St Kilda

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In 2010 I had the pleasure of flying three sightseeing trips to the St Kilda archipelago

National Trust GoogleMaps

Inhabited since prehistoric times and finally abandoned in 1930, St Kilda lies in the Atlantic

110 miles 180 km off the

mainland and 40 miles 65 km beyond the Outer Hebrides.

St Kilda is a naturally cloudy and windy place and the weather was different on each visit

....but views were always spectacular

The photos have been arranged by area to appreciate the dramatic variations

Fuel stop on Benbecula

Our first-ever view of the archipelago as we approach from the south-east,
joining the tiny percentage of the world's population who have actually seen St Kilda

Dùn, Hirta and Levenish materialize as we approach at 1500 ft 460 m from the south-east

Levenish GoogleMaps

Approaching Hirta

HIRTA

Dùn, Loch Hiort and Hirta
(Loch Hiort is also known as Loch Hirta, St Kilda Bay and Village Bay)

Clockwise around Hirta starting beside the radar stations on Mullach Sgar 715 ft 281 m and Mullach Mor 1164 ft 355 m with St Kilda's highest peak Conachair 1394 ft 425 m on the right

The same area in on a different day

Radar station on Mullach Mor and St Kilda's highest peak
Conachair with Boreray barely visible in the distance

Seen from the south Claigeann Mor 925 ft 282 m in front of the Mullach Mor and Conachair

Mullach Bi 1164 ft 355 m with Mullach Mor and Conachair peak behind

Mullach Bi

More of Mullach Bi as the clouds briefly parted

Looking north there is the Unnamed Peak 892 ft 272 m

and the separate island Soay on the left

Unnamed peak on the western side of Hirta with the radar station on
Mullach Mor and Conachair peak in the distance

Cambir 692 ft 211 m with Boreray in the distance

The same Cambir, Boreray and Stacs on another day

Loch a' Ghlinne (Glen Bay)

Continuing clockwise around Hirta we pass the An Campar headland.
Loch Hiort and a small part of the village are visible behind the cliff.
To the right is Conachair peak sloping down to the An Campar ridge and cliffs,
with the radar station on Mullach Mor behind

A closeup of the same area but the radar station is barely visible

Passing closer to the cliff, the road from the village up to the radar station on Mullach Sgar
is visible. To the right of the domes are Claigeann Mor and Mullach Bi

An Campar headland on the north-east corner of Hirta with the square Stac Mina

Stac Mina with Soay in the distance

'Square' Stac Mina seen from a different angle

An Campar 1053 ft 321 m ridge and cliff sloping down from
Conachair, St Kilda's highest point 1394 ft 425 m

THE VILLAGE

National Trust St Kilda Village

We would have liked to have seen more of the village but on the cloudy days it was mostly obscured, a few photos snatched as the clouds passed.

St Kilda is always windy but on our clearest day there was a strong wind from the north-west creating causing severe turbulence in the lee of the hills ...so we had to observe that side of

the island from a distance.

Oiseval 948 ft 289 m looming over Loch Hiort and the village
with Boreray and Stacs in the distance

On cloudy days we circled over the bay and darted in

to snatch a few photos when a clear patch appeared

The modern part of the village reminding us
that the UK MoD has a presence on St Kilda

SOAY

On the clear day, turbulence caused by strong winds kept us at a distance so we never saw any of the Soay Sheep reportedly still running wild on the island National Trust Unique Wildlife

Soay seen from the south with it highest point Choc (or Cnoc) Glas 1224 ft 373 m
and the Gob a' Ghaill headland on the left - arguably the western-most point of the UK
( although Rockall and the overseas territories would disagree )