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   Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 17:55:37 JST Infoseepage

   Taking a rare "I just need to recuperate" day here of South Uist before heading back to the mainland via ferry. A bit sore after yesterday's long walk and have some digital housekeeping and bill paying and such to do. Thought I'd take a bit of the morning and sort through some of the photos I've taken from the last few days and share a few with you along the way.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 18:00:10 JST Infoseepage

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     If I didn't have such a heavy bag along or I wanted to go back to Glasgow, this place would be a travel option. This might be of interest to aviation enthusiasts or people looking to pad out their trivia knowledge for Jeopardy. It is Barra Eoligarry Airport, whose airport code is BRR. It's the only airport with regularly scheduled flights where the landing strip is a tidal beach.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 18:05:44 JST Infoseepage

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     Basically, the beach has a shallow enough slope and the sand is well packed enough after the tide recedes (wet sand) for certain classes of short take off and landing airplanes to land and take off from here. The regular carrier at present is Loganair and they usually use Twin Otter aircraft made by De Havilland.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Canada_DHC-6_Twin_Otter

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 18:08:54 JST Infoseepage

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     The shape of the bay is such that they have three defined "runways" which allows them to adapt to the prevailing wind direction.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 18:11:33 JST Infoseepage

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     Visitors to the island can visit the airport and walk on the beach and the locals harvest cockles there. Visitors are asked to check periodically to see if the windsock is up, which means there is a flight coming in and also control their dogs.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 18:38:48 JST Infoseepage

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     I appear to have gotten some slightly better shots of Borve Castle aka Castle Wearie and Caisteal Bhuirgh (in Scottish Gaelic) as I drove by it on the bus from Benbicula back to South Uist. I'm not sure if it is possible for the public to visit this one, at least without landowner permission, as it is behind several layers of fencing on a croft.

     This is one of the few castles in the British Isles thought to have been built by a woman.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_of_Garmoran

     #castles #scotland

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 18:58:13 JST Infoseepage

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     This is the causeway from Eriskay to South Uist. It was only opened in 2001. Before that, you have to take a boat across. Eriskay was once very sparsely populated, with only three families on the island, but became a dumping ground for people tossed off their land during the clearances of the Highlands by greedy landowners. The population was heavily Catholic and as the island had no church, priests from Daliburgh would be rowed across by boat from a location now known as priest's point.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 19:14:18 JST Infoseepage

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     This is the present RC establishment in Daliburgh. It was built in 1868, some forty years after Catholic emancipation. It's built in an adjacent township, not Daliburgh itself, prehaps due to the land owner not wanting a RC church in their town. As such, it's a bit of a walk to get out there.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 19:24:14 JST Infoseepage

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     Made a brief stop in on my way back from visiting the roundhouses. The narrow lancet windows don't let in much light. They've got two bells outside, so I guess they go out there to ring them? They also have a bellcote at the end of the porch, but I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to see if there was a bell in it.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 19:27:01 JST Infoseepage

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     They've also got a really nice high walled garden, with the walls there to try and keep rabbits and other pests out, as well as to serve as a windbreak. The church also supports a large public hall a little closer to town, which is one of the bigger public spaces in the area. It's used for tradition Cèilidh social gatherings and other events.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 19:44:28 JST Infoseepage

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     There used to be a burial ground associated with St Peter's but this has apparently been lost. Since the 18th century, burials have been largely done at a graveyard called Cladh Hallan Cememery, which sits on a hill closer to the sea and can be seen for miles. It's a very evocative sight, a more humble necropolis than Glasgow's hilltop of the high and mighty.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 19:50:13 JST Infoseepage

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     There are few large monuments here and little evidence of social division, just a few enclosed Iron fences that seem mostly for the burials of priests and ministers. Other than that, you are buried as equals with the rest of the Christian community.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 19:53:06 JST Infoseepage

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     There is one corner of the burial yard which I'm a bit curious about. It's on a little mound of it's own and appears to be older than the rest. A lot of the markers there are crude stone, without inscription, often a sign of really old markers. There also appears to be a richly carved cross slab, which would likely be medieval.

     Maybe Cladh Hallan Cememtery is a mostly modern cemetary, but the site was chosen at least in part because of the even older small burial yard there?

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 19:58:19 JST Infoseepage

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     • Piggo :verified_horse:

     @piggo Not sure. There is a non-profit community organization that maintains the grave yard. The place is fully walled with iron gates, though there are rabbits warrens inside. Didn't see any evidence of sheep (poop). Maybe they mow it?

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     Piggo :verified_horse: (piggo@piggo.space)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 19:58:20 JST Piggo :verified_horse:

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     @Infoseepage how do they cut the grass? are there sheep in the graveyard? or the grass just doenst grow tall here
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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 20:04:11 JST Infoseepage

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     I've walked and driven by a ton of blackhouses in the last few days and there must be a good dozen of them in my immediate vicinity. This chonky boy was close enough to the roadside for me to get a good look at it. This one is constructed of very large stones and it must have been quite the job to get them in place and fitted.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackhouse

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 20:04:49 JST Infoseepage

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     There is a sort of blackhouse museum on Lewis that is worth seeing, where you can go into a fully thatched reconstructed one and see what life was like in such a dwelling.

     https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/the-blackhouse-arnol/

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 21:06:05 JST Infoseepage

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     Some birds from the area.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 21:24:30 JST Infoseepage

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     Most interesting thing from yesterday was this mysterious structure on an island in a nearby lake. It's possibly a broch, a dun or something more modern. It looks like there is the remains of a path which can be seen on satellite imagery, but it's currently below the water line. There's some other structure in the loch too with what might be the remains of walls or a fish trap surrounding some central structure.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 21:26:19 JST Infoseepage

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     Anybody know? It's this one just to the SSW of Daliburgh.

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     Infoseepage (infoseepage@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-May-2025 21:31:30 JST Infoseepage

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     There is a more intact Broch on an island in a lake in North Uist called Dun Torcuill. It seems like such structures were common around these parts.

     https://www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/see-and-do/uist-unearthed-location-d-dun-torcuill-p585421