Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ness (Nis)
Eventually, you reach the densely populated settlements that make up the parish of
NESS
(Nis), at the northern tip of Lewis. Ness has the highest percentage of Gaelic-
speakers in the country (75 percent), but the locals are best known for their annual
culling of young gannets on
Sula Sgeir
, a tiny island forty miles north. he road
terminates at
PORT OF NESS
(Port Nis), with its tiny harbour and lovely golden beach.
Shortly before you reach Port of Ness, a minor road heads northwest to the hamlet of
EUROPIE
(Eoropaidh)
- pronounced “Yor-erpee”. By the road junction that leads to the
Butt of Lewis stands the simple stone structure of
St Moluag's Church
(Teampull
Mholuaidh
)
, amid the runrig fields, now acting as sheep runs. hought to date from the
twelfth century, when the islands were still under Norse rule, but restored in 1912, the
church features a strange south chapel with only a squint window connecting it to the nave.
From Europie, a narrow road twists to the bleak and blustery northern tip of the
island,
Rubha Robhanais
- well known to devotees of the BBC shipping forecast as the
Butt of Lewis
- where a lighthouse sticks up above a series of sheer cliffs and stacks, and
is alive with kittiwakes, fulmars and cormorants, with skuas and gannets feeding
offshore; it's a great place for marine mammal-spotting.
14
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
NESS
By bus
There's a regular bus service between Stornoway and Port of Ness (Mon-Sat 6-8 daily; 1hr).
ACCOMMODATION
Galson Farm
South Galson (Gabhsann Bho)
T
01851
850492,
W
galsonfarm.co.uk.
An attractive converted
eighteenth-century farmhouse, which offers generous
portions of Aga-cooked dinner, bed and breakfa
st, an
d runs a
six-bun
k bu
nkhouse close by. Bunkhouse
£17
/person;
doubles
£86
Loch Beag
19 Fivepenny (Coig Peighinnean)
T
01851 810405,
W
lochbeag.co.uk.
A typically dour-
looking B&B on the final stretch of road to Butt of Lewis,
with a much more cheerful int
erio
r run by a very friendly
local Gaelic-speaking couple.
£60
EATING AND DRINKING
Café Sonas
Port of Ness
T
01851 810222.
Simple
comfort food for the most part, but with a few local
specialities thrown in - local fish pie, crab salad and Barra
scampi (all under £7). Great views over the bay.
Mon
noon-5pm, Tues-Sat 10am-8pm.
Cross Inn
Cross (Cros)
T
01851 810152.
Pubs are few
and far between in these parts so the
Cross Inn
is a real find,
and has a peat fire to warm yourself by.
Mon 5-11pm,
Tues & Wed noon-2.30pm & 5-11pm, Thurs & Fri
noon-2.30pm & 5pm-1am, Sat 11.30-1am, Sun
12.30-2.30pm & 6-11pm.
Westside (An Toabh Siar)
Heading southwest from the crossroads near Barvas (Barabhas) brings you to the
Westside.
he main road lies a mile or so inland from the coast, but several villages
meander down towards the sea. At
Arnol
and
Garenin
(Gearrannan) there are
beautifully preserved blackhouses to explore, and at
Callanish
(Calanais), the islands'
justifiably popular standing stones.
Arnol Blackhouse
42 Arnol • Mon-Sat: April-Sept 9.30am-5.30pm; Oct-March 9.30am-4.30pm • £4.50; HS •
T
01851 710395,
W
historic-scotland.gov.uk
In Arnol, the remains of numerous
blackhouses
lie abandoned by the roadside, with
one carefully preserved to show exactly how a true blackhouse, or
taigh-dubh
,
would
have been. he interior is dimly lit and heated by a small peat fire in the central hearth
of bare earth. Smoke drifts up through the thatch, helping to kill any creepy-crawlies,
keep out the midges and turn the heathery sods and oat-straw thatch into next year's
fertilizer. he animals would have slept in the byre, separated only by a low partition,
while potatoes and grain were stored in the adjacent barn.
