The Western Isles - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 303

Butt of Lewis (Rubha Robhabais)
From Eoropaidh, 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 redbrick lighthouse sticks up above a series of sheer cliffs and
stacks, alive with kittiwakes, fulmars and cormorants, with skuas and gannets feeding
offshore; it's a great place for spotting marine mammals. The lighthouse is closed to the
public, and there's no way down to the sea, but backtrack half a mile or so, and there's
a path down to the tiny sandy bay of Port Sto , a more sheltered spot for a picnic than
the Butt itself. 6

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE NESS

By bus There's a regular bus service from Stornoway to 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 breakf ast, and runs
a six-bu nk b unkhouse 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 (see p.303) brings you to the
Westside . The 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. One,
however, has been very carefully preserved to show exactly how a true blackhouse,
or taigh-dubh , would have been. The dark interior is lit and heated by a small peat
fire, kept alight in the central hearth of bare earth; smoke drifts up through the
thatch, helping to keep out the midges and turn the heathery sods and oat-straw
thatch itself into next year's fertilizer. The animals would have slept in the byre,
separated only by a low partition, while potatoes and grain were stored in the
adjacent barn. The old woman who lived here moved out very reluctantly in 1964,
only after the council agreed to build a house with a byre for her animals (the
building now houses the ticket office). Across the road is a ruined blackhouse,
abandoned in 1920 when the family moved into no. 39, the white house, or
taigh-geal , next door. A little beyond the blackhouse, a path leads down to
Loch na Muilne , where you've a good chance of spotting the very rare red-necked
phalarope (May-Aug).