Askernish in South Uist 'A Fine Sunday Walk'

Askernish golf course entrance

Its been a long time coming, we wanted to go to the Western Isles so this year was the trip. There would be plenty of variety for both of us to be happy, the scenery, the beaches, the light, photography and for me some fishing for brown trout. Overall, I am pleased to say that the trip exceeded our expectations. However, these islands are not for everyone and if you are not an outdoor person then it might not be the break for you.

We enjoy the outdoors and for this break we decided to base

Yellow Iris

ourselves on South Uist and we chose a cottage in Askernish. It was a very good choice, both of the property and the location.

For today's exercise we took a circular walk which began from the cottage and headed via Askernish golf course. This then leads you over the dunes and onto the magnificent beach and the fantastic ocean views. It's a really nice walk combining the beach and the golf course and then takes us back inland, via the cemetery, into the village of Daliburgh and then back to the cottage. It was a delightful Sunday stroll of about 10 miles. It took us about 4 hours but in reality you could make a full day of it.

A typical fairway and green

The short walk along to the golf course is tremendous in its own right. You could spend many hours just in this stretch alone, catering for our interests. For birders we spotted the following in just over 30 minutes: short eared owl; cuckoo; redshank; skylark; black headed gull; goldfinches; lapwing; buzzard; blackbird; song thrush; greylag geese and a female hen harrier.
Between the houses/crofts there are lochans which all hold native brown trout although most were now starting to clog up with water lilies.
We are not really that knowledgeable about plants, so the reference book was constantly in use, the ground is sprinkled with colourful flora & fauna. Wild orchids were common particularly the Pyramidal variety (see the book works) and every stretch held massive amounts of the beautiful yellow iris.
A couple of the properties on this stretch house a local artist and a photographer. There were signs telling you when their studios would be open for passing visitors but none at this time.

Flora on the golf course

We arrived at the local golf course which is highly recommended,it as an original Tom Morris designed course which has been upgraded. There are 6 long traditional holes which can be played in isolation. There are also 12 links holes for the the more capable golfer. I am a golfer but I would find these holes very tough even on a calm day. With a strong wind the exposed course would be difficult to say the least. It does not have the same love and attention of top courses, fairways and rough intertwine and plenty of rabbit holes for your ball to find. For me to play I would have a spotter ahead of my tee shots (Mrs B) otherwise quite a few balls would be lost. However the rolling greens looked magnificent to putt on. Another bonus is that you would be unlucky to have golfers in front or behind, it was not busy when we visited, only spotted two pairs playing.
We walked the first 3 inland holes, the fairways were covered with clover, both pink and white, along with masses of daisies and buttercups, only marginally less covered the fairways than those plants in the rough. After these holes the path led us to climb the rough dune ground and behold the magnificent views of the long unspoilt, unoccupied beach which stretched as far as we could see in both directions.
The sand was rougher and courser than that on Eriskay, more rocky strewn near the dunes, but still magnificent. This was the machair areas that we came to see.
We live by the sea and are used to big skies but these seem even larger stretching even further. Probably because the land is so flat in 3 directions it gives you that impact and it is impressive.

The view north

Looking south, Barra in the distance

We mixed the walk between exploring the beach and the holes closest to the walk. As we walked along the shoreline up popped a head out of the water, a common seal gave us a long hard stare before dropping back under the waves. We spotted it again about 50 metres behind us no doubt glad to see the back of those pesky tourists. There was a rocky outcrop not far out at sea which presumably was its base.
Another interested species on the beach were the oystercatchers. They constantly dived, screeched and buzzed around us but without coming too close. It looked like they were nesting in the rocky ground between the beach and the dunes. No idea if it was eggs or chicks they were protecting as we could not find any.

You can just make out a green & flag

Our route now headed back inland which we did by walking down the 12th hole. From the tee the flag looks a long way away. This is a brute of a par 5 in calm conditions, it must be a nightmare with the wind blowing in your face. Potential for a few lost balls on this hole alone. Walking down the fairway you do get a great view looking inland towards the hills.

View from bottom of the 12th

The walk now cuts alongside the cemetery. If you are going to be buried this looks as good a spot as any. In the graveyard we had a scene from a horror film as one of the fenced off graves was absolutely full of cackling black birds, weird on a nice day it would be freaky on a dark winter one.

Cemetery top right

Along this stretch we found this sign. Despite having a good look around we did not find them. Probably they are obvious but not to this pair today. The path we followed just stopped in the dunes.

The walk now brings you into the small township of Daliburgh. If you want you can visit the Borrodale hotel for refreshments.
For us it was a road walk for a couple of miles back to our cottage. All the lochans were covered in weed and unfishable. Good news for the brown trout but not for the anglers.

Water lilly cover for the trout

A very pleasant walk of around 10 miles, mainly flat and good going. A great way to spend a Sunday. 

Beach art