Visit to Kershader

This afternoon, I jumped on the bus and paid a brief visit to the village of Kershader, 22 miles by road and 12 miles as the crow flies from Stornoway. Kershader (Cearsiadar in Gaelic) is a small crofting township on the shore above Loch Erisort, the 15 mile long inlet from the sea. It is the cause for the lengthy detour. As you come down the main road at Laxay, you can actually see the village across the water. But you still have to go down a 10 mile detour round the head of the loch!

The object of the visit was the Ravenspoint Centre, a venue that I am only too familiar with. I stayed there during the 2004/5 winter, making many miles in the surrounding moorland until conditions became too inclement. It was there that I sat through a 48 hour black-out, caused by 100 mph winds on 11 January 2005. This same hurricane claimed 5 lives in Uist, 60 miles to the south.

Today, the Ravenspoint Centre (have a look on Streetview, link provided) looks a lot smarter. The shop is now much larger; I did not look in at the hostel, which can't have changed that much. The museum is all in a small room, but held some interesting artefacts.

It helped that the weather cleared up and warmed up as the day wore on, although the wind stayed chilly.

Loch Erisort at Balallan



Pairc Museum, Kershader



Inside the Ravenspoint Shop