View across the Outer Harbour of Stornoway

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Tuesday 1 November

November came in with quite reasonable weather. There were some heavy showers in the morning, but they receded as the afternoon went on. Not terribly warm, but then I wouldn't expect much above 11C at this time of year. As I type this, at 10.40pm, the wind is beginning to pick up although the sky is clear. Jupiter is rising in the east - early in the morning, Orion is high in the southwest, followed as ever by his faithful hounds, crowned by their stars Sirius and Procyon. Winter is my favourite time for stargazing, if only because it's impossible in summer at this latitude (58 north).

The RNLI is expected to rubberstamp the establishment of a lifeboat station at Leverburgh in Harris. At present, there are two lifeboat stations in the Outer Hebrides, one at Stornoway and the other at Castlebay. These two locations are 140 miles apart, and Leverburgh sits virtually halfway. The other advantage is that Leverburgh sits on the Sound of Harris, and thereby on a passage into the eastern Atlantic towards St Kilda.

I am continuing to transcribe tributes from the Stornoway Gazette to servicemen from the islands who gave their life during World War II in the year 1944. Once that is complete, probably tomorrow or Thursday, there remain the first eight months of 1945.

Thanks to those of you who accepted my invites on Goodreads. I am not a very assiduous book reader, and have run into difficulties with the Count of Monte Christo. The Qur'an is not easy reading either, but I do have slightly easier reading in a tome on the rise and decline of railways in mainland Britain, from 1819 until the present day.