Photos and the City

Category: Nature

Butt of Lewis

From Ness I continued to drive towards the Butt of Lewis – there is also a stunning walk all around the coastline but I decided to do this another time and just walk along a few stops.

Port Stoth

Along the single track to the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse, I found one of my favourite beaches – Port Stoth. White shell beach and turquoise water.

Because of it’s proximity to the lighthouse and lack of roads, all the materials for the construction (between 1859 and 1862) were brought by ship and landed in here. (Visit Outer Hebrides)

Spot the cute dog.

Butt of Lewis Lighthouse

I parked the car at the lighthouse and continued walking along the cliffs toward the site of Eoropie. Just watching the bird and the waves.

Europe’s most northwesterly point can be pretty wild. I saw images of waves coming over the cliffs. The Butt of Lewis is also the most northern tip of the Outer Hebrides and according to the Guinness Book of Records the windiest place in the UK. So be careful when you open your car doors!

The lighthouse was built in 1862 by David and Thomas Stevenson.

This remote location is a rugged and wild landscape. The Butt of Lewis is a collection of rocks and sea stacks with cliffs that rise 20-30metres above the boiling sea below. Even on a calm day the water smashes into the rocks and the wind howls across the cliff tops. (Meanderingwild.com)

02/02/2023
Walking along the beach with cows

The last stop before I reached Lewis was a lovely rocky beach where I went for a walk and suddenly I had company – the company of cows. Cattle seem to love beach walks!

26/01/2023
Steinacleit – Stone Circle

My next stop on the way to the Butt of Ness was at the Steinacleit stone circle, it was just a short walk from the parking spot.

Steinacleit is a prehistoric archeological site on the West coast of the Isle of Lewis and contains a circle of boulders around the remains of a chambered cairn or better said it was believed to be the remains of a cairn…

Beautiful views in all directions.

Steinacleit lay hidden, until crofters clearing peat in the 1920s uncovered a large circular structure and an oval walled enclosure.

Steinacleit was originally thought to be a Neolithic stone circle and chambered cairn, though comparisons with similar structures show it may actually be a prehistoric farmstead, with house and yard. (Historic Enviroment Scotland)

First dated around 2000 BC as thought to be a chambered cairn and stone circle, there were similar structures and settlements found more recently in the Western Isles dating back to 4000 BC. So this might have been the house and yard of an early farmer.

The site has never been excavated so Steinacleit remains a bit of a mystery.

Whatever it might have been, it was set in a stunning location on a hill looking over a little loch. Looking towards the sea on one side and the mountains on the other one.

24/01/2023