Still sounds slightly tacky, doesn’t it?  Many of us will associate Barry Island with Butlin’s, even if we never went there. But the holiday camp has long gone – an estate of modern houses occupies the space. Yes, there’s still the funfair (closed on this cold but bright autumn day) opposite the railway station, and amusements, fish and chips and other familiar features of the old-fashioned “seaside” in and around the western colonnade. But beyond, there are rocky headlands and a fine sandy beach, with extensive views to Somerset and the islands (Steep Holm and Flat Holm – lovely names!) in the mouth of the Severn – or is it the Bristol Channel here?. Great for a stroll after lunch, before the long drive home.

The Braes is a district south of Portree, Skye – the road threads scattered settlement before coming to a dead end at Peinchorran. We’ve visited An Àird, the winged peninsula facing the island of Raasay, many times. The exploration above Ollach was a new one – a very pleasant waymarked route up through the heather to some fine cascading falls, which might have been even more attractive had there been some significant rain recently…

Coille Iosal:

An Àird

See http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/braes.shtml and
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/anaird.shtml for more information

Perhaps it’s known as “Oans Point”, but the maps label the little rocky headland, below the fractured cliffs of Score Horan, as “Oans”. Whatever its name, the point marks a clear-cut objective for this short walk from Gillen, on Skye’s Waternish peninsula. The flora between Gillen and the forestry road down to the shore level is varied and beautiful at this time of year. The fauna? Gulls, gannets and a substantial flock of oystercatchers. There’s quite a tangle of rocks and pools at the point – a great spot to explore or just sit for a while.

The northernmost tip of Skye is Rubha Hunish, which makes an excellent and popular walk from the little car park at the end of the Shulista road (see Rubha Hunish). A couple of  miles further east is Rubha na h-Aiseig (“ferry point”?), perhaps only a couple of hundred yards inferior.  The scenery is less spectacular too, but it’s much quieter, and it feels much more isolated. Plenty of sheep (a seal, several oystercatchers and lots of gannets cruising by) but no other people. To the north, there’s nothing between us and the Arctic ice (if there’s any left).

The walk along the low cliffs and, beyond, the rocky shoreline, is worth taking slowly. There are deep inlets, a substantial rock arch and a fine stack (“Stac Lachlainn”) along the first stretch. Our return, across scrubby moors, wasn’t always an easy walk, but the views were different. It might have been worth scrambling through the scrub to the top of Ben Volovaig – at 111 metres, it wouldn’t have been a major expedition. If the weather up here hadn’t been so dry in recent months, a boggy watercourse would have presented an impassable obstacle. As it was, one of us got a rather wet foot…