2026 Lewes to Lewis

This may have been our penultimate walking day but there was no let up on the 'bog quotient' The weather forecast for the day suggested that it was going to be a complete change from yesterday - at least for the morning but with strengthening winds throughout the day. It being a Sunday, there were no busses on Lewis so Norman our host at the B&b offered us a lift back to Scaladale to resume our walk. On the way, he showed us two memorials, both moving testimonies to the ordinary people of the Hebrides - the first commemorating the Pairc Raiders, local crofters from Baile Ailein who in 1887 took on the landowners and agents who were denying them access to the their rightful lands. the sights on the top of the walls pointing towards the locations of key events in the raid, including the reading of the Riot Act. - the second, commemorating the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie landed on Lewis, 18 days after his defeat at Culloden. " to the eternal honour of all Hebride...

I'd planned to split the 35 mile final stretch of the Hebridean Way to Stornoway into three days. The first was to a hostel / hut at Scaladale at a point close to the administrative divide between Harris and Lewis. We hadn't worked out the reason why Lewis and Harris have been historically separate other than a difference in topography - Harris is mountainous whereas Lewis is low and watery - though as we set off from Tarbert, it was hard to imagine anywhere MORE watery. The first mile or so out of Tarbert in the rain was along the road - never our favourite. However there were distractions along the way We picked up a sandwich from the little Deli at the harbour and almost had to negotiate over its ownership with an insistent robin. The climate clearly suits the fuchsia As we'd left Dover in March, I remember my attention being caught by the prospect of doing the journey on a shiny new mobility scooter. Well, this one had clearly seen some action!! Having steamed our way u...