View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Friday 5 February 2010

Friday 5 February

Not seen +8C for a while, but that's the current temperature at Stornoway Airport just now. We're having a mild interlude, and even the sun is putting in an appearance - if a rather milky one. After the weekend, the weather will turn colder from the east, which does mean that we in the west are more sheltered from the worst of its effects.

In recent times, a fierce discussion has raged in these parts on the location for a history centre for St Kilda. Hiort, as the archipelago is known in Gaelic, was evacuated in 1930 and now stands derilict some 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. Three locations in the Western Isles vied for the honour of hosting the centre, which was finally allocated to Mangersta, in Uig, western Lewis. The village of Leverburgh in Harris and a hilltop site in North Uist (Cleitreabhal) lost out. Accusations of foul play and shifted goalposts marred the process, and neither losing contender has taken their defeat lying down. Cleitreabhal may yet be the site of a rival centre.

A resident of South Uist has written to local news website Hebrides News, stating that the heritage of the St Kildans is used as a football between various agencies for the sake of money. Read for yourself.