Climb over the bleak moors to visit the deserted village of Poulouriscaig. This is a fine example of the places where Highlanders forced to leave the fertile straths during the Clearances were made to settle. It is easy to imagine how hard life must have been.
Old track, boggy in places and indistinct for one section.
None to start.
Armadale.
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Armadale has a superb sandy beach which is well worth visiting. For the walk to Poulouriscaig, drive along the township road northwards until it forks by a small wooden bus shelter. There is space to park on the right here with care. Begin the walk by following the left branch of the road; as it reaches a small whitewashed house turn up a track which goes off to the left, signposted 'Poulouriscaig 1.5m / 2.5km'. The rough track passes through a gate and through sheep pastures.
After crossing a small burn, ignore a newer track forking right. Soon after this follow the old track as it swings right, now climbing over the Druim an Aird ridge, with views back to Armadale Bay and along the coastline to Strathy Point. Follow the track as it then descends to cross a burn and then climbs the slope beyond in a series of zig-zags, passing a small concrete building. The track then peters out - continue to reach the top a steep-sided stony gully. A clear but modern track climbs up to the left here, but the route for Poulouriscaig bears right and follows a shallow glen downhill - there is a waymarker post.
This section can be boggy and is unclear at first, but soon improves. The route then bends left further down the glen to reach the first ruins of the village. There are several ruined houses here, the best preserved being one with a fireplace over to the right and another down in the bottom of the next glen.
Like Badbea in Caithness, Poulouriscaig was one of the villages that was built by those cleared from the fertile straths inland (such as Rosal in Strathnaver) and forced to make a new life on the infertle moors by the sea. It is a bleak spot, and in the winter it is easy to see how difficult life here must have been. The village was finally abandoned in the 1930s. Return back to Armadale the same way.
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Walking can be dangerous and is done entirely at your own risk. Information is provided free of charge; it is each walker's responsibility to check it and navigate using a map and compass.
