Barra
Barra (; or ; ) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by the Vatersay Causeway. In 2011, the population was 1,174. English and Gaelic are widely spoken, and at the 2011 Census, there were 761 Gaelic speakers (62% of the population, falling from 76% in the 1991 census). Geology In common with the rest of the Western Isles, Barra is formed from the oldest rocks in Britain, the Lewisian gneiss, which dates from the Archean, Archaean eon. Some of the gneiss in the east of the island is noted as being pyroxene-bearing. Layered textures or Foliation (geology), foliation in this metamorphic rock is typically around 30° to the east or northeast. Palaeoproterozoic age diorite, metadiorites and tonalite, metatonalites forming a part of the East Barra Meta-igneous Complex occur around Castlebay as they do on the neighbouring islands of Vatersay and Flodday, So ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Western Isles
The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. The Outer Hebrides are considered to be the traditional heartland of the Gaelic language. The islands form one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, which since 1998 has used only the Gaelic form of its name, including in English language contexts. The council area is called Na h-Eileanan an Iar ('the Western Isles') and its council is ('Council of the Western Isles'). Most of the islands have a bedrock formed from ancient metamorphic rocks, and the climate is mild and oceanic. The 15 inhabited islands had a total population of in and there are more than 50 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Na H-Eileanan Siar
The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. The Outer Hebrides are considered to be the traditional heartland of the Gaelic language. The islands form one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, which since 1998 has used only the Gaelic form of its name, including in English language contexts. The council area is called Na h-Eileanan an Iar ('the Western Isles') and its council is ('Council of the Western Isles'). Most of the islands have a bedrock formed from ancient metamorphic rocks, and the climate is mild and oceanic. The 15 inhabited islands had a total population of in and there are more th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Castlebay
Castlebay ( ) is the main village and a community council area on the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The village is located on the south coast of the island, and overlooks a bay in the Atlantic Ocean dominated by Kisimul Castle, as well as nearby islands such as Vatersay. Castlebay is also within the parish of Barra. The village is located on the A888, which serves as a circular road around Barra. In 1971, it had a population of 307. Community Castlebay is home to the majority of shops on the island. The main street forms a square with the ferry terminal and the ring road, and features several grocery shops, a bank, post office, and tourist information centre. There is a larger supermarket to the west of the village, having opened in October 2009. There are also several hotels in the village, plus the island's medical centre, a petrol station and the police station. Church Our Lady, Star of the Sea, a Roman Catholic church, was opened in 1888 on a mound ove ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vatersay
The island of Vatersay (; ) is the southernmost and westernmost inhabited island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, and the settlement of Caolas on the north coast of the island is the westernmost permanently inhabited place in Scotland. The main village, also called Vatersay, is in the south of the island. Geography Vatersay is irregularly shaped and has a tombolo: it is composed of two rocky islands (north and south) linked by a sandy isthmus. The isthmus is covered in sand dunes and on either side are large white-sand beaches: Bàgh Siar (West Bay), and Bàgh Bhatarsaigh (Vatersay Bay) to the east. There are a number of beaches backed by sand dunes. The island is about from north to south, and the northern section of the island is about from west to east. Vatersay is linked to the larger island of Barra to the north by the approximately Vatersay Causeway, which was completed in 1991. This is of great benefit, as the shipping of goods and passenger traffic no longer h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Borve, Barra
Borve () is a village on the west coast of the island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Borve is within the parish of Barra, and is situated on the A888 which is the island's circular main road. History There are a number of Neolithic remains nearby, including a burial cairn, and standing stones. A rich Viking burial was unearthed in the vicinity of Borve at a site called Ardvouray in 1862, the contents of which can be found in the British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu .... The grave included amongst other things a pair of oval brooches, a comb, fragments of a drinking horn, a spear, a pair of shears, a weaving sword and a whetstone. References External links Canmore - Barra, Borve site record [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vatersay Causeway
The Vatersay Causeway () is a 250-metre-long causeway that links the Scottish Hebridean Islands of Vatersay and Barra across the Sound of Vatersay (). The causeway was constructed between 1989 and 1991, and provides a direct link between Vatersay, the most southerly inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides, and Barra. Before its inception, the island was reachable only via a passenger ferry from Castlebay, making the transportation of goods, cattle, or vehicles arduous, necessitating the hiring of private boats. Historical background and need for the causeway The effects of the Highland Clearances reduced Vatersay's population to a mere 13 inhabitants by 1901. However, immigration from Barra and Mingulay subsequently caused a surge in the population, culminating in a peak of 288 residents by 1911. The population continued to fluctuate, reaching a low of 65 in 1988. Prior to 1989, Vatersay stood as the sole inhabited Hebridean Island without a vehicular ferry or causewa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Heaval
Heaval is the highest hill on the Outer Hebridean island of Barra, Scotland. The highest point is 383 metres high above sea level and it is located 1.5 km northeast of Castlebay. It is most easily ascended from the south east, from the summit of a 102 m high road pass on the A888 about 1 km east of Castlebay. There is a signposted car park nearby. About halfway up the ridge, there is a white statue of the Virgin and Child. Near the top, the ridge becomes steep, but any difficulties can be bypassed on the south side. The two other hills on Barra with Marilyn (hill), more than 150 metres of topographic prominence, reascent are Ben Tangaval (333 m) in the west, and Ben Cliad (202 m) in the north. Another hill, Theisabhal Mor (190 m) is on Vatersay, which is linked to Barra by the Vatersay Causeway. Five of the Barra Isles, uninhabited islands to the south have summits higher than 150 m. Weather permitting, these islands can be visited, with time for summit ascents, by ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Flodday, Sound Of Barra
Flodday or Flodaigh (Scottish Gaelic), is a currently uninhabited island that lies to the north east of Barra and is one of ten islands in the Sound of Barra, a Site of Community Importance for conservation in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Its name derives from the Old Norse for "flat island". Geography and geology The island is gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ... with fertile soil. A reef to the north ends in a drying islet, Snagaras. History Flodaigh supported one family until cleared in 1851. Notes and references Islands of the Sound of Barra Cleared places in the Outer Hebrides {{WesternIsles-geo-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of the three-age system, following the Stone Age and preceding the Iron Age. Conceived as a global era, the Bronze Age follows the Neolithic, with a transition period between the two known as the Chalcolithic. The final decades of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean basin are often characterised as a period of widespread societal collapse known as the Late Bronze Age collapse (), although its severity and scope are debated among scholars. An ancient civilisation is deemed to be part of the Bronze Age if it either produced bronze by smelting its own copper and alloying it with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or traded other items for bronze from producing areas elsewhere. Bronze Age cultures were the first to History of writing, develop writin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent Islands of Scotland, islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its Anglo-Scottish border, only land border, which is long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,439,842. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the most populous of the cities of Scotland. The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI succeeded to the thrones of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, forming a personal union of the Union of the Crowns, three kingdo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Machair
A machair (; sometimes machar in English) is a fertile low-lying grassy plain found on part of the northwestern coastlines of Ireland and Scotland, particularly the Outer Hebrides. The best examples are found on North and South Uist, Harris and Lewis. Etymology ''Machair'' is a Gaelic word meaning "fertile plain", but the word is now also used in scientific literature to describe the dune grasslands unique to western Scotland and northwest Ireland. It had been used by naturalists since 1926, but the term was not adopted by scientists until the 1940s. The word is used in a number of Irish, Scottish and Manx place names to refer to low-lying fertile ground or fields, even in areas where no machair has ever been supported. In Scotland, some Gaelic speakers use ''machair'' as a general term for the entire dune system, including the dune ridge, while others restrict its use to the extensive flat grasslands inland of the dune ridge. In Ireland, the word has only been used in pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |