Rubh' an Teampaill, Taobh Tuath

This route heads past some superb beaches to reach a ruined medieval chapel. The route is dry and fairly level underfoot - a rarity on Harris.

Terrain

Easy walking on grassy track.

Public Transport

Bus service from Tarbert or Leverburgh to Taobh Tuath.

Start

Roadside parking at the road end at Taobh Tuath (Northton), NW of Temple Cafe. Open start point in Google Maps for directions.

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Walk Description

Stage 1

Park at the road end at Taobh Tuath (Northton) where there is some road-side parking near the gate onto the machair, on the way passing the innovative building which used to be the MacGillivray Centre and now houses a cafe with a fine outlook northwards over Scarista beach towards the mountains of North Harris (no parking at the cafe itself). Start the walk at the road end by going through the gate onto a track out onto the machair.

Stage 2

Machair is fertile, well-drained grassland formed by sand being blown over the peat; it forms a unique habitat, rich in bird-life and meadow flowers in early summer. The machair here at Northton is the finest in Lewis and Harris, though North and particularly South Uist have perhaps the most extensive examples. Continue through a second gate, with Ceapabhal looking unfeasibly steep ahead.

Stage 3

Near a corner post in a fence the track forks; take the left branch that soon reaches the dunes behind Tràigh na Cleabhaig, a magnificent south-facing beach. Continue along the track to reach a gate - with a first view of the medieval chapel ahead.

Stage 4

The track leads past two more superb beaches before curving round to reach the chapel from the north side. The ruin dates from the fifteenth century but there has been a building of some sort here for around 2,000 years; before the current chapel was a Viking predecessor, and earlier still was an iron-age broch or defensive tower. Cup marks found on rocks nearby are even older - dating back 5,000 years - so this beautiful spot has long had a strong appeal.

Stage 5

Unless intent on making the strenuous ascent of Ceapabhal, the return walk is back the same way, hopefully with plenty of time to spare on the beaches.

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