Uig is the ferry port from which it is possible to travel from Skye to the Outer Isles of Harris and Lewis and North Uist. As one descends into Uig on the road from Portree there is to be seen, near the Uig Hotel, a tower. This is a nineteenth century folly.
It is possible to take the ferry to Lochmaddy on North Uist on a Sunday in addition to other sailings, but there is no Sunday service to Tarbert on Harris out of respect for the religious beliefs of the islanders.
North Uist is linked by causeway to Benbecula and South Uist, making it possible to drive down the three islands to Lochboisdale and, from there take the ferry to mainland Oban.
Uig is situated in a very spectacular bay and now boasts a brewery amongst its industries, although it is hardly industrial, being a tiny village. It is also famous for a hairpin bend on the road north out of the village to Kilmuir. Recently this road was closed for a while after part of it slithered off down the cliff, but the men from the council came and glued it back again.
There now follows a little political diatribe:
This year (2000) Skye was quiet, which was nice for us, but not so nice for the tourist economy. I am convinced that part of the problem is the price of fuel in the UK which must surely be the dearest in the world. Having seen the calibre of British politicians, I am becoming increasingly pro-European and of the belief that we need Europe to save us from the people we elect to govern us.
Our politicians seem unable to view transport policy in terms of anything other than congestion affecting London (a truly horrible place and a tourist rip-off). They do not appear to realise that high fuel prices and anti motorist policies have a dire effect on tourism generally and Scotland in particular. England is a long thin country and getting from the population centres in England to Scotland requires a long journey by car and expenditure on outrageously priced petrol.
As a Calmac officer remarked to me, "How can you expect people to tour the Scottish Islands when they could fly abroad and get accommodation for less than they will spend on petrol and ferry fares in the UK?"
End of diatribe. Now for photos:
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| Hardly any cars queue for the ferry to Lochmaddy in the Summer of 2000 | The M.V. Hebridean Isles alongside the new roll-on roll-off pier at Uig |
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| A 1970s shot of the pier at Uig before the introduction of ro-ro facilities. In those days, the cars were driven across a ramp onto the foredeck of the ferry and then had to go, a few at a time, down to the car deck on a lift. It took ages! | The Uig Hairpin: The section of road which fell off the cliff and had to be repaired is clearly visible beyond the bush |
The photos below were taken in summer 2000 on the "M.V. Hebridean Isles." This ferry was replaced by a brand new vessel, the "M.V. Hebrides" which commenced service in 2001
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| A virtually empty restaurant on a Sunday sail to Lochmaddy. | Not really sinking, honestly! There were so few passengers that day that the ship practised its emergency drills and those passengers who volunteered took part. |
A few shots of the new "M.V. Hebrides" on which we travelled at Easter 2001.
The new ship is a lot bigger and a lot more luxurious, but maddeningly difficult find one's way about below decks. A few signposts would help. A debit point is that the new ship seems to have less open deck space than the old one and no open deck space forward of the bridge. While air conditioned luxury is nice, some of us like to feel the wind in our hair and salt-stained windows are not as easy for bird and wildlife watching as being on an open deck with a pair of binoculars is.
In spite of all the modern high technology, it still managed to be late returning to Uig. It also seems to take a lot longer to get it alongside the jetty and to make it secure than it took with the old "Heb. Isles." Perhaps its size makes it a bit more difficult to manoeuvre in a high wind.
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Copyright © Gareth Boote 2000