|  8 Askernish
The house stands on a low rocky rise, with views across the patchwork of rocks, lochans and boggy ground - the talabh dubh (black earth - ie peaty) to the machair and dunes bordering the sea, to the hills lining the east side of Uist, and even to the more distant hills of Barra. ^
The rocky, boggy land immediately about the house is too poor for anything other than grazing of hardy Blackface sheep, yet is prolific in wildlife. From the windows - even without the help of binoculars - you will see (and hear) lapwings nesting and performing their extraordinary aerial displays; you’ll see also sparrow hawks and hen harriers, short-eared owls, lambs being born or suckling ... ^
 This traditional crofter’s house dates from around 1930, and was built by the first tenant of what was then a newly-created small-holding. According to the government grant schemes of the time, materials could be obtained free of charge for a limited range of standard approved house types. The tenant supplied the labour, building the house himself with the help of family, relatives and neighbours. 8 Askernish is one of the very few of these houses in Uist which remains unaltered externally. In the mid-1980s, the quarter-acre plot on which this cottage stands was ‘de-crofted’ (removed from crofting regulation - becoming a privately-owned plot), and the house with it. Today, the land around the house is used for sheep grazing by a crofter from a neighbouring township. ^
When we bought the house in late 2005 it had fallen into a serious state of disrepair, with cracked walls, leaking roof, rising damp, wet rot, dry rot, woodworm ... We stripped it back to just the walls, repaired those, then repaired and reinstated everything, building in protection against damp, cold and draughts, and making slight but critical adjustments to the layout that have proved to make all the difference to its practicality and comfort, whilst preserving the essentials of its character. So satisfying, we’d do it again! ^
| Nearby Facilities | | Dalabrog (Daliburgh): 5 mins car / 10-15mins bike> Co-op supermarket, Post Office
> Filling Station with Fish & Chip shop,
> Borrodale Hotel, with public bars, restaurant
> Catholic and Church of Scotland churches
> South Uist Medical Centre (01878 700302)
> Children’s play area | Loch Baghasdail (Lochboisdale) - 10mins by car> Lochboisdale Hotel, with bars, restaurant
> Filling station with car wash;
> Laing Motors - car hire, vehicle workshop
> Small shops, Post Office
> Tourist information office; Calmac ferry office
> Free Church of Scotland
> Royal Bank of Scotland |  Askernish crofting township
Askernish (Aisgernis in Gaelic) extends west from the lower slopes of hills that line the east of Uist, across the tallabh dubh to the machair (plains of wind-blown sand, abundant with wild flowers in May and June especially). Finally, there are the high marram-grass dunes and the vast stretches of dazzling white sands along the Atlantic shore. Amongst the machair and dunes is the newly-famous Askernish golf course, originally laid out in the 1890s by ‘Old Tom Morris’. ^
Although still a stronghold of traditional crofting, the township has in recent years - like most communities in the islands - become more diverse, with a variety of private houses, from Askernish House (a rather grand farmhouse built in 1830), through a variety of 20th century homes - including one that serves as a convent, to an eco-home built into the rock face above the shore of a loch. ^
One thing that hasn’t changed here much, though, is the pace of life. Nothing here is done in too much of a hurry. ^ |
|
