The Iolaire Memorial section of the Point and Sandwick Trail has been officially declared open.
The path, part of the planned 40km coastal trail from Stornoway and around the Point peninsula, was opened by councillor Angus McCormack.
Invited guests included Iain Macaulay, Lord Lieutenant, Malcolm Macdonald of the Stornoway Historical Society, John Mackay, councillor for Ness with the Lewis and Harris Youth Pipe Band in attendance.
The path runs from Lower Sandwick, following the shoreline before turning up to the top of Cnoc nan Poll Urra and on to the Iolaire Memorial site. It links existing routes from Stornoway via Newton and Sandwick Bay to the monument which commemorates the HMY Iolaire disaster on New Year’s Eve 1919.
Along the route are planted 201 trees, each marked with a slate engraved with the name and village of each man lost in the tragedy.
Entering the path at Lower Sandwick, trees are planted for the eight Stornoway sailors, five Harris men and two Berneray (Sound of Harris) sailors to the right.
The path winds on and to the left are planted fifty-
Thirty-
Close to the end of the path sit trees for the eighteen English sailors on the right and trees at the gate for the two Scottish mainland sailors. The last of these is planted in memory of the signal boy from Aberdeen, David Macdonald, only 17 years old.
The new section of path, built by the Point and Sandwick Coastal Community Path (PSCCP) has been made possible via a funding grant of £104,000 from the Scottish Government’s Healthy Island Fund.
Nicola MacSween, secretary of the PSCCP, said the Iolaire path section is a “long held, community aspiration in the widest sense and landowners, Iain Scott and family have been pivotal in its realisation.”
New path from Stornoway to Iolaire monument officially open
25 April 2022
Images by SandiePhotos