In 1982, D and I travelled to North Uist from Skye and spent the day here before catching a ferry to Harris. We met two young men who took us in their Land Rover to the Neolithic chambered cairn called Barpa Langais. We crawled through the tiny low entrance and sat inside drinking whisky. A slightly surreal memory, made hazy by the 35 years which have passed since then, but 35 years are but a sliver of time compared to the 5000 years since Barpa Langais was built. 

The guidebook says :


“Barpa Langais is a large circular structure measuring some 25m in diameter. It lies part way up a hillside, with the passage entrance facing upslope. This location is echoed by other chambered cairns in the Uists and Benbecula. This aspect would have allowed a large group of people to observe any rituals taking place in the forecourt, perhaps in advance of a select few entering the tomb. It would have been a sacred or other-worldly place.”

The extra shows the statue of Our lady of the Isles, the largest religious statue in the Uk, sculpted by Hugh Lorimer. Where religion meets radar :-)