118. Garry Beach

Almost exactly a year after my first visit to the Outer Hebrides I was excited to be back. This time, my sights were set on Lewis and Harris, the two northernmost of the Western Isles. I had four days to explore, but this first day was destined to be a wet one and I had to don the waterproofs straight off the plane at Stornoway. I don’t mind walking in rain, and it was hardly lashing it down, so I was more than happy to set off to follow the road north of Stornoway to the village of Tolsta, where three beautiful beaches were waiting to get the ball rolling. I parked at the beach car park of Tolsta Beach itself (Traigh Mhor) but rather than head onto the sands, I walked out the car park, back up the hill and around the headland to Traigh Ghearadha, commonly known as Garry Beach. This beach does have its own car park but despite the rain, I was happy to walk. I’m glad I did because my first view of this magnificent beach was from high upon the cliff, looking down on the impressive sea stacks at the southern end of the beach. I followed the path down onto the beach, poked around the rocks and onto the far side, where the iconic “bridge to nowhere” remains as a reminder of what might have been.