|
Back to Tourism Homepage
28 March 2003
Sound of Harris Ferry Service, Western Isles
A Bigger Ferry Agreed with benefits to Tourism
and the Local Community
www.land-care.org.uk
(Filed 28 March 2003)
At a time when tourism in Scotland is in serious
decline, it is encouraging that an improvement in the ferry service
across the Sound of Harris, Western Isles has been announced (1).
Caledonian MacBrayne are to replace the MV Loch
Bhrusda with a larger ferry, the MV Loch Portain, next month (April
2003).
The ferry and road links in the area are illustrated
here:
Figure 1: Ferry
routes in Scotland. Reproduced with kind permission of Escape
to the Edge, Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board.
Click here to enlarge image
Figure 2: Map
showing the Leverburgh (Harris) to Berneray (North Uist) ferry route
across the Sound of Harris. Image produced from the Ordnance Survey
Get-a-map service.
Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance
Survey and Ordnance
Survey of Northern Ireland.
Click here to enlarge
image
The evaluation of the social and economic impacts
of the Sound of Harris ferry was commissioned by Highlands and Islands
Enterprise (HIE) and Western Isles Enterprise (WIE), and was undertaken
by Inverness-based consultants Grangeston Economics. Their report
is available here (2).
In addition, the recommendation was made that
the frequency of the ferry service should be increased.
At the time of writing Land-Care has not established
what the frequency of the improved ferry service will be. Perhaps
“Outer Hebrides” sense of time may not be fully appreciated,
if the timetable is too lax to suit the mobile urbaner who supposedly
wants to “get away from it all” or “escape to the
edge” (3), but does not want
to take too long about it. By the way the edge is not that further
south!
In writing this piece one is sorely tempted to
go for a great round trip: say, from Ullapool to Stornoway, in the
North of Lewis. Then across the Sound of Harris to Berneray in North
Uist before travelling to South Uist and taking the ferry to Oban
from Lochboisdale.
www.land-care.org.uk
References
1. Western Isles
Enterprise. Press Release: Sound of Harris Ferry brings significant
benefits to the Western Isles.
http://www.hie.co.uk/welcome.asp.LocID-newa6g.SiteID-1.News-wie.htm
2. Grangeston
Economics (2003). Evaluation of the Social & Economic Impacts
of The Sound of Harris Ferry Service. Final Report for Highlands
& Islands Enterprise Western Isles Enterprise, February 2003.
Click here to download (Microsoft
Word Document).
3. Escape to the Edge. Highlands
of Scotland Tourist Board.
http://www.escapetotheedge.co.uk/
|
