My last beach for the day was a bit hidden one – Giotdail Beach in Tolsta. It is quite a deep descent down from to village – don´t forget anything, you might not want to go up again.
This was somewhere on the way back, again I was just fascinated by the big churches sitting over a village, exactly like Peter May describes them in the Lewis Trilogy.
Following up the road behind the beach you will soon see a bridge – but it is a bridge to nowhere, the road ends there. A story of a failed project by the soap manufacturer Lord Leverhulme, founder of the Lever Brothers (Or Unilever, like we know it today).
IN 1918 BUSINESSMAN, LORD LEVERHULME, took a boat trip and fell in love with the islands. So much so that he decided to purchase the land. Reports vary, but it’s believed he purchased the land for £150,000. (Atlas Obscura)
Leverhulme wanted to bring new jobs and business to Lewis & Harris and to support the fishing industries he wanted to build a road from Tolsta to Ness. But when the road reached Garry beach the plan was finally abandoned, the land was just too hard & boggy to construct a road.
the unofficial road to nowhere meets the officially titled Bridge to Nowhere, an exquisite 30m traverse whose nine arches rise 15m above the Stone River. (The Independent)
The road splutters on for a few metres the other side, where it whittles to a narrow, stony track accessible only to local peat cutters. The track contours thrillingly, as though stitching the moors and cliffs together. (The Independent)
Hiking path towards Ness.
Near Tolsta on the East coast on the Isle of Lewis is Garry Beach, or Traigh Ghearadha – another stunning beach, filled with Lewisian Gneiss stacks.
It is only a short walk from the parking area down to the beach and to all of the stacks – it is also the start of the Tolsta Heritage track to Ness, a hike which I still have on my to-do list for next time.
On another pretty empty beach, beside me, there was just a family having fun in the waves.
A small rocky promontory separates Garry beach from Traigh Mhòr – they are so close together but still feel pretty different. Garry beach was much more enclosed and all the stacks and caves made it extra special for me.
Just be careful, a lot of these will be surrounded by water when it is high tide.
View towards the parking space further down the dunes.