HIDDEN GEMS
1 BARRA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
The small beach airport on a mile-long east-facing white sand beach at the north of Barra has been voted one of the world’s most stunning landing spots. Author Compton Mackenzie built a house to overlook it – not the usual way with airports! Anchor at North Bay and catch the bus from Castlebay to marvel at the runway in action.
2 KISIMUL CASTLE
Perched dramatically on a rock islet in the bay, this medieval castle forms an iconic and stunning backdrop to Castlebay. The three-storey tower house is the ancient seat of the Clan Macneil and gives great views from the battlements. Leased to Historic Scotland, the castle is open to visitors who take the boat trip across from the slipway at the bottom of Castlebay’s main street. www.historicenvironment.scot
3 VATERSAY BAY
Accessible overland via the causeway connecting Vatersay to Barra or by a short sail, Vatersay Bay positively demands a headlong race across the white sand to bathe in its azure waters. Be prepared for a shock; despite appearances this is not the Mediterranean, though the Gulf Stream does offset the cold shock a little. Across the island’s narrow isthmus lies Traigh Sian, a matching bar of sand on the west coast often occupied by wandering photogenic cattle.
4 AM POLITICIAN PUB, ERISKAY
Eriskay is inextricably linked with the wreck of the SS Politician and its dramatisation by Compton Mackenzie. The Sound of Eriskay, where the ship sank, is now blocked by a causeway and no trace of the wreck remains, but Eriskay’s Am Politician pub has a collection of images and relics including a couple of the famous whisky bottles. Either take the ferry across from Barra or enjoy a shortish walk across the island isthmus from Eriskay’s Acairseid Mhor harbour and enjoy the great food and drink on offer. Tel: 01878 720 246
5 THE PRINCE’S BEACH, ERISKAY
Between the Am Politician pub and the Eriskay-barra ferry terminal runs the white strand of Prince’s Beach, where Bonnie Prince Charlie first set foot on Scottish soil before the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. Pretty white striped flowers not found elsewhere in the Hebrides crowd the machair above the sand, and local tradition has it that when the ‘Young Pretender’ landed he spilled pink convolvulus seeds from his pocket.