27 May 2022
I have travelled to Barra previously by ferry from Oban and trekked the length of the island from south to north, actually starting from the south end of Vatersay (it’s joined to Barra by a causeway). I even remember seeing otters at the south end of the island.
I walked past the airport that day but it was closed and I had arrived too late to see the flight land from Glasgow and take off to go back. Having enjoyed various other amazing flying experiences in UK including the world’s shortest scheduled commercial flight between Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkneys; flying between Tingwall and Fair Isle and between Tingwall and Foula in the Shetland Islands in small Islander aircraft, sometimes even sitting next to the pilot; and flying in a helicopter from Hartland Point to Lundy, the flight to Barra also went on to my “bucket list”. This is the only place in the World with a scheduled flight which lands on a tidal beach.
I’d flown up from Exeter to Glasgow the previous day as the last flight to Barra was too early to complete the journey in a day. As I needed to take a full backpacking rucksack for camping, it was a challenge to keep the weight below 15kg which is the maximum allowed on this flight.
Needless to say, I was very excited. My flight wasn’t scheduled until 13.20 as there hadn’t been any seats left on the earlier flight. I made the short walk from Glasgow Airport Holiday Inn Express to the airport well before 11am. The Loganair desk was already open for my flight check-in and I was through security before 11am. I filled my water bottle and settled down to try to read my book. I kept looking at the departure board, noticing that the earlier flight still hadn’t departed and began to wonder how the plane would get back for my flight which still showed as on time – the same Twin Otter normally flies both flights. Eventually my flight started to register as delayed. Given that the runway at Barra is tidal, I realised that if the flight became very delayed then it could end up being cancelled.
Suddenly the departure board for my flight changed again with an earlier time nearer to the scheduled time – so it was time to go to the gate. Gate 5 seemed to be the furthest gate from anywhere. Eventually I was directed by signs through a door and down some stairs to a small departure gate. No one else was there, but reassuringly the sign indicated that I was in the right place. Gradually some more people arrived – mainly those who I realised I had overtaken as I made my way to this remote and distant point of the terminal building.
A couple sitting behind me talked about the luggage allowance. It’s 15kg hold luggage for this flight, although up to 6kg hand luggage is also permitted if it will squash into the permitted volume. It’s not particularly clear at booking that the allowance is less for this flight than for the other Loganair flights. I had realised the day before travel and had shuffled some dense food items into my hand luggage reducing my hold luggage to 14.6kg and increasing my hand luggage to around 3kg. These people had packed their hold luggage over weight and had paid an additional £10 at check-in.
I looked around at my fellow travellers – I think it was a mix of tourists and Barra residents. There was a mother and her young daughter; the latter provided some impromptu dance entertainment in front of us all next to the gate. A couple of staff kept coming and going through the gate and with each movement of them my hopes were raised that it might be time to board.
Eventually one of the staff came to make an announcement that the flight was going ahead and everybody could travel but one person would need to leave their cabin baggage in Glasgow and it would arrive the next day on the first flight. One person volunteered but his luggage only weighed 7kg and the weight to lose was at least 8kg. I’m surprised that they had allowed the people, who were notable by their silence, any excess luggage. Eventually another passenger volunteered. I really wasn’t in a position to volunteer as I had nowhere to stay apart from my tent and I was planning to travel on to South Uist via the Eriskay ferry that evening. I had to get to Benbecula – that’s even further north – before the hardware shop closed at 3pm the next day as I had ordered and paid for some gas for my stove. Oddly the passengers and the hand luggage had not been weighed; looking at the passengers no-one appeared to be very obese – another group of this number of people could easily weigh considerably more – much more than the 8kg which needed to be lost.
Eventually we were all escorted across to where our plane was waiting. I was in seat 4A which is below the wing on the left side of the aircraft. The seats are arranged 1+2. There wasn’t anyone in the front row, It turned out that unusually this plane hadn’t taken the earlier flight – that had been on an older version which takes less weight – it seemed likely that we were carrying some bags belonging to passengers on the earlier flight hence the weight issue.
There were two pilots. One of them gave the usual safety briefing and then we were off, The door into the cockpit was kept open and I could see the GPS as well as a book of charts resting between the pilots.
Unfortunately it was quite cloudy. We gathered speed on the runway and were soon in the air. There’s a lot more aircraft noise than on most commercial flights. I peered out at views of Glasgow, the Clyde Estuary and the Southern Uplands. All too soon we were in the clouds then above the cloud base. As we continued our journey, there were glimpses of the wonderful scenery of Western Scotland between the clouds: sea, lochs and mountains.
I could see on the pilots’ GPS that we were approaching some islands. The co-pilot stuck his head into the passenger compartment to inform us that we were beginning our descent and he would speak to us again once we were on the ground. I noticed several passengers taking photos but the safety sheet clearly banned this so I kept my camera in my pocket and turned off.
As we descended I spotted some small uninhabited islands and then a sighting of the northern part of Barra, including the ferry terminal for the inter island ferry to Eriskay. It’s a magnificent island landscape including isolated dwellings and narrow roads as well as rocky moorland penetrated by long sea lochs.
Soon we were over the sand where we enjoyed an amazingly smooth landing. I’m not sure how near the sea we landed as I was sitting on the landward side of the plane. We taxied right up to the very small terminal building. Everybody seemed to be taking photos and it didn’t seem to be affecting the aircraft so rather belatedly I turned on my camera too.
As we were leaving the plane down the steps, the hold luggage was being disgorged into a van. After I had taken a couple of photos of the plane, the luggage was already being unloaded onto the baggage reclaim rollers. This isn’t even inside the terminal building so I didn’t go inside at all. In the open air I took my rucksack out of its transit bag, stuffed my hand luggage into the top and set off towards the ferry.
I strolled along the road adjacent to the airfield. There were people who had travelled up the island to watch the plane land and were waiting for it to take off again. I saw the inter-island ferry crossing to Eriskay – that was the ferry I had hoped to catch if the flight had run to time.
I took my time walking round the beach, keen to see the plane take off on its return flight. I knew that the next ferry wouldn’t be leaving for more than an hour and a half. I was also aware that the incoming tide limited safe take-off times for the plane. Hence it wasn’t long before the plane was speeding out across the sands and towards the sea. The wheels were just in the water as it turned to start accelerating up the sands and into the sky once more. I watched it turn in the air back towards the mainland and continued my stroll to the ferry terminal.
The ferry journey is also an interesting island experience. I stayed out on the deck for most of the crossing. I didn’t see any orcas but there were many seabirds including Arctic terns, guillemots and I’m sure I even saw some puffins on the sea.
Eriskay is probably best known as the place where the SS Politician carrying its cargo of whisky ran aground in a gale in February 1941. The islanders undertook their own illegal salvage operations. This story was used by Compton Mackenzie in his book Whisky Galore.
Of course, arriving late meant the village shop was closed and I was unable to heat any food on my stove until after I picked up my fuel the next day. The unexpected sight of the Croft and Cuan https://www.facebook.com/CroftandCuan/ food van in the shop car park was I think more welcome to me at that time than the sight of whisky washed up on the shore would have been. Knowing my luck it would be just closing or fully booked but the response to my tentative enquiry was overwhelmingly positive. The two ladies serving explained that they tour round the area and people know where they are by looking at the Facebook page. They even put out a folding chair and table for me and offered me some hot water if I had a flask! The burger served with hand fried and sliced potatoes was amazing. I had to eat it quickly though as I was concerned about being late booking into my campsite. All too soon I was on my way – I hoped I would bump into them again as I took my planned backpacking route round North Uist.
Feeling happy and full, I continued my journey and soon crossed the causeway from Eriskay to South Uist. Signs warned drivers to watch out for otters but I didn’t see any. It was a lovely evening stroll along the coastal road to the campsite at West Kilbride. The Croft and Cuan Food Van overtook me when I was almost at my destination – the lovely ladies giving a “toot” and a wave.
What with the ferry being late and stopping for food, it was just after 8pm so unsurprisingly the hardworking owner Donald didn’t answer his phone. In fact he was actually still working. I had already contacted him about camping there so encouraged by other campers who were sure it would be ok, I pitched my tent in what seemed to be the tent area. In fact soon after that, Donald appeared so I was relieved that I was able to check that he was happy with my tent location and, of course, pay him. https://kilbride-campsite.business.site/
The site is amazing with excellent facilities well above the standard I would expect for my very reasonable £10 payment. Not only showers but also access to a kettle and toaster! I could have rehydrated a meal even without any stove fuel! It was also very peaceful – apart from the sounds of birds and insects. Hence in the morning I enjoyed hot porridge and coffee as well as being able to top up my phone charge. I definitely recommend staying there.
I left in further glorious dry weather to walk further along the road and catch a bus on to the next map and adventure……
Where's Kathryn? 