Wimbledon might be underway, but there’s another tennis court we’ve got our eye on – but it requires quite the journey to get there. And it might not be what you expect to find on the dramatic islands of the Outer Hebrides.
Bunabhainneadar is a settlement on the rugged Isle of Harris, on the road to the North Harris Eagle Observatory, the Amhuinnsuidhe Castle Estate and the iconic Huisnis (Hushinish) beach, known for its herd of Highland cows which frequent the area. To get there, you pass the ruins of the old 1900s Bunabhainneadar whaling station, its brick chimney still visible from the road.
But it’s also home to the Bunabhainneadar Tennis Court, which many believe to be the most remote tennis court in the world. It looks out over West Loch Tarbert, with dramatic peaks on every side – each coated in heather. The desolate expanse looks more like a lunar landscape than an island off the west coast of Scotland, but if you continue along the road to Huisnis, you’ll find a beach that wouldn’t look out of place in the Caribbean.
The tennis court was built in 1998 by former tennis coach Mike Briggs and his wife Peggy Briggs. They moved to the Scottish island in 1992 and missed their local tennis club from the south of England, so decided to build one here for the community.
“Luckily for us the then owner of North Harris Estate, Jonathan Bulmer, was very supportive, and he sold us the land for £1,” Mike told Nike in 2020. Four years of campaigning and pleading with tennis fans and players later, Mike and Peggy raised £62,000 to extract 2,000 tons of rock from the Clisham, the highest mountain on Harris, to build this stunning site.
“Sometimes you throw the ball up to serve and an eagle goes up overhead and it puts you off slightly,” says Peggy Briggs. “But what I really like is playing in the winter – you can stand at the end of the court, ready to receive serve, you look around and you can see snow on four or five different peaks – and here you are playing tennis in amongst it all. It’s lovely.”
The court has attracted global attention after a Jaguar advertisement with Tim Henman and a Nike series highlighting the role of play in building community. It has drawn the attention of the tennis world too, with Judy Murray playing a game there during a break from her run on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
While tourists are endlessly drawn to the picturesque Hebridean spot, the tennis court predominantly serves the 2,000-odd population of the Isle of Harris, which is connected by land to the larger Isle of Lewis (famed for the Calanais Standing Stones, a stunning rival to Stonehenge). To get to Harris, you can either fly into Stornoway (on Lewis) from the mainland, or get the ferry to Tarbert (on Harris) across from the Isle of Skye.
It might be the most remote tennis court in the UK – but is it the most remote tennis court in the world? “We have never said it is the most remote tennis court in the world,” Mike Briggs said to the Telegraph in 2018. “But we have claimed it to be the most remote in the UK and it probably is. No one has ever made a credible challenge.”
Did you know? Harris has one of the toughest half marathons in the UK. Try it while you're up there for a tennis match!
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