The Western Isles - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 316

The Lobster Pot Borve (Borgh) T 01876 540288. A
tearoom (and shop) on the main road, near the ferry
terminal, serving toasties and soup and simple summer

evening meals (all under £10). Mon-Sat 9am-8.30pm;
closes 5.30pm in winter.

The coastal road via Sollas (Solas)
In just six miles, the A867 will take you quickly from Lochmaddy to Clachan via
several Neolithic sites (see opposite), but the A865, which skirts the northern and
western shoreline of North Uist for more than thirty miles, takes you through the most
scenic sections of the island.

6

Sollas (Solas)
Once you've left the boggy east coast and passed the turning to Berneray and the
Harris ferry, the road reaches the parish of SOLLAS (Solas), which stands at the centre
of a couple of superb tidal strands - sea green at high tide, sandy and golden at low
tide - backed by large tracts of machair that are blanketed with wild flowers in
summer. A new memorial opposite the local co-op recalls the appallingly brutal
Clearances undertaken by Lord MacDonald of Sleat in Sollas.

Vallay (Bhalaigh)
Visible across the nearby sandy strand is the tidal island of Vallay (Bhalaigh), on
which stands the ruined mansion of wealthy textile manufacturer and archeologist
Erskine Beveridge (cousin of Lord William) - check tide times before setting out.

Scolpaig Tower and Griminish Point
Beyond Solas, the rolling hills that occupy the centre of North Uist slope down to the
sea. Here, in the northwest corner of the island, you'll find Scolpaig Tower , a castellated
folly on an islet in Loch Scolpaig, erected as a famine-relief project in the nineteenth
century - you can reach it, with some difficulty, across stepping stones. A tarmac track
leads down past the loch and tower to Scolpaig Bay, beyond which lies the rocky
shoreline of Griminish Point (Rubha Griminis), the closest landfall to St Kilda (see box,
p.310), clearly visible on the horizon in fine weather, looming like some giant dinosaur's
skeleton emerging from the sea.

Balranald RSPB Reserve
Visitor centre April-Aug daily 9am-6pm
Roughly three miles south of Scolpaig Tower, through the sand dunes, is the
Balranald RSPB Reserve where, if you're lucky, you should be able to encounter
corncrakes, once common throughout the British countryside, but now among the
country's rarest birds. Unfortunately, the birds are very good at hiding in long grass,
so you're unlikely to see one; however, the males' loud “craking” is relatively easy to
hear from May to July throughout the Uists and Barra. In fact, there are usually one
or two making a loud noise right outside the RSPB visitor centre , from which you
can pick up a leaflet outlining a two-hour walk along the headland, marked by
posts. A wonderful carpet of flowers covers the machair in summer, and there are
usually corn bunting and arctic tern inland, and gannet, Manx shearwater and
skua out to sea.

ACCOMMODATION T HE COAST ROAD VIA SOLLAS

Balranald Hebridean Holidays Hougharry (Hogha
Gearraidh) T 01876 510304, W balranaldhebridean
holidays.com. Lovely campsite by the RSPB reserve,
surrounded by fields of wild flowers and close to a sandy
beach - as well as the usual facilities, there's free wi-fi.

March-Sept. £20 /pitch
Wheelhouse Airigh Mhic Ruairidh, Griminish (Griminis)
T 07952 163080, W hebrides-holidays.co.uk. Eco-yurts
and huts, powered with solar power and candlelight, on a
spot looking across the tidal flats to Vallay. Two nights'