Photos and the City

Tag: walk

Dùn Ban and Halaman Bay

I used one of the nicer days in Barra for a walk from Loch Tangasdale to Dùn Bar and back to Halman Bay. Follow the exact walk here on Walking Highlands.

Starting from a phone booth, I passed an old bunker from World War 2 and soon saw the Loch on my left.

Across the loch I saw the remains of Macleod’s Tower near the far shore; the tower dates back to 1430 and is thought to have been built on the site of an iron age crannog.

View over the loch while I start my ascend of Beinn Tangabhal going through a small glen beneath Beinn Tangabhal and Beinn na Leig and passing the remains of former houses.

It was a few steps after this picture that I found myself hip-deep in a mud hole – not the most fun experience but I got out again and continued. It was pretty wet and muddy everywhere after the weeks and months of a lot of rain.

View toward Halman Bay and the stunning beach.

Continuing to the cairns and the amazing views over the west coast of Barra.

I tried to find the way to the fort, Dùn Ban, but in the end, I just enjoyed the views.

On the way back looking back to the cairns.

Halman Bay and some time on the beach.

20/06/2023
Fairy Glen – Skye

The Fairy Glen on the Isle of Skye – is one of the places I didn´t visit my first time in Skye in 2017. So it was about time! A vast parking place greeted me, these spaces definitely have changed in the last 6 years, but as soon as I got over a little hill, I was in fairyland!

On the West side of Trotternish at Balnacnoc (which means – the village or township in the hills) above Uig, is the Fairy Glen – a Quirang-like landslip in miniature.
The road winds around small round-topped grassy hills with lochans (ponds) in between which gives the glen an otherworldly feel. (Isle of Skye.com)

Even though Skye has a long history with fairies, this valley isn´t the place where the fairies live. The names probably just come from looking like coming out of a fairytale.

It is a beautiful walk up and down the little hills and rocks – but also a very muddy one. After all the quiet time in Shetland, Orkney and Lewis & Harris I was surprised to see other tourists and Skye being pretty busy.

09/05/2023
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