean sights - the stone walls of a ruined house.
I didn't realise until I looked at the map afterwards that we were walking across a couple of islands separated from the first peninsula by low channels which presumably would carry water at high tide.
The inlet to our right was starting to fill up with water and there were a couple of small boats moored out there. Rocks in the inlet were draped with seaweed, in deep green against the strong brown and orange colours of the mud.
The views changed constantly, but with the brooding shape of Roineabhal (460m), the hill that dominates the southern end of the island, constantly to the east across the inlet. [ A climb of Roineabhal could easily be combined in a day with this coastal walk - it can be tackled from the Glen Road about a mile north from Rodel, and a descent can be made north-west to Leverburgh, unless you have to go back the same way to pick up a car in which case the Leverburgh route is the easier one. Both routes involve climbing around a series of small rocky crags, and you should allow between two and a half to three hours to go up and down. ]
The land had broadened out here to perhaps 200 metres, but then it came to a sudden end where the inlet curved around into the open sea. We saw a ferry plying across from Lochmaddy in North Uist - apparently it had to take great care coming into Leverburgh harbour because of the many skerries and underwater rocks lying across the sound. Later when we drove back in the dark we could see a line of flashing buoys marking the shipping route.
Dark clouds were looming as we started back the same way, and a few minutes later we could feel heavy raindrops striking us from behind. It was a more hurried walk back than the leisurely outward route, and there were a few slips in the mud along the way.
This was a much more interesting route than it looked at the start, presenting us with a different face of Harris and a good way of working up an appetite for a supper of freshly harvested scallops in Black Sheep Cottage. By that time, the view of the inlet was transformed as the tide had risen and turned it into a seascape!
POSTSCRIPT, 9 MAY 2008 - We've just seen Black Sheep Cottage emerge as the overall winner of the Grand Designs House of the Year, in Keven McLoud's Channel 4 programme. It was certainly an impressive building with the squat drystone external structure roofed with turf, and an airy timber interior leading through to wide bay windows looking out over the bay.
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