Gill and I set off from Gullane, embarking on a scenic 180-mile drive through Scotland's breathtaking countryside to Oban on our way to The Outer Hebrides, and back via Ullapool. Our route took us past the stunning Loch Lomond, where the views were nothing short of magnificent. The highlight was the old military road over "Rest and Be Thankful," a picturesque route that truly lived up to its name. We stopped for lunch in Arochar and explored the charming town of Inveraray, home to a fabulous castle worth visiting: Inveraray Castle.
While Oban felt a bit tired with some beautiful buildings in need of investment, we discovered cozy coffee shops like Kronks and enjoyed walks to McCaig’s Folly and Dunollie Castle (Dunollie Castle), which was very interesting. We also drove over to Pulpit Hill for a different perspective on the town.
We enjoyed two excellent dinners at EE-USK (EE.USK) and The Fish House (The Waterfront Fish House), where the fish served was among the best we've ever tasted.
Golf:
We visited Glencruitten, Robert McIntyre‘s home golf course. The course was designed by James Braid and is only around 4200 yards, a par 62, but looks very challenging as it winds its way around a reasonably steep side of a hill.
You can find more about the course on their website or check out the course layout.
The Outer Hebrides:
This is a link to a pretty cool website that will help you get to know the Islands -where to stay, places to visit etc: https://www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/
We took the ferry from Oban to Barra Island. Caledonian MacBrayne seem to provide all the ferry services. It takes about 4 1/2 hours from Oban to Castlebay. It was a very pretty ride - and lucky for us very calm seas -going through the Sound of Mull before hitting the Irish Sea and then onward to Barra.
We stayed at the Barra Island Hotel. Very nice and run by some really lovely people. Breakfast and dinner were excellent, with a lovely dining room and lounge areas. The design is unusual, as the architect tried to create an upside down boat. I guess you might be able to see this. The rooms are on the small side with very low water pressure. Seemed to take an age to get hot water. But the view over the bay was spectacular. Gill did go in swimming in that bay: it was way too cold for me. It was also not exactly warm throughout our stay: 50-60 degrees if you could find a spot out of the wind.
The whole island is tiny and very easy to get around to see everything pretty much in a morning. We arrived towards the end of the season so it was very quiet which was probably just as well as the roads are narrow with passing places.
There are a few walks to take, and the island of Vatersay which is reached via a causeway - a feature throughout these Islands - is nice to visit.
We had lunch a couple of times at the Garadh Community Centre in North Bay which was really good.
There are several of such places across the islands which seem to have received funding from the National Lottery. A good use of money.
There are not many dining options but we really liked the hotel, and the other places we went to were the Castlebay hotel and Graigard hotel. They had nice views of the harbour, but the food was nothing to write home about.
Another place we enjoyed visiting was the Barra Gin Distillery. They are also moving into the whisky business.
Golf:
The 9 hole Barra golf course (website) is in the town of Cleat. It was established in 1992, and is the most westerly golf course in the UK. It is at the end of a twisty, narrow, and bumpy single track road that prepares you for the golf course ahead. The location is absolutely fantastic, on the side of a hill running down to the beach and overlooking the Atlantic. Next stop out there is Greenland. And it is all very rustic: there’s an old shipping container which I assume has some equipment stored in it. Cost is 10 pounds via an honesty box to play.
The first tee is relatively close by, but I think it’s fair to say it’s a little unclear exactly which direction is the first green. To call them fairways is a bit of an exaggeration, as the land between tee and green is extremely natural and rough. But the highlight are the greens which are surrounded by electric fencing and turnstile gates to keep the wild life off. I have no idea how you would avoid hitting the fencing on approach shots. The course manager at Winged Foot would be apoplectic at the quality of the greens, and I would guess they run at 6 maybe on the stimp meter, but hey this is Barra not a USGA course.
It is somewhat interesting that the course has been rated 65.6 and 113 of the white tees. At 4920 yards, I guess you play the nine holes twice. I think you could have a load of fun on this course.
This describes the rest of the trip.
South Uist via Eriskay:
From Barra, we took the ferry to South Uist via Eriskay. South Uist is quite different from Barra. It’s much bigger and has some spectacular mountains to the west.
It also has Ashkernish golf course.
Golf:
The course was developed originally in June 1891 by "Old" Tom Morris and Horace Hutchinson. The course experienced a pretty turbulent history - it was reconstituted into a 12 hole course in the 1930’s, and a new layout was put in place in 1970; it was only in the early 2000’s that the original design was restored under the guidance of Martin Ebert, finally re-opening in 2008. Since then both Mike Keiser and architect Tom Doak have been involved to support the club’s continued development. T
Benbecula:
After visiting Ashkernish, we drove up to Benbecula. This is a tiny island south of Harris, linked via causeways. We stayed at the ominously sounding Dark Island hotel (hotel) which was a perfectly acceptable place. It is close to a lovely bay, and about a 15 minute drive to the main town. We had dinner one night in the hotel - ok. The other night we went to Charlie’s Bistro (Charlie's). This was terrific. We had a really great meal, and the service was just super.
Golf:
Benbecula is golf is right at the airport. Apparently some US military guys started the club in the 1960’s. There are signs that the old runways are in the fairways for some holes, and you play right next to the current active runway. Not that its terribly active to be fair.
North Uist:
Our journey continued to North Uist, where we visited various galleries and enjoyed delicious lobster rolls at a café on Berneray (Berneray Shop and Bistro), which served some of the best we've ever had.
South Harris:
Driving from Leverburgh to Harris Golf Course revealed stunning beaches like Seilbost and Luskentyre that rival tropical paradises.
Golf:
The Isle of Harris golf course website is in an absolutely beautiful location. It’s just a little hard to find the clubhouse as it is tucked into the hill at the crest of the road. The Club seems to originate from the 1920’s, but was re-opened in 1986, and the members bought the club in 2000.
Lewis:
From Harris, we drove up to Stornaway. This is a really spectacular drive. The mountain range off to the west is just amazing.
We stayed at The Cabarfeidh (cabarfeidh). This is a good hotel, which is going to get better as it goes through significantly renovation. The rooms are very comfortable and breakfast and dinner quite nice. Again, the staff were just terrific.
The town is quite small - well it has 6,000 people out of the total population of around 30,000 across the Hebrides. There are a couple of nice shops. We really liked Kopi Java, a great place to get coffee and snacks. ( Java). Blake’s Bar and Grill on Bank Street was also really quite good. The town has a rather striking memorial to the soldiers who fell during the first great war. Its on a hill that affords sweeping views of the area and well worth the visit.
We went to the Coll Pottery Centre, about 5 miles out of town. (Pottery). We thought the pottery was really very good.
We also took a trip to The Butt of Lewis lighthouse at Ness Point. ( Butt).
We also drove over to the amazing Callanish Standing stones. These stone circles are really fascinating, and there are several of them in the area. (Stones) . Why and how people built these circles is the subject of much speculation. They seem to date from 2900BC, that makes them older than Stonehenge.
From Callanish we drove over to the Gerarranan Blackhouse Village. Again, this is a fascinating glimpse into the very distant past. There is a good amount of information about the place, and some of the houses have been upgraded and you can stay there.
I guess the one thing we missed out on in Stornaway was Lews Castle. The museum has several Chessmen, but it only opens a few days a week.I think the Castle has been converted to apartments. A shame in many ways as it is an absolutely lovely building with very nice gardens to enjoy.
One final note for future review: Lord Leverhulme bought the Island of Lewis in 1918 and a year later both Islands of Harris. His vision to transform the island economies failed and he reneged on land deals for crofters made at the time of the war. He wanted to industrialise and force a shift away from crofting. That did not play well and his legacy is rather tainted by this plus the failure of his various schemes. You can find out more about this fascinating history.
Golf:
Our final golf visit. The delightful parkland course at Stornaway(website) just a few minutes from the center of town and right next to Lews Castle. The course was developed in 1947, although subsequent years saw major alterations. We did not play, but the course looked fun, laid out on the side of a hill, with smallish greens and some bunkers to worry about. We had a coffee in Treetops cafe which is adjacent to the Clubhouse. Again, as we found throughout these wonderful islands, the people were so friendly and welcoming.
Ullapool:
From Stornaway, we took the ferry to Ullapool which takes about three hours. This was fun as we saw several pods of dolphins and one gigantic whale. Also, the views of the area around Ullapool truly are spectacular. Ullapool to Edinburgh is around 4 hours, and the drive takes you through the extremely attractive Spey Valley where there are several other great places to visit and play golf like Boat of Garten (website)for example.
Golf:
We did briefly visit Ullapool Golf. website. The 9 hole course runs alongside Loch Broom, with just wonderful views across the bay. The Club began life in 1998.