The Western Isles - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 307

ST KILDA HIORT
Britain's westernmost island chain is the NTS-owned St Kilda ( W kilda.org.uk) archipelago, forty
miles from its nearest landfall, Griminish Point on North Uist. Dominated by the highest cliffs
and sea stacks in Britain, Hirta, St Kilda's main island, was occupied on and off for two thousand
years, with the last 36 Gaelic-speaking inhabitants evacuated at their own request in 1930.
Immediately after evacuation, the island was bought by the Marquess of Bute, to protect the
island's millions of pu ns, gannets, petrels and other seabirds. In 1957, having agreed to allow
the army to build a missile-tracking radar station here linked to South Uist, the marquess
bequeathed the island to the NTS. St Kilda is one of only two dozen UNESCO World
Heritage Sites with a dual status reflecting its natural and cultural significance. Despite its
inaccessibility, several thousand visitors make it out here each year; if you get to land, you can
see the museum, send a postcard and enjoy a drink at the army's pub, the Puff Inn . Between
mid-May and mid-August, the NTS organizes volunteer work parties , which either restore
and maintain the old buildings or take part in archeological digs - for more information,
contact the NTS ( T 0844 493 2100, W nts.org.uk). For the armchair traveller, the best general
book on St Kilda is Tom Steel's The Life and Death of St Kilda , or else there's the classic 1937 film
The Edge of the World by Michael Powell (which was actually shot on Foula in Shetland). Several
companies offer boat day-trips for around £200 per person (see p.309). The sea journey
(8hr return) is not for the faint-hearted and there's no guarantee that you'll be able to land.

6

a cold water tap. For ve ry slightly more facilities, head for
nearby Kneep (Cnìp). £6 /person
Auberge Carnish 5 Carnish (Carnais) T 01851 672459,
W aubergecarnish.co.uk. A new-build clapboard guest-
house on the far side of the stunning Uig Sands. The rooms
are spacious and tastefully furnished and the restaurant's
food - like the owners - is Franco -Heb ridean. Mid-March
to mid-Nov daily 6.30-8.30pm. £120
Baile na Cille Timsgarry (Timsgearraidh) T 01851
672242, W bailenacille.co.uk. A chaotic kind of place, run
by an eccentric couple who are very welcoming to families
and dogs and dish up wonderful set-menu dinners for £30

a head. Free wi-fi. Mid-April to mid-Sept. £110
Kneep campsite Kneep (Cnìp) T 01851 672265.
Informal camping beside the wonderful sandy beach
of Reef Beach (Tràigh na Beirghe). It's run by the local
community and the only facilities are a small unisex toilet
blo ck with coin-operated showers. Mid-April to mid-Sept.
£6 /person
Suainaval 3 Crowlista (Cradhlastadh) T 01851
672386, W suainaval.com. The best B&B in the whole
area, run by a truly welcoming couple; rooms have pine
floors and fu rnish ings and fabulous views over the golden
sands of Uig. £75

Harris (Na Hearadh)
Harris , whose name derives from the Old Norse for “high land”, is much hillier,
more dramatic and much more immediately appealing than Lewis, its boulder-strewn
slopes descending to aquamarine bays of dazzling white sand. The shift from Lewis to
Harris is almost imperceptible, as the two are, in fact, one island, the “division”
between them embedded in a historical split in the MacLeod clan, lost in the mists of
time. The border was also, somewhat crazily, a county boundary until 1975, with
Harris lying in Invernessshire, and Lewis belonging to Ross and Cromarty. Nowadays,
the dividing line is rarely marked even on maps; for the record, it comprises Loch
Reasort in the west, Loch Seaforth (Loch Shìphoirt) in the east, and the six miles in
between. Harris itself is more clearly divided by a minuscule isthmus, into the wild,
inhospitable mountains of North Harris and the gentler landscape and sandy shores
of South Harris .

Brief history
Along with Lewis, Harris was purchased in 1918 by Lord Leverhulme . In contrast to
Lewis, though, Leverhulme and his ambitious projects were broadly welcomed by the

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP KISIMUL CASTLE P.324 ; BLACKHOUSE, GARENIN GEARRANNAN P.307 ; GIANT WOODEN CHESSMAN
OUTSIDE UIG MUSEUM P.309 >