Heileasbhal Mor

Rising as the highest point on Vatersay, this modest Marilyn offers a rugged, pathless ascent through Atlantic-facing moorland. The terrain is frequently damp and tussocky, but the effort is rewarded with a clear perspective over the white sands of Vatersay Bay and the southern chain of the Outer Hebrides.

• •The name is a hybrid of Old Norse and Scottish Gaelic; 'Heileasbhal' derives from the Norse 'Hellis-fjall', meaning 'Cave Hill', while the Gaelic 'Mòr' denotes 'Great' or 'Big'.
• •As the high point of Vatersay, the hill provides an excellent vantage point to view Kisimul Castle, the medieval stronghold of the MacNeils, sitting in the middle of the bay at Castlebay on neighbouring Barra.
• •On the western slopes of the adjacent Heileasbhal Beag, walkers can find the engines and wreckage of a Catalina flying boat that crashed during a training flight in 1944.
• •The summit offers a specific, unobstructed view southward over the uninhabited islands of the Bishop's Isles, including Sandray, Pabbay, and the high cliffs of Mingulay.
• •The 'Mòr' in its name translates as 'Great', which remains a strictly relative term on an island only three miles wide.