Duirinish

Neist Point

It takes a really long time to drive anywhere in Skye due to the tiny single track roads which are very curvy and you have to watch for oncoming cars and for sheep lounging on the road. We are staying in the Waternish penninsula and have decided we must group our hikes with respect to location or we would spend too much time driving around. Today we went over to Durnish, the peninsula to the west of Waternish.

Our first walk was out to Neist Point to a traditional lighthouse which is now automatic and privately owned, supposedly there are self-catering units but I wouldn’t want to haul gear up and down the hill. The area is a sheep pasture and they use the stairs like humans, it was hilarious to see a line of sheep climbing the stairs.

Some interesting hexagonal basal rock formations made for some great photographs with the waves spraying up over them. It was really windy today so we had to watch out for the sea spray. Apparently, Neist Point is a great place to spot sea birds, whales and dolphins.

When we climbed back up the steps behind the line of sheep, two people coming down stopped, thus, trapping the sheep between us. The sheep were perplexed, the people coming down should have just kept coming as the sheep are a bit like cattle and would have stood and stared at them all day. The guy was actually talking to the sheep and motioned at them to pass, as if the sheep understood what this human wingnut was doing. Finally the people moved down and the sheep turned and stormed past us.

Lorgill, A Clearance Township

This walk was not planned, but I found a clearance pamphlet in our cottage and had to visit this beautiful glen that was an ‘improvement township.’ The clearances took place all over Scotland and it had such an impact on Scotland and on Canada, as we were one of the countries that benefited from Scotland’s loss of her people.

Traditionally, runrig or strip farming was practised in the Highlands along with raising black cattle on clan lands. After the final defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden in 1746, the entire social system in the Highlands changed. With the introduction of sheep farming, the land was cleared of the people to allow for additional grazing land. The cleared people either emigrated or were placed on small crofts in coastal areas, Lorgill was one of these. The small allotments were never intended to allow the inhabitants to be self-sufficient as they were to perform other useful tasks to earn a living, as in, they were a cheap labour pool. They were involved in herring fishing and gathering kelp. When the herring fishery declined and the kelp industry collapsed, the crofters suffered greatly from poverty and famine and they were cleared from the township in August 1830.

From the document that was read to the crofters of Lorgill on August 3, 1830 when the factor, police and a minister came to clear the crofters:

To all the crofters of Lorgill. Take notice that you are hereby duly warned that you will be ready to leave Lorgill at 12 o'clock on the 4th August with all your baggage but no stock and proceed to Loch Snizort, where you will board the ship Midlothian that will take you to Nova Scotia, where you are to receive a free grant of land from Her Majesty's government. Take further notice that any crofter disobeying the order will be immediately arrested and taken to prison. All persons over the age of seventy and who have no relatives to look after them will be taken care of in the county poorhouse. This order is final and no appeal to the government will be considered. God save the Queen.

Lorgill is a beautiful place with waterfalls cascading down at the head of the glen, a burn runs through the glen to the ocean where the waves crash ashore. There are quite a few ruins of old houses and outbuildings scattered around the glen along with grazing sheep. We were the only people walking through this lonely cleared glen.

Claigan Coral Beaches

There is so much variety in landscape on Skye, it is a fascinating place. And on a sunny day, the coral beaches look like they belong in the Caribbean. The sand is actually maerl, the bleached skeletons of red coralline seaweed that grows in beds off the coast.

It was really windy when we were at the coral beaches, then a blast of rain came through going sideways. We couldn’t face the wind as the rain felt like pellets hitting our face. Luckily, the rains today were short and then the sun came out again.

Tomorrow we plan on walking on the Trotternish penninsula, to the east of Waternish. The weather forecast isn’t great, but we will carry on anyway. There is so much to do here and so many walks that we really need two weeks here. We have decided to do all of our walks in the north of Skye and perhaps a bit of central Skye but will leave the south and Sleat for another time, although there are really great walks there. It takes way too long to drive to far off walks.

View from Neist Point

Sheep climbing the steps

Neist Point Lighthouse

Lorgill

Claigan Coral Beaches

After the Rain