The Wildlife Map of the Hebrides

23. Northton and Chaipval

This is probably the finest machair in Lewis and Harris and is the system which most closely resembles the superb machair of the Uists. People have occupied this area for thousands of years and excavation has revealed Neolithic, Beaker and Iron Age settlements (about 2500BC, 1600BC and 5000BC-500AD respectively) whilst a map of 1805 shows a very different settlement pattern from modern Northton with the villages just below Chaipaval. The machair is badly eroded in places and cars should ideally be left by the gate: vehicles using the track might not only damage the machair but run the risk of getting stuck in the sand. The chaipaval pegmatite rock which forms a line across the hill visible from a considerable distance is a granite with very large crystals of pink feldspar. There are also chunks of whitish quartz, flaky book like muscovite (clear) and biotite (glossy black) micas. The feldspar was quarried during World War 2, when South Harris provided most of the countries feldspar requirements, for use in the manufacture of porcelain electrical insulators. The summit of Chaipaval provides excellent views of the islands and currents in the Sound of Harris. The machair has huge numbers of birds, including Lapwing, Skylark, Dunlin and Redshank. At times there may also be significant numbers of Greylags and Barnacle geese. The line of dunes clad with Marram grass at Scarista is a fairly recent feature, and the beach just to the South of these is strewn with a wide variety of seashells.