Photos and the City

Slow travel & photography

Cladh Hallan in South Uist.

Cladh Hallan is a Bronze Age settlement in South Uist and it is the only location in the UK  where prehistoric mummies have been found. Cladh Hallan was probably inhabited from 2000 BC on.

Cladh Hallan in South Uist.

Cladh Hallan’s roundhouse settlement followed a long sequence of earlier activity that started at the beginning of the Bronze Age. The deep machair sand was initially cultivated in the Beaker period around 2000 BC, with fields criss-crossed by ard-ploughing. (The Past.com)

Cladh Hallan in South Uist.

In 2001 a team of archaeologists found the remains of what are believed to be two mummified Bronze Age bodies, buried under the floor of a Roundhouse at Cladh Hallan. One of them was a male who had died around 1600 BC and another a female who had died around 1300 BC. (Isle of South UIst)

Cladh Hallan in South Uist.

Using the Uist Unearthed App you can even have a look at how the round houses might have looked thousands of years ago. AR will bring them back today.

Cladh Hallan in South Uist.

Cladh Hallan in South Uist.

Continue through the dunes and the machair and you will arrive at the most beautiful beach going on for miles.

 

Daliburgh beach

Cladh Hallan in South Uist. And a stunning beach

Cladh Hallan in South Uist. And a stunning beach

Cladh Hallan in South Uist. And a stunning beach

View towards Barra.

Cladh Hallan in South Uist. And a stunning beach

Cladh Hallan in South Uist. And a stunning beach

Arriving in Eriskay on Bonnie Prince Charles beach.

It was time to say goodbye to Barra and continue my journey to Eriskay and then South Uist. It was a pretty stormy day and there was an orange warning for the ferry. So everyone in the little cafe at the ferry terminal was quite excited when we saw the ferry coming, a bit late but she was coming and took us over to Eriskay. It was a bit of a wild ride, the waves were crashing over the ferry so all of the cars (and foot passengers) got a good wash.

But we arrived safe and sound (and a bit wet) in Eriskay!

Arriving in Eriskay on Bonnie Prince Charles beach.

I stopped right away at this beach next to the harbour, Prince´s Charlies Bay. Bonnie Prince Charlie landed here in Eriskay on 23rd July 1745.

Accompanied by only seven supporters the Prince landed off the French frigate Du Teillay at Coilleag a Phrionnsa. Ranald MacDonald, the Captain or chief of the MacDonalds of Clanranald was absent at the time so the Prince summoned  his half-brother, Alasdair MacDonald of Boisdale to meet him on Eriskay. (Visit Outer Hebrides)

But he got told that the local clans, the MacDonalds of Clanranald, the MacDonalds of Sleat in Skye and the MacLeods of Skye would not support him and he should get back home. The Prince then sailed to the mainland and raised an army there.

Arriving in Eriskay on Bonnie Prince Charles beach.

Arriving in Eriskay on Bonnie Prince Charles beach.

The ferry going back to Barra.

 

Polochar standing stone

I crossed the causeway going to South Uist and made another stop at the Polochar Inn and the Polochar Standing Stone.

Polochar Standing Stone in South Uist.

The stone probably dates from 2000BC – the views around here are amazing.

Polochar Standing Stone in South Uist.

Polochar Standing Stone in South Uist.

I continued my way towards my accommodation in South Uist but had to take a picture of this imposing church along the road.

Very imposant church in South UIst.