Outer Hebrides Islands and UK Roads

We left Iona and the Island of Mull, ferried back to Oban and then took a long ferry ride to S. Uist, one of the southernmost of the Outer Hebrides islands. I nearly forgot my medication for seasickness which could have been disastrous given the ocean swell on that trip. From there we drove north, visiting several sites, including an unearthed Viking ship and, by the end of the day, were in Finsbay on the island of Harris (where Harris Tweed comes from).

Let me tell you about roads in the UK.

The M roads are motorways, like our freeways. The A roads are the main roads that were the quickest route from one place to another before the M roads were built. I remember my father saying that he could average 30mph on A roads but they’ve improved since then and cars have also – but there should be no great expectations. Then there’s the B roads, which are country roads, often one lane with passing places. And now I’ve found out about C roads – which are about 6 ft wide, and have tiny passing places. Finsbay is on a C road, running over and around mountains with a drop on at least one side of the road and sometimes both. The challenge on that road has often been that the ‘cute’ little road rises to a summit and one expects it to go on straight, but instead there’s a sharp turn and if you miss that turn you get to fly off the edge of the road and dive down into the sea. Such fun!