Cladach An Eilein

Explorer Tom Eoropie Dunes Park proves that a good playground can grow out of a very big local idea. Up near the northern tip of Lewis, children can charge through tunnels, race down a bank and look past the dunes towards Traigh Shandaigh. The Atlantic scenery is impressive, but the real marvel is that families built a place for their own children and kept it open for everyone else's. In 1998, local mothers formed the group Guth Airson Iarrtasan Nis because Ness lacked a nearby play area. Crofting families gave land beside the beach, and volunteers shaped a park to fit the machair and dunes rather than flattening them. The result includes a fenced playground, zip wire, maze, embankment slide, swings and trails. Its name in Gaelic means 'A Voice for the Needs of Ness', which is a better origin story than most pieces of play equipment get. The setting adds another outing. Traigh Shandaigh lies beside the park, and the Butt of Lewis lighthouse is about a mile away. This is a landscape with wind, sand and sea; the park lets children explore some of that wildness within a designed space. Adults can have a look around too, although claiming you are only testing the zip wire for safety may fool nobody. The charity says the park is free and open all year. It is near Eoropie village off the A857, with parking beside the site; buses run on the main road on most days but not Sunday. Check current equipment notices and weather before travelling, and keep children close near the dunes and beach. The volunteers made a place to play, so leave it ready for the next family to do just that.