Butt of Lewis - Outer Hebrides

From Lionel it is a short walk to the Bay of Eoropie, where you walk across silver sand as dark blue Atlantic rollers turn to foaming white surf. Ahead is the 'Eye of the Butt of Lewis', a natural arch in the pink and grey folded gneiss.

The route follows a coastal path onto a headland to the Butt of Lewis, where the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse (built by engineer David Stevenson) stands at the dividing point between the Atlantic and the Minch. All around, the sea thunders against jagged rocks and crags which serve as nesting sites for seabirds.

The return walk follows a narrow road from the lighthouse to Five Penny Ness, passing extensive areas of lazy beds (strips of soil created for growing crops in shallow, wet ground). Passing through the township of Eoropie with its traditional peat stacks, the route leads to St Molau's Church (Teampall Mholuaidh) — a 10th-century chapel restored in 1912.

Finally, the walk crosses the machair, bright with summer flowers and frequented by lapwings, meadow pipits, and skylarks.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.