Photos and the City

Tag: my scottish summer

Traigh Ghearadha – Garry Beach

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.

14/03/2023
Traigh Mhòr

Another beach day in Lewis, but this time I was exploring all the beaches on the East coast of Lewis, starting at Thraigh Mhòr – the “Big Beach”.

Also called Tolsta beach, Traigh Mhòr is a stunning sandy beach looking that seems to go on forever.

09/03/2023
Norse Mill and Kiln

Close to Shawbost, there is a hidden but very special sight, a Norse mill and kiln, just a few steps from a parking spot.

Overlooking Loch Roinavat you will find a renovated pair of thatched buildings used in past times to process barley grain. The Corn Mill and kiln were in use right up till the 1930s.

The Mill and Kiln were restored and rebuilt in the late 1960s and would be working today. The Kiln, the first one on the right side, is a drying room with a raised stone floor and a fire pit underneath to prepare the corn for milling. The Mill was powered by the stream running to the loch and had a mill laid running through the middle of the building to drive the paddles and mill wheel.

Once upon a time, Lewis houses about 200 of this kind of mills.

Looking inside the mill. These two buildings give us another glimpse of how life used to be in Lewis.

And as a bit of a contrast, a modern time windmill:

07/03/2023