Photos and the City

Tag: UK

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
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
Callanish II and III

After visiting the big stone circle at Callanish I decided to walk to two smaller ones – Callanish II and Callanish III. It is a quick and fun little walk, starting from the parking at the visitor centre.

Passing one of the typical bus shelters in Lewis I already could see the first stone circle, Callanish II, Cnoc Ceann a’ Gharraidh.

Callanish II

Callanish II has 7 stones set in an ellipse, five stones are standing, and two are fallen. The stone circle surrounds a cairn in the middle.

Callanish III

The path to the next one was a bit boggy but I made it to Callanish III, Cnoc Fhillibhir Bheag. This stone circle is pretty impressive, it has twenty stones in a double circle, and might be a welcome retreat from the crowds at Callanish I on a busy day.

The outer ellipse contains 13 stones, of which eight are still standing and five have fallen. The inner one has only 4 remaining stones. There is no visible sign of a mould or cairn in the middle of the rings.

28/02/2023