Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

Castlebay, Barra, Scotland

This morning, we arrived at Castlebay after an 11 hour crossing from Oban on the Scottish mainland.This journey had taken twice the normal time due to delays caused by severe weather conditions.

Upon arrival at Castlebay we checked into the hotel for a freshen up and breakfast and then commenced a tour of the island taking in:

• The magnificent sandy beaches and coastline resplendent in the sunshine.
• Ancient religious site of Cille Bhara which dates from the 12th century but with a Christian heritage dating back to the 7th century.
• Traigh Mhor Airport, Barra’s unique beach landing strip. Here we waited patiently for a scheduled plane to land but it failed to arrive and we eventually gave up.

Mid afternoon we caught the ferry to Eriskay, across the Sound of Barra, and then drove north across the causeway to South Uist and then on to Nunton on Bnebecula where we are lodging tonight in an excellent four star guest house. We plan to catch upon sleep tonight before embarking on our travels to North Uist and Harris.

Castlebay, Barra, Scotland

Beach Scene, Barra, Scotland

Barra Airport, Hebrides, Scotland

Cille Bhara Religious Site, Barra

Peat Digging, Benbecula, Hebrides

This evening, I am posting information on Cladh Hallan round houses.

The stones (in the video) mark the walls of three round houses and part on an outhouse (smokery) dating from the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (1100-200 BC). There is a similar outhouse about 100m to the North West dating from about 200BC. These houses formed the northern end of a terrace of probably six or seven houses. The whole settlement was 80m long and most of it remains buried beneath the big sand dune in the south.

All the houses had sunken floors and thick cored walls revetted with stones. The roofs came down to knee-height on their outside walls and were probably made of large driftwood timber, covered by turf and straw..

Another five houses have been excavated on other areas of the settlement.

North House: This was rebuilt twice. Cremated human bones inside suggest it may have been the ‘house of the dead’.

Middle House: This is the largest and most important. It was occupied continuously for 900 years and rebuilt 7 times between 1100BC and 200BC. One of the longest inhabited prehistoric houses in the world. Owner/occupiers presumed wealthy.

South House:This is the smallest and poorest house. It was occupied for only a short time around 1100BC.