The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2021 - Issue 29

bitetravel Barra and the other islands of the Outer Hebrides led the landlord of Barra, Colonel Gordon of Cluny, to ship the residents of Balnabodach and other towns to Canada. Oral traditions passed down through genera- tions told how people were forcibly loaded into boats at Balnabodach. For example, a young woman milking the family's cow in the field by the loch was seized by Colonel Gordon's agents and put on a boat with only the clothes she wore. Barra Airport is a short-runway facility located in the wide shallow bay of Traigh Mhòr at the north tip of the island of Barra. The airport is incredibly unique since it is the only one in the world where scheduled flights use a beach as the runway. The beach is set out with three runways, marked by wooden poles at their ends, allow- ing the Twin Otters that serve the airport to almost al- ways land into the wind. The downside is during high tide; these runways are under the sea, so flight times vary with the tide. Forty miles from mainland Scotland, the Isle of Bar- ra Beach Hotel is located on the Atlantic west coast of Barra Island, overlooking the beautiful white sands of Tangasdale Beach. It has a spacious lounge with pano- ramic views of Halaman Bay and Ben Tangaval, ideal for relaxing and watching the sunset over the ocean at the end of a perfect Hebridean day. The hotel also fea- tures sea-view rooms and lounge, two family rooms, a sea-view restaurant, lounge bar, beach, cinema room, internet and a bolthole cabin. Castlebay is the main village and community area, lo- cated on the south coast of Barra Island. It overlooks