Tolsta Chaolais is a crofting village on the west side of the Isle of Lewis.

To find us you must leave the road between Breasclete and Carloway. When you have wound your way across the hills and down to the valley, you will find yourself in a slightly different and much more peaceful world.

On the promontory between Loch a' Bhaile and the sea, dogs, children and sheep still wander carefree across the road and the occasional car moves slowly.

There are about 40 houses clustered around the Loch, most of them occupied by people whose parents and grandparents worked the same land.

For the antiquarian, the Standing Stones at Calanais are five miles to the south and the broch at Dun Carloway is two and a half miles to the north.

The signs of those who have lived here in the past are all around us.

For walkers we have hills, cliffs and moorland and, for the more adventurous, the hills of Harris and Uig, to the south, provide a greater challenge.

Bird watchers can feast their eyes on a multitude of sea birds. Buzzards and ravens fly overhead; golden eagles and sea eagles are not very far away and whooper swans are winter residents on the village loch.

Botanists will delight in the wild flowers and orchids.

There are few shops in the vicinity, although we are supplied by grocers' and butchers' vans and the Doune Braes Hotel, just outside the village serves food and drink all day, 7 days a week.