Tuesday 22 March

A beautiful sunny day, with hardly a cloud in the sky. Went for a short walk around the basin in front of my position, looking for scallops. However, I only found empty shells. Looks as if the oystercatchers beat me to them.

This morning, I received notification that a little boy in the States, Caden Hall, had died six months after being diagnosed with cancer. His mother and other family members had kept us updated through a website called CaringBridge, and over the weekend the situation became desperate. Just before 2 am local time, he died. Now, without being callous, this happens a lot of the time. I am flagging it up to highlight the power of the Internet in a situation like this. Dozens of people who never met the family involved, and will never do so either, flocked to the site to leave a message of sympathy. Some professed to be in tears, or at least quite emotional. I trust these messages will help the family through their grief. I am not a parent, and cannot imagine the torment they will have gone through as their child deteriorated in front of their eyes.

I have downloaded the latest update for my webbrowser, Firefox. It is now at version 4, and it does appear to be working faster than the old version. I suspect that disabling all the incompatible add-ons will have speeded matters up for a start.

A few pics from my walk this afternoon.

Know that sinking feeling?


Houses at Newton


Hooded crow

Monday 21 March

An overcast and very breezy day. When I was outside it felt quite cold in the wind, although the mercury is at 11C / 52F. Two hundred miles to the east, in Aberdeen, the mercury is forecast to reach 17C in bright sunshine. This results from the wind passing over the mountains and warming up as it descends on their eastern flanks. In German speaking countries they call it the föhn effect.

I am very pleased to learn that the Scottish Government have now approved the right of the Pairc Community to force their landowner, Mr Barry Lomas, to sell his estate against his will. It is understood that Mr Lomas is considering legal action against this decision.

An independent valuation of the land will be carried out, after which the Pairc Trust has six months to come up with the money. If this is successful, projects for the regeneration of the area can be implemented.

This saga has dragged on for more than 6 years, starting in November 2004 when the community voted to go for a buy-out. The estate owner has used every delaying tactic in the book, trying to frustrate the legal right of the residents to buy the estate.

A complicating factor has been a proposed windfarm for the Pairc Estate, which (upon approval) would send the cost of the estate spiralling out of the reach of the Pairc Trust. Whether this will be given the go-ahead remains in the balance, particularly now that the Scottish Parliament is about to rise for elections on May 5th.

I would like to join with the Rural Affairs Minister in wishing the Pairc Trust every success in raising whatever funds are required for the purchase, and in their endeavours to regenerate the Pairc area of Lewis.

Sunday 20 March

I was interested to see the rather large full moon out last night. My pictures did not turn out as good as some others' (I have to fiddle around with camera settings, and not used to that). However, here are two of my late night pics from yesterday.

I had a very quiet day today. The weather turned increasingly windy, as per forecast. Whereas the rest of the UK is nice and warm, with temps of 15C, we are going in the opposite direction, with the mercury slumping to 5C by the end of the week.

The military intervention to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, and to stop the advance of Gaddafi's forces appears to be meeting its objectives. Whether the unspoken aim of removing Gaddafi from power will be met is uncertain.

Saturday 19 March

The day is showery and fairly cold, at least it feels cold when there is a downpour and strengthening wind. Events started after midday, when a man could be seen walking a llama down the road. Like you do. Seriously, there is someone in Ness (North Lewis) who has llamas, and people can go on walks with them.

At 2pm, a march was held from the centre of Stornoway to the Coastguard Station, just down the road from my position. It was well attended, about 200 people were on the march, with a police escort and the pipe band keeping up the spirits in the face of inclement conditions. Local politicians held short speeches once outside the CGS. The march was in protest against proposed cutbacks to the Coastguard service. The below video shows the march as it files past the Tesco supermarket on Shell Street.




Rally at the Coastguard Station


March passing along Newton Street

Friday 18 March

The day started out with beefy showers, which gradually subsided as the afternoon wore on. The mercury is headed down at the moment, with the possibility of a frost in the night.

The UN resolution to impose a no-fly zone over Libya was met by Gaddafi's immediate cease-fire. Something that was a pertinent lie, as heavy fighting was reported to the west of Benghazi, the centre of the uprising against Mr Gaddafi. Resolution 1973 provides for all measures, save an invasion, to protect the people of Libya against the oppression of the ruling clique. And may they get lost soon.

It was a week ago today that the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami ravaged the northeast of Japan. So far, about 17,000 people are either dead or missing, with half a million displaced. The crisis in the nuclear reactor has finally been recognised by the Japanese authorities, who upgraded the severity of the incident at Fukushima to grade 5 on a scale of 0 to 7.

I have continued the transcription of the war diaries from the First World War, describing wholesale slaughter. A battalion of 440 men was reduced to 80 in one day, during the Battle of Arras in April 1917. It becomes quite wearying to read the battleplans, and the futility of that conflict rises from the pages like a dark mist. I have always enjoyed doing the research into WW1, but this aspect has not been easy.

No fly zone authorised

The United Nations have authorised the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya. This means that all aircraft who are flying over the country without prior authority are liable to be shot down. All air defences in Libya will be disabled first - i.e., bombing raids will be carried out to that effect.

Gaddafi has issued a series of threats, when it became clear over recent days that this was in the offing. He has said that no mercy would be shown to the rebels in Benghazi. Retaliatory strikes would be carried out against military and civilian targets in the Mediterranean, with shipping in the basin being rendered unsafe in the medium and long term.

It is pretty clear to see what has happened over the past 4 weeks. From being in a state of denial, Gaddafi has actually moved to acknowledge the presence of the rebels and will exterminate them. I am deliberately using that term. We have seen what he was like against unarmed civilians, who dared to demonstrate against him - heavy weaponry, normally only used against armoured vehicles or fighter jets, was deployed. I remember a man being brought into a hospital, with an unexploded rocket-propelled grenade sticking out of his leg.

Since 2003, Gaddafi had portrayed himself as the bad boy turned good, after he saw what had happened to Saddam Hussein in Iraq. British Prime Minister (at the time) Tony Blair went to Libya to seal deals with the country's leader - but Blair had forgotten the old adage that a fox never loses its true character. Gaddafi has, so far, survived the insurrection in his own country, but in suppressing it has completely lost all credibility.

I am quite apprehensive about the outcome of the imposition of the no-fly zone, coming as it does rather late in the day. Gaddafi feels he is back in the ascendency, and being in a position of total isolation, will stick at nought to maintain his position.

For reference, Gaddafi is not really a colonel. He has promoted himself to that rank.

EDIT: Did I say that this means we've got another war on our hands?

Thursday 17 March

Quite a nice if rather cool day, but with intermittent showers passing us by. It is now clearing up, after sunset, and we can expect a frost in the night. The Highlands will dip to -7C, and we won't be that far behind.

It appears that the situation at the Fukushima reactor in Japan is barely under control, if the reactor cores have to be kept cool by dumping water out of helicopters. I hope that the rigging up of an auxiliary powercable puts things on a more sensible footing. The death toll of last Friday's earthquake and tsunami has been increased to 14,000, and there will be many more.

Libya's leader, Col Gaddafi, has threatened all shipping in the Mediterranean if the UN Security Council passes a resolution, approving the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya. Rather too flicking late.

Locally, there will be a tidal energy generator in the Sound of Islay, between the latter island and Jura. There are very strong tidal currents in those narrows. In the future, similar machines could be installed in the Pentland Firth, which separates Orkney from mainland Scotland. It is expected to bring work to the Arnish Fabrication Yard here in Stornoway, where the tidal generators could be made. The AFY has struggled over the years I have been in Stornoway, opening and closing at regular intervals.

Wednesday 16 March

A fairly bright but quite breezy day, which has made it feel cold outside. In spite of the sun. It contrasts quite sharply with the weather in southern England, where the mercury has reached 17C or 18C over the past few days. You can take 10 degrees off that for our max today.

The UK Shipping Minister visited the Coastguard Station and Iolaire Memorial in Stornoway today. The visit to the latter was related to the on-going controversy about the revision of Coastguard services. On current plans, the station in Stornoway could be closed or downgraded. A vociferous local opposition is active, but restricted itself to the strategic placement of a banner along the access road to the station.

I am getting despondent regarding the situation in Libya. With a bit of bad luck, Gaddafi will manage to crush the rebellion in the east of the country, bearing in mind the sheer brutality he has been seen to be deploying so far. If he manages to recapture Benghazi, the focal point of the uprising, there will be a bloody purge of all those who dared to stand up to Gaddafi. I think the repression of opposition in Bahrain will have been inspired by Gaddafi's successes in recent times.

And the Japanese are now getting seriously worried, after their emperor appeared on television in relation to the nuclear emergency at Fukushima. If waterbombing using helicopters or watercannon is being considered, you can safely conclude that the nuclear plant is not under control, and we should expect the worst. People are beginning to flee Japan, and not just foreign nationals.

Tuesday 15 March

A bright and sunny day, but not very warm. Nonetheless, bearing in mind the problems with snow on the mainland, there is little reason for complaint. Out of the wind and in the sun, it was quite pleasant.

Went to an exhibition in the town this afternoon, showcasing a proposed windfarm near Stornoway. It will comprise of 47 turbines, each standing some 300 ft tall, and visible from large swathes of the island. I just do not take to the idea of having those structures littering the skyline here. Furthermore, it was unfortunate that the windfarm expo was in the same room as one about the Pelamis seasnake (which generates power from the movement of waves in the ocean). It requires the laying of a large undersea electricity cable from a crofting township in the east of Lewis to the mainland, which means that little Gravir will be industrialised, and the district of Lochs polluted with large electricity pylons. Yes, I'm a Nimby.

The situation in Japan appears to be getting worse. After the quake and tsunami, the nuclear power plant at Fukushima, 150 miles north of Tokyo, appears to be creeping towards meltdown, in spite of all the efforts to prevent this. The latest news mentions a fire at a 4th reactor.

Strange signs

I walked past Stornoway Police Station last week, when my eye was drawn to this sign on the (supposedly) automatic doors:


Pull doors apart to open/close

And the Press and Journal newspaper had a spellchecker glitch; they had bombs diffused (rather than defused).

Monday 14 March

Quite a nice day, if a tad nippy today. There is considerable disruption on the mainland due to heavy snow; the ski centre in the Cairngorms had to be closed after 30 inches (75 cm) of snow fell. The weather here was quite bright and sunny. I sent off another card on Postcrossing, which should hopefully reach its destination in about a week; it went to the States. The previous one reached Finland in 3 days; I omitted an airmail sticker on the first, and it took 3 weeks to get to Russia. I am yet to get a postcard in return, and that could be from anywhere. I print my own postcards (on blank postcards), using one of about 30,000 pictures of Lewis and Harris.

Today, I went to St Peter's Episcopal Church on Francis Street - the Episcopal Church in Scotland is equivalent to the Church of England.

I went there as I had word that a memorial to a WW1 casualty could be found there. I was not disappointed.

Interior of the church

Memorial to Alex John Macaskill, who died in the Iolaire Disaster of 1 January 1919, aged 19. 

There is one other Episcopal Church in Lewis; it is referred to as St Moluag's Chapel and can be found at Eoropie, near the Butt of Lewis.

Sunday 13 March

A very wintry start to the day with a heavy snow shower; but it did not settle as the temperature was too far above zero for that. It is very windy, with a full gale blowing outside.

Continuing to monitor events in Japan, with television reports revealing more horrifying images of the tsunami and its aftermath. The situation at several of the country's nuclear powerplants continues to be a cause for concern.
Another on-going crisis is the Libyan one, with Gaddafi's forces gaining the upper hand on the rebel forces, moving east along the coast of the Gulf of Syrte. Gaddafi's regime uses torture as a matter of course, as well as summary executions. A cameraman from the Al-Jazeera TV channel was killed in an ambush; Gaddafi dislikes Al-Jazeera. Should he regain full control of Benghazi, the centre of the rebellion, Gaddafi is not expected to hold back. All that talk of a no-fly zone is coming too late.

I was pleased to hear from two bloggers who have been off the radar for a while. They are highlighted on Call for Support, both here on Blogger and on Facebook.

Earthquake

I have experienced one earthquake first-hand, and that was nearly 20 years ago. It measured just over 5 on the Richter scale and was centered near Roermond in southern Holland. It did a fair bit of damage in that town, toppling chimney and other masonry. I was 60 miles to the north at the time, and it was a strange and frightening experience.

I awoke at 3 am, with the moon shining into my bedroom. There was not a sound - which was odd, as there is always the noise from the motorway, linking Holland to Germany, in the background. Not that night. I dropped off to sleep.

Just over 20 minutes later, I awoke to the bed swinging back and forth, and the whole house in fact creaking and swaying. It lasted for about 15 seconds, then ceased. The power had gone off, but I had batteries in my bedside radio, and this reported the quake, as well as the power outage. Things got back to normal fairly soon. The power grid had tripped out as a result of the quake, but was reset quickly.

It compared in no way to the massive quake that struck Japan yesterday, and the aftershocks are still generating tsunami waves along that country's coast. I am learning that nearly twenty 9 ft tsunami waves came ashore at Crescent City CA over the past 24 hours.

Saturday 12 March

A day of pale sunlight, as high cloud is shrouding the sun. I see shadows, so it's not completely covered. And it's been cold in the night, -5C / 23F. The mercury went above freezing only at 10 o'clock this morning. Snow is currently affecting Central Scotland, and will move north, reaching my corner of the world through the night.

I have decided to devote rather more time to my blogging friends than to Facebook games. Donna (Just Me) wrote that she had been blogging since 2004, gaining friends she otherwise would never have met. And the same applies to myself. I started blogging in October 2004, getting involved with J-land a year and a half later. Although I have infrequently called round blogs in recent months, I'll dedicate the time I used to spend on games to visiting blogs. Makes more sense, I'd think.

I continue to be horrified by the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The explosion at the nuclear plant, earlier today, appears to have served to reduce the amount of radiation at the site. But the images from the areas affected by the tsunami are mind-boggling. However, don't forget that a cubic metre of water (10.76 cubic feet) weighs a ton. And that lot was sweeping across the ocean at 600 mph, and across land at a speed of about 100 mph. The debris will have augmented the destructive power of the water.

Friday 11 March - evening notes

The massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami had me glued to the TV and the internet all day. It was beyond comprehension to watch a wall of water creep inexorably over land, sweeping away everything, and I mean everything in its path. Japan has awoken to a new day, with hundreds or thousands dead or missing, fires continuing to blaze out of control and a dangerous situation at one of its nuclear powerstations. The cooling system in one nuclear powerplant failed after the quake, and the reactor core is thought to have overheated. Radiation levels around the site are reported to be 1,000 times above normal, according to Sky TV this evening. Aftershocks continue to hit Japan, some as strong as 6.6 on the Richter scale - that is higher than the quake that devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month. More than 140 aftershocks bigger than magnitude 5 have been reported since the main quake, which struck at 05.46 GMT this morning, with a magnitude of 8.9.

The tsunami is rolling across the Pacific Ocean, and its effects on smaller islands or atolls are presently not known. The height of the tsunami as it is presently hitting the US states of Oregon and California has surprised me, with one station reporting a 2.02 m (6.6 ft) surge. Several people are reported to have been swept out to sea as they tried to take pictures. As I type this (1430 PST), the tsunamis are still rolling ashore, so if you're on the Pacific coast, please be careful.

Friday 11 March

Awoke to the news of the massive earthquake in Japan, which has clocked in at magnitude 8.9. This is only marginally less strong than the 9.1 quake that produced a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004. This quake has produced tsunami waves of between 7 and 10 metres (24 to 33 feet), which have carried away anything in its path. This has varied from people to vehicles, boats and buildings. The pictures on NHK World, relayed through most broadcasters, are terrifying. The Japanese are used to earthquakes, but a near-9 is off their scale. As I type this, the tsunami is still rolling across the Pacific, currently affecting Indonesia. However, the tsunami warning extends right down the west coast of the entire American continent, with the wave currently closing in on Alaska.

A tsunami is not a wave, as you may see along the seashore. It is a wall of water. 

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center is issuing hourly updates.
The WCATWC Warning Center covers the North American coastline, also hourly.

NHK World is carried on Sky TV (satellite, UK) channel 516.

Thursday 10 March

It's a cold morning and a band of heavy rain or snow is moving up from the west. We are on warning for 20 to 30 cm of snow. Or was that supposed to be Caithness or Sutherland (further east)? The forecast on local radio was not clear. Anyway, I'll let y'all know how we got on, and whether we needed to get the diggers out.

I am actually posting on the vexed question of a new voting system for UK Parliamentary elections. People are going to the polls about this in May, and Stuart has made a posting about it. He summarises the proposed AV [Alternate Vote] system as follows:

When you vote in a general election you will order your candidates in order of preference. Once the votes are counted, the candidate with the least number of votes is removed from the running, the votes are then counted again and all the voting slips that had the now excluded candidate as number one choice will have their second choice counted, and so an ad nauseum until, until at last somebody gets 50%.

If you really want to see proportional representation in action (which the above is not), I'd like to refer to the Dutch voting system. In Holland, there are 150 seats in the Lower House of Parliament, and about 10 million people eligible to vote for those. Which means that each seat roughly equates to 65,000 votes - this is referred to as the Electoral Divider. There are about 20 parties contesting each ballot, of which 10 gain at least 1 seat. A party that gets less than the Divider does not gain any seat at all. First of all, the number of votes for each party is divided by the Divider, which yields the first lot of seats. Any remaining votes (rest votes) will then be distributed according to a set of rules, determined (among others) by the preferential votes for any one candidate, if more than a quarter of the Divider. A tad complicated, but at least you are not in the position that your vote is wasted if you don't vote for a winning candidate.

I am not saying that the UK should adopt this system, because the political system and culture is totally different on this side of the North Sea. After the May 2010 general election in the UK I was glad to see a coalition in power. After a couple of weeks, I had to draw to the conclusion that a UK coalition is subtractive, rather than additive; confrontational rather than consensual. Weak, rather than strong. Although my political preference is not relevant (I'm not eligible to vote in UK general elections), I do prefer to see one party in office now. At least you know what you're going to get.

Wednesday 9 March

A very cold start to the day, with snow on the ground. This readily melted after the sun came up, but on higher ground it will have stayed all day. Heavy snow and hail showers punctuated late morning and afternoon, almost putting us back into winter. However, the seeds in the bird feeders were sprouting enthusiastically, showing that the equinox is only a matter of days away. High winds will affect the southern isles overnight; we further north should avoid the worst of those stormforce winds. The overnight freight ferry Muirneag is not sailing at any rate.

I have continued to transcribe the war diaries of the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders in the First World War, now well into 1915. The troops made it through the 2nd battle of Ypres, and I shall rejoin them in spirit six months later in northern France. I have also uncovered another WW1 casualty from Lewis who merits inclusion on the CWGC registers, but is not there. He died in New Zealand a few months after being invalided out of Gallipoli.

Gallipoli is a name of infamy in the annals of the Great War. Allied forces were going to land on the Gallipoli peninsula, which lies at the western entrance to the Bosporus, which in turn leads to Istanbul. In 1915, this was the capital of the Ottoman [Turkish] Empire, an adversary of the Allies. The landings, carried out by British, Australian and New Zealand forces, claimed thousands of lives as a result of strategic blunders. On both sides, it should be said.

Tuesday 8 March

Feeling increasingly cold as the day went on, with a heavy snow shower in the last hour before sunset. As I type this, the mercury down at the airport shows only +1C. Tomorrow is supposed to get even worse, with a forecast layer of 5 to 15 cm of snow, the higher up the more snow we're likely to get. It is only early March, after all; I've had a significant amount of snow as late as March 22nd, 5 years ago.The other aspect of today's weather is the wind; the afternoon ferry was off, and I don't think tomorrow morning's service will fare any better.

The House of Commons has decided to postpone a debate on the future of coastguard services in favour of MPs talking about International Women's Day. Now, I find that a totally worthy cause, but I rather think that actual life saving is just a tad more important. However, it appears to me that the decisions have already been taken and nothing you are I do is going to make the slightest bit of difference. Sounds despondent? Well, not quite as bad as that - there will be a march in Stornoway on March 19th to support the local Coastguards.

Monday 7 March

Absolutely pouring with rain this morning, and it only improved very gradually through the afternoon. We are on warning for snow on Wednesday, showing that March is very much a month of transition between winter and spring. The crocuses and narcissi may be out, but we still have 2 weeks to go until the equinox.

I have continued my transcriptions of the war diaries of one British army unit, the 2nd battalion Seaforth Highlanders, from 1915. I am currently going through the months of April and May, with more than a dozen Lewismen being lost at the start of the 2nd battle of Ypres (Belgium), and several more in gas attacks. According to the entry for May 2nd, 1915, the respirators were little more than woollen strips, which did nothing to lessen the effects of the chlorine gas being unleashed by the Germans. They had to lug 5,400 canisters of the stuff to the frontline. The disadvantage of using poison gas in this way is that a shift in the wind can blow it all back in your face. We are all familiar with chlorine, it is the stuff given off by bleach, especially when it is in a toilet being used without the bleach being flushed away first.

The end of the universe

The sun has been our star for 5 billion years, and will continue to shine for another 5 billion years. Nothing to worry about. Once all the hydrogen in the sun has been converted to helium, our star will swell up to reach a size close to the Earth's orbit. All life on our planet will cease at that point. Once all the helium has been converted to the next nuclear fusion element, beryllium (element #4), the sun will shrink and cool down to a white dwarf star, barely the brightness of the full moon - as seen from what's left of the Earth. In the end, the sun will go out, leaving a cinder - a black dwarf.

Stars that are much heavier than the sun will end their life as a black hole, which carry a gravitational pull that exceeds the speed of light. Nothing can escape from their grasp, and there are theories around that state that even time gets warped within a black hole. Nobody knows for sure.

Professor Brian Cox, whose programme prompted this post, states that it is the nature of the universe to progress from order to chaos, a state of decreasing entropy. He referred to that as the Second Law of Thermodynamics. By virtue of that, all the remnants of dead stars, whether they be black holes or black dwarves or whatever, will decay like a sandcastle on a windswept beach - to nothing. In the end, all matter will revert to energy (as per Einstein's E=mc2), and the universe will cool to absolute zero.

That, however, is where I start to disagree. Apart from the 2nd law of thermodynamics, the universe is governed by a few more laws. Gravity is one of them. And it is quite feasible, in my mind, that all matter will be pulled together by gravity into one entity - like the universe began? There is another law at play. The law of conservation of energy, the 1st law of thermodynamics. If the universe cools down to zero, that means that it will lose all the energy that is around at the moment. The 10 to the power of 77 atoms that slosh around the universe on a daily basis represent an ever large number in terms of energy. Energy is shown in motion, light, heat, radiation - and although it can be diluted, it cannot be lost.

I am not a physicist or astronomer, although I know a little bit about both. But isn't this fascinating!

Sunday 6 March

A sopping wet day, which improved only gradually as the afternoon progressed. Kept quiet, except for a few entries on my current project, which follows a battalion in the First World War and chronicles the days on which men from the Isle of Lewis were lost.

I also watched a very interesting programme, presented by physicist Prof. Brian Cox. He explained his theory what will happen when the universe comes to an end. I'm in danger of losing most of you (with all respect) when I say that I don't agree with his ideas. Prof. Cox says that the stars will finally all burn out and their remnants turn into radiation, cooling down to absolute zero in about 10 to the power of 81 years. Remember Einstein - mass is proportional to energy? I think all the stars will finally implode into one single entity - a new universe. I'll write a separate post about my theory. I'm not a physicist by the way, but have my own ideas on the issue.

The fishing boat Symphonie that was helped in by the lifeboat on Friday had to be helped in again on Saturday. After repairs, she went back to fishing, but broke down again within 10 miles of Stornoway. There have been quite a few rescues around the Hebrides in recent days, and it shows how vitally important the work of the Coastguard is.

Saturday 5 March

Quite a nice day, if a little overcast - in Stornoway that it. We went to Garry Beach, 15 miles north of here, and we were in broad, brilliant and warm sunshine. OK, 7C is not exactly the Med, but it was most enjoyable. Garry lies a mile or so north of North Tolsta on the east coast of the island, and lies at the Bridge to Nowhere. Because, if you continue beyond the beach to the large concrete bridge

you'll find that the road turns into a track, and a little further on, will end in a bog. 90 years ago, there were plans to extend the Stornoway - Tolsta road all the way to Ness, 10 miles further north. It has never come to anything. Walking the distance is a challenging undertaking.
Meanwhile, on the beach, the rock stacks are home to fulmars, a type of small gull, which spit fish oil at you if you come too close. Fortunately, they were 30 feet up, so well out of range.

The stacks are pieces of the mainland, which coastal erosion has separated onto the beach. They have subterranean passage, which (at certain times) you can walk through. Not today: this one was full of quicksand. 

At the southern end of the beach, there is a link to Traigh Mhor, half a mile to the south, but only at extremely low tides. I had to run to avoid being cut off by the rising tide after taking this pic. You can see the headland, Tolsta Head, which lies beyond Traigh Mhor [Big Beach].

In the opposite direction, the coastline curves away to the headland of Cellar Head, Rubha an t-Seileir [Rocky Point].

Who would come to the Outer Hebrides for a beach? Well, there should be droves here. Just as well the climate is the way it is, else the hordes would descend.

You will have noticed the fulmars cozying up together; spring is on its way.

Friday 4 March

As sunny as Thursday was, so grey was Friday. A thoroughly featureless and at times nearly foggy day. Not without excitement, although I suppose the crew of the Symphonie would not particularly appreciate the breakdown of their vessel as excitement. This Bayonne-registered vessel, crew 14, broke down just before 4 am, and the RNLI lifeboat went out to tow it into Stornoway. The two vessels arrived at 11 am. Two other rescues have had to be effected over the past 24 hours, one involving a ship off Benbecula whose cook was injured after a fall. The other was from another fishing vessel who had an unwell crewmember who required transfer to hospital. Conditions were difficult at sea.

The famous Stornoway black pudding (a type of blood sausage) has been put forward for special protection status, to prevent people from elsewhere in Scotland (or indeed the island!) from pinching the famous name for their own poor imitations. Consultation has closed, and the Scottish Government will now apply to the European Union for this special status. It has already been awarded to champagne and Parma ham.
Black pudding? Can't stand the stuff, way too rich for me.

Thursday 3 March

A cloudless and windless day, with the barometer quite high at 1039 mbar, 30.7 inches. Anticyclonic brilliance, except that cloud does move in from the west, obscuring the sun after lunchtime.

I recently obtained the war diaries for a battalion from the First World War, the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders. They were active on the Western Front, and about 110 of their number from the Isle of Lewis were lost in action. I have opened a new blog, in which I am transcribing the diary entry for a day in which a Lewisman was lost. See more here.

I am also cleaning up the transferred blog entries from Arnish Lighthouse, which was initially hosted on the BBC Island Blogging website. It is now hosted on an independent website, but the transfer missed some entries, the picture links don't work and the comments are not there. However, I only have the posts from March to December 2006 left to do.

Wednesday 2 March

A very wet day, although the rain did decrease from torrential to a fine drizzle as the hours went by. I took delivery of a new book Making the rounds with Oscar. There has been some publicity recently about a cat in a Rhode Island (USA) nursing home, which had the uncanny ability to predect when one of its residents was about to die. The doctor who made the discovery has written a book about this, extending the story beyond the abilities of the cat. Perhaps an uncomfortable eye-opener to anyone who has had a relative with any form of dementia.

Colonel Gaddafi of Libya has been described as delusional by some people. He is not, I can tell you. Our Muammar is a very clever manipulator, and admitting that anything is amiss constitutes admitting to a weakness. Making terrible threats is all part of the deal. For the moment, there appears to be an uneasy stalemate, with a failed attempt by loyal Libyan forces to retake a town in the east of the country.

In Scotland, the football competition is dominated by two teams, Rangers and Celtic. These are both from Glasgow, but one is representative of the protestant section of society (Rangers, or the Gers) and the other of the catholics (Celtics, or the Hoops). Their matches are tense affairs, and in the past led to crowd trouble. Last night's Old Firm match (as Rangers vs Celtic games are referred to) saw trouble on the pitch. Rangers lost 1-0, and had three players sent off. I don't have a lot of time for football, as I think the players are paid ridiculous sums of money, and are traded with 7 or 8-figure sums of money. However, where I come from, they say that football is war, and in that case I prefer 22 guys having it out on a grassy pitch as opposed to people slinging lead against each other.

Last week in February - picture post

Anyone for dinner?


Passing puss


23 February


Distant shower


24 February

Picture post - 27 February

6.30pm


The A866 road from the airport to Stornoway


The Braighe at Melbost


Melbost


Cattle at Melbost

Tuesday 1 March

The start of the meteorological spring, although the astronomical spring is still three weeks away. Nonetheless, the daffodils, crococuses and snowdrops are already well in bloom.



The weather was bright but with a good amount of high-level cloud about, making it a very glary day. I spent Tuesday monitoring developments in Libya, which continue to be as confusing as ever over the past fortnight. This evening, a meeting about the proposed changes in the Coastguard service turned into a lively affair, according to a report on local news website Hebrides News.

This afternoon, one of my Irish contacts held a short private ceremony to remember one of the Lewis casualties from the First World War who lies buried near Dublin. John Macaulay was torpedoed in his ship SS Kenmare on 2 March 1918. His body washed up north of Dublin and was buried with full military honours at Balrothery. Today, a commemorative poster was put on the railings around John's grave, a  poem was read as well as a tribute. Photograph and account of ceremony courtesy David J. Grundy of Skerries, Dublin.

Monday 28 February

The day started very sunny, but cloud moved up at lunchtime and the wind picked up. It felt chilly in the wind, little surprise if you know that the overnight low was -2C. The daytime max stands at 9C / 48F. Whatever rain we were supposed to have is now over the west coast of northern Scotland.

I heard that heavy showers are moving over the southeastern USA with a threat of tornadoes. Looks like an early start to the tornado season, but I'm not familiar with the normal weather patterns through the year in that part of the world.

I could not believe my ears when I heard the latest interview with Col Gaddafi, in which he expressed his conviction that all his people loved him. More chilling was the threat from one of his spokesmen that 'hundreds of thousands' would die, with the legacy likely to last for decades to come. We are by now familiar with the threats of civil war, but Gaddafi is known to have stockpiles of mustard gas. It is fortunate that his support is leaching away at a rate of knots; it was surprising how quickly it dissipated under pressure. The end game is shrouded in an impregnable fog - only time will tell.

Sunday 27 February

A cool but very sunny day today, with only the odd shower. One or two hailshowers this morning, but nothing worthwhile since. The shower clouds were visible this earlier, but the rainfall radar tells me they are now peppering the coast of western Scotland. The northerly wind makes it feel decidedly cool, particularly noticeable when we headed across to the Braighe at Melbost, just east of the airport this morning. Although it was nice and sunny, the wind took the edge of the warmth of the sun. March is only two days away, but spring is very late in coming to this part of the Hebrides; trees do not usually come into full leaf until May.

Tunisia has seen some more very serious violence, resulting in a number of deaths and the resignation of the prime minister. Libya looks set to become the scene of a pitched battle just west of Tripoli, as Gaddafi loyalists converge on a rebel-held town. I still do not want to think how the end will come to the strife there, but the indictment to the International Criminal Court against Gaddafi, his sons and their henchmen, will be long. Not just on account of what has happened over the past fortnight, but even beforehand. Files have been recovered from a security compound in Benghazi, showing a methodical approach to torture and imprisonment.

This afternoon, reports are emerging of demonstrations in southern China, and a jumpy approach to them by the authorities. If 1300 million people decide to rebel, there is even less scope for foresight than there already is in Libya.

Saturday 26 February

Quite a nice, sunny day. We had a few showers, some not so light. But we now have daylight until well after 6pm, and in a month's time, the clocks go forward an hour. The bulbs are nicely coming into bloom, showing that spring is now not far off.

Got a resupply of stamps in the Post Office on Francis Street, which closes at 12.30 on Saturdays. I also popped into the appropriately named Aladdins Cave on Inaclete Road - it has all sort of little and not so little things. I needed some file folders, to organise the paperwork that has come with my research.  Which, today, focused on more of the information on WW1 casualties. Watch my Pentland Road blog for updates.

I haven't got any pictures at the ready just now, but I will post a selection in a blogpost tomorrow.

The situation in Libya is something I am beginning to regard with increasing dread. Gaddafi is a man who will not accept defeat, and he will take as many with him into death as he can. By all possible means, including chemical weapons. Many of those that were close to him have advised him to step aside, but Col Gaddafi does not listen. The Arabic revolution will show its most evil face in that poor country, through that horrendous man.

Friday 25 February

A bright and breezy start to the day, with some showers about. The wind rose to galeforce overnight, but is currently force 6 to 7. Not cold, with the mercury at 10C / 50F. We are due some colder weather in the next few days.

What made me laugh last night was the preview of the daily papers on TV. One of the papers is asking the question "Who is in charge of the country?". Apparently, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, is in the Middle East to cement some trade deals (read: flog arms for oil). The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has allegedly forgotten he was in charge if Dave was out. So he went on his pre-booked annual leave, irrespective of his commitments as deputy PM. The Libyan crisis is the prerogative of the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, but he didn't have a clue about organising the evacuation of British nationals from Libya. And the Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, went down the pub.

Once Dave was back from the Middle East, he called Nick back from his hols, took William away from his teddybear's picnic and dragged Liam out of the Fox & Hounds for an emergency cabinet meeting. Dave himself should have flown back from the Emirates on Monday, when all this dooda began to hit the proverbial fan.

Oh well, enough sarcasm. I'm going to have a coffee and take a pic of that fishing boat which is going up the slipway across the water.

More later.

Thursday 24 February

I gather that London reached 15C today (59F), but we had to make do with 11C. Still no reason at all for complaint if I'm honest. It was just very windy, with a steady force 7 and gusts to 50 mph. The overnight freight ferry is once more off tonight due to the adverse weather conditions.

I have been continuing my research into the Lewis graveyards and the WW1 casualties buried therein. And I've found quite a few errors in my files - just as well I'm finding them, let's be honest. The First World War has some dreadful statistics associated with it, some of which I've outlined in my local history blog Pentland Road.

Sixty-five years ago today, the German city of Dresden, in the southeast of the country, was severely bombed by Allied aircraft. It generated a firestorm, and thousands perished in the inferno. There has been quite some debate about the military imperative for this bombardment. It is suggested that Dresden very little military infrastructure, and General Haig, in charge of bomber command, has been accused of committing a war crime. Today's far right in Germany, not endowed with an excess of brain cells by the sound of it, say that Hitler was not to blame for WW2 and that he who fired the first shot did not start the war. What a load of garbage. The BBC's correspondent in Saxony has written a good piece on the issue, which I recommend for your reading.

Image courtesy cityofsound.com

Wednesday 23 February

A very wet and miserable day. Although we had a bit of sun around lunchtime, it took until nearly sunset before the clouds finally broke. The wind is picking up, leading to the cancellation of our freight ferry, which departs here at 11.30pm.

I have been tallying up the number of gravestones of local servicemen who are mentioned on private gravestones, as opposed to the official CWGC stones that I have focused on in the past. The number of the former stands at 123. I also found that 600 of Lewis's 1300 wardead from the First War have no known grave; half of them perished at sea; others disappeared into the mire of France and Flanders.

The campaign to save the coastguard service in the UK is progressing, and next week there will be a meeting here in Stornoway. Representatives from the MCA will come to the Nicolson Institute to answer questions from the general public, and boy, will that be a lively session.

The situation in Libya is just plain awful, exacerbated by the apparent lassitude from the UK government to get themselves into gear to extract UK nationals. And searches continue for survivors from the NZ earthquake, with the deathtoll rising to nearly 100.

Tuesday 22 February

Awoke to the terrible news of the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that reduced parts of Christchurch (New Zealand) to rubble. The quake struck just before 1pm local time (1 am GMT), causing the collapse of many buildings and the spire of the city's cathedral. As I type this (Wednesday morning), the death toll stands at 75, likely to rise much higher as the rubble is being searched. The risk of aftershocks remains; one expert said this quake was an aftershock of the 7.1 earthquake that hit Christchurch on 4 September 2010. This was centred 25 miles away (today's quake was only 6 miles away) and much deeper in the earth's crust. It makes for eerie viewing when you see city streets, that could be anywhere in Western Europe, in rubble.

Libya continues to headline the news, with its 'leader', Col Gaddafi, showing that he only cares for himself, and not for the people he is supposed to lead. The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, drily put it that Mr Gaddafi had spent the past 41 years in a bubble. He doesn't like that it is being burst, so he is lashing out left, right and centre. The apparatus of state is disintegrating or defecting, leaving him only with his immediate family clique. And meanwhile, the ordinary people suffer. It sounds tired and cliché'd to hear all the diplomatic waffle from the UN and various foreign dignitaries. I'll stop here, lest I become a Hebridean-based Gaddafi look-alike, with page long rants.

Today's weather? Non-descript grey and cold. 

Monday 21 February

A cold and overcast day in Stornoway, but at least it was dry.
The bloodshed in Libya continues, as Col Gaddafi refuses to relinquish his hold on delusion and brings in people from outside his country to slaughter those who seek to bring him down. How long will this go on? Rumours he had fled to Venezuela proved unfounded, but he will not flee. Some refer to him as a clown, but that's far from the truth. He is a clever manipulator, but will lash out with excessive, lethal force, if threatened. Images are leaking out of the country, showing burned buildings and mass demonstrations. I remain aghast and agog at the likes of former British PM Tony Blair who hugged and shook the hand of this mass murderer in 2003 - for the sake of a few measly trade and oil deals. Fifteen years after an airliner was brought down at the call of Mr Gaddafi. It also shows that the current governments of the West (whatever that may mean) are at complete loggerheads with reality themselves. They live in a coccooned, cozy world, where they talk big with their pals, at variance with what their populace is going through at the result of their windbagging. For that's what they all are, windbags. I see a talking shop in New York, otherwise known as the United Nations, which can't do a thing. I am now laughing when watching the Wikileaks twitter feed, showing the diplomatic assessments being made of the current situations. What is secrecy? It's not just a revolution in the Arab world, it is a worldwide revolution. It's called the Internet.

Closer to home, the government in London has dusted off the file named Double Summertime. This means that the UK will place itself in the same timezone as Western Europe, i.e. an hour ahead of GMT in winter and two hours in summer. I have called this a Lazy Man's Charter, serving the brainless coots in the City of London who are unable to engage their brains to put an hour on their own clock time to compare watches with their fellow Fat Cats in Frankfurt, Paris and Brussels. Dave Cameron has said it is to boost tourism, but blithely forgets that there are about five million folk, north of Carlisle and Berwick, who will have no sunlight before 10 am in winter - and who needs daylight at 11.30pm at any rate?

Sunday 20 February

Situation in the Middle East and North Africa seems to be getting from bad to worse. More than 200 people were shot and killed by Gadaffi's (imported) thugs on the streets of Libya. He is only in it for himself, not for anybody else. Hope they get rid of him very very soon - he is one of those 'leaders' that we can do without. Gadaffi is 'credited' with the Lockerbie bombings, with bankrolling and arming the IRA and quite a few other terrorist groups. And I never understood why Tony Blair went to Libya in 2003 to cosy up to this horrible character. Mach a seo, (out!), as they say in this part of the world.

I have now finished the task of mapping the cemeteries and memorials across the world where Lewismen and -women are buried or remembered. Their total stands at 400. It has proved an interesting tour by Google Earth and a handful of websites.

This afternoon saw an exceptionally low tide. The gauge was forecast to plumb to 0.0 metres, 5.4 metres below the high tide level that was clocked up just after 7 am. So, just after 2pm, I went down to the shore and found 3 scallops. They provided a nice starter for dinner tonight. I also waded across the outflow of the Newton Basin, something I do not recommend - the current is very strong and if it had gone any stronger, it would have taken me off my feet. There was only 20 cm / 8in of water there.


Scallops


The ferry departing for Ullapool at 2.30pm


Newton from the basin, showing the outflow

Saturday 19 February

An overcast day after a wet and windy night. Spent the day looking for more cemeteries containing Lewis casualties, this time from WW2, around the world. I have posted an intermediate map on my blog Pentland Road. It is not possible to search on a map like that, so I've got my thinking cap to find a solution for that problem.

I am horrified by the violence used against demonstrators in Libya. The authorities in Bahrain have withdrawn their forces from a square in the capital Manama. A wave of uprisings is sweeping the Arab world, spurred on by examples shown on the Internet. And it's the WWW that has enabled the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt in the past few weeks.

In the evening, I joined the goodreads.com website, listing my small collection of books. Although Librarything.com is better in terms of looking up books, goodreads is better from a social networking aspect because you can find contacts using the site through their email address. Librarything can't do that, unfortunately.

Friday 18 February

Closing the day on a bit of a down note, following the confirmation that a fourth blogger from the old J-land community has passed away. Lori Johnson's death was not unexpected, but the unfortunate incident with the hacking of her email account, just around the time of her passing, left a bitter and unpleasant taste in the mouth.

Today was not a particularly warm day, and not nearly as sunny as yesterday. I was not tempted to go out for a walk, and I was pretty knackered after my battle with the bogs near the Castle College yesterday.

Today was the last of my four home-alone days - situation will return to normal tomorrow. It has been very quiet since last Tuesday. I realise that I do not blog about my personal circumstances very much, but that is at the request of those around me who do not want their life hung out to dry on the Internet. And I can't blame them.

So you want to know what I had for dinner? Well, it was mashed carrots and potatoes and a quarterpounder beefburger. This is an old picture (from March 2006) of said dinner; I had an ice-cream for afters tonight.



I have completed my search for cemeteries, that kept me busy this week. I may carry on with a search for graveyards for WW2 victims, but that is not a priority. Tomorrow, I shall have a look at my to-do list. For now, I'm going to bed with a cup of tea to watch some garbage on the telly.

Thursday 17 February - picture post

Cobden House, Cromwell Street, back in full splendour


The new flats blend in well with the Royal Hotel, next door


Wicker Woman by Lews Castle


My favourite view of Cuddy Point

Views from Strawberry Hill

Thursday 17 February

I am typing this as the cloudless evening sky turns from yellow to orange to pink - the sun set a couple of minutes ago. Although it was not vastly warm, I should not complain about 9C. At the moment, the mercury is dipping fast as darkness falls.

It should not be wholly dark tonight: a large solar flare is set to slam into the earth's magnetic field, giving rise to Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). I'm at relatively high latitude within the UK (58 degrees north, London is at 51°) so I should have a fair chance of seeing the Merry Dancers. I saw them first back in October, and I'll keep an eye on the messaging service from the University of Lancaster - Twitter account @aurorawatchuk (UK).

This afternoon I went for a two hour walk in the Castle Grounds (the countrypark around Lews Castle) and managed to get up Strawberry Hill. I have made a guided tour which you can view on Google Earth by downloading this file: http://www.adb422006.com/StrawberryHill.kmz. I am uploading pictures, which I shall put up later. Strawberry Hill is a prominent feature in the Castle Grounds, but singularly hard to get to. It requires a bogslog, then a pretty steep ascent; and a boggy descent of the northern slopes towards the Castle College. Quite strenuous - and I'm rather out of shape.

I was horrified to receive an email from an on-line contact that was not sent by her or by the relative who was quoted as having signed the email. I copy: 

Dear Friends of Lori,

This is a short call for support. We need some money for the hospital
bills and the funeral arrangement soonest. A total sum of $10,000 plus
was calculated. You can pay to my parents’ liberty reserve account
using the detail below [rest of email withheld for reasons of privacy]

Anyone who is friends with Alberta Lori: distrust ANY communcation that comes from her Internet presence. Her email is hacked, and her Facebook as well by the sound of it. The matter is being reported to the police in the US and Canada - I have had enough.

Belgian bogrolling

A blog in French has lifted the lid on the filth in Belgian politics, where they are still trying to form a government - 8 months after a general election. The leader of a far-right and separatist party in Flanders, Bart de Wever, has described a leading French-speaking newspaper in Belgium "Le Soir" [The Evening] that it is not even fit for use as toiletpaper. This follows from a report in Le Soir on Saturday, which showed an election poster for Mr de Wever from 2003 in the company of his friend and former prostitute Marie-Rose Morel. Ms Morel recently died of cancer and her funeral was a national event in Flanders, where she was referred to as "Mother Courage". Not so in Wallonia, the French speaking part of Belgium. The reasons why the Francophones are so reluctant to do so is Ms Morel's cast-iron connection to the far-right in Belgium. However, Mr de Wever is not just bogrolling Le Soir, but also demanding an apology from the French speaking TV station RTBF for not joining in the outpouring of national mourning that Mr de Wever had demanded.

You may wonder why this is of interest to me. Well, I see certain parallels to the situation in Holland. The far right-wing PVV party, headed up by Geert Wilders, is currently propping up a right-wing coalition there. Mr Wilders was refused entry to the UK two years ago as it was felt that his presence could destabilise community relations in Britain. What really shocked me was the outrage that was expressed by the Dutch Prime Minister. This was before the June 2010 General Election in Holland, when the PVV gained more than 20 seats in the 150 seat lower house of parliament. Why is everybody cow-towing to people like Wilders and De Wever? The former has expressed hatred of islam, and is facing court action over this. The latter is a separatist and ultra-nationalist, who will split Belgium asunder in the most acrimonious fashion if he has his way. I vividly remember the pitched battles on the streets of 's-Gravenvoeren / Fourons-le-Comte on the Dutch/Belgian border in the 1980s. However, in the 1980s there was no question that Belgium could split. That option is certainly there now.

Wednesday 16 February

A grey day with some brief clearances and some light rain. I spent most of the afternoon looking up cemeteries on Google Earth, to build a database and map of graveyards where combatants from this island lie buried across the world. Been doing that for a couple of days, so I apologise if I repeat myself.

Local councils are now threatening to fine people who do not separate out recyclable waste (plastic, paper &c) where facilities exist to do so. Like they were also fining those who put their bin out on the road before 7 am on collection day, or leaving the lid of the bin open at an angle greater than 30 degrees. Or if the receptacle was placed too far from the kerb edge. I wonder who is going to wallow throught the dirty nappies, rotting fruit, vegs and meat and all the other pleasant detritus of daily life to make more money for their council.

I was horrified to read just now that former Egyptian president Mubarak had ordered his troops to crush the demonstrators in Tahrir Square, Cairo, on January 30th, using their tanks. The tank crews took off their headsets, through which they had received those orders, and picked up their mobiles to phone home. And their families said: don't do it. Egyptians don't kill Egyptians. And that was Mr Mubarak on his way out. It would appear that he valued his $30bn more than the lives of the people he was sworn to serve. Good riddance.

Tuesday 15 February

A very quiet day, with lots of sunshine. I am hearing tales of snow and ice in the Scottish Central Belt, but I spend the afternoon basking in glorious sunshine - behind glass, mind you. 6C is not warm in my book. This nice weather will obviously not last; tomorrow will be dreich and grey.

My main activity has been to trace more cemeteries using Google Earth and a handful of website to help me locate them in the UK, France, Belgium, Hungary, Iraq, Egypt, Canada - and wherever else the list will take me. After doing that for a while, it is good to relax with some Tom and Jerry.

More tomorrow.

Monday 14 February

Happy Valentines Day to all.

We started fair, but ended wet today. Went out for an amble around the harbour, but as I turned onto North Beach Street, a leaden grey sky and an icy blast heralded the onset of a period of rain.

Today, I looked into the sad stories of the soldiers from the First World War who were executed under the Army Act, for military misdeeds. These included desertion, abandoning the post, cast away of arms - and malingering. It has taken a very, very long time before it was recognised that most of the 306 British soldiers shot at dawn were casualties and victims of the war, as much as the other hundreds of thousands who died between 1914 and 1921. The Canadians recognised this in 2001, the British followed suit in 2006.

There are no men from Lewis who are recognised as having suffered this fate. In this post on my Pentland Road blog, I tell the story of at least one Lewisman who was executed. 


This is the memorial, in Alrewas, England, for those who were shot at dawn.

Sunday 13 February

The hours of darkness were punctuated by high winds and heavy rain. These abated by about 5 am. As I glanced across the bay at that hour, I noticed a blur of light beside the lighthouse that is not normally there. On training the binoculars on it, it turned out to be a stationary ship. It appeared to be in a position to the north of the Arnish Peninsula, i.e. a bit too close in to shore for good comfort. However, its lights were on and nobody was rushing out to help, so I concluded that all was well. When daylight came, just after 7, the ship in question was on the other side of the peninsula, to the south, and its superstructure peeped above the low land by the lighthouse. I have often found the perspective to be deceiving here, particularly in the dark. The lighthouse, for instance, is exactly 1 mile from my position (across the water), but appears to be much closer. It is not until you step out on the causeway that you realise the distance.


I have completed the transcription of all the war memorials here in Lewis, with the addition of the 23 panels from the Lewis War Memorial. This contains the names of 1,600 people who were lost in WW1 and WW2. I am now continuing my search for the 400 cemeteries and memorials across the world which are the final resting place or the location of remembrance for all from the island who were lost in foreign fields, or on the seas of the world. This link shows the first 100.

13 February

Today, 319 years ago, 38 members of the Clan Macdonald were killed in Glen Coe, when their guests, members of the Clan Campbell, turned on them. Glencoe, a spectacular mountain valley about 80 miles north of Glasgow, is now synonymous with this crime. the details of which are outlined on this Wikipedia article.

The involvement of King William III renders this a black mark on the conscience of the Dutch - he assumed the English throne when he came across from Holland as William of Orange. In the Netherlands, he is referred to as the Father of the Fatherland - translating directly. 23 years ago, there were extensive celebrations on the 300th anniversary of William's marriage to Queen Mary II of England. This lasted for 6 years, until Mary's death in 1694.

William III has another black mark on his record, commonly referred to as the Battle of the Boyne. This battle, which took place on Irish soil in 1689, has been used as a pretext by extremist sections of the Protestant and Catholic communities in (Northern) Ireland for acts of violence in the 20th century.

Mind you, if you think that is bad, it is worth bearing in mind that the war in the Balkans in the 1990s was justified by Serbia's president Slobodan Milosevic on account of the Battle of Kosovo in 1390.

Saturday 12 February

Quite a nice and sunny day, but as the afternoon came to a close, the wind was picking up. We are on warning for winds up to galeforce overnight, and tomorrow will be as wet as Friday. It's a see-saw weather pattern we're in - your average Hebridean winter in other words.

Not so nice is the weather in the Indian Ocean, where tropical cyclone Bingiza is blowing up to a category III hurricane by the time it reaches eastern Madagascar on Monday. We're talking winds of 105 knots, 120 mph. The winds are bad enough, but the main threat for Madagascar tends to be flooding. Hurricane Ivan wreaked havoc in the north of the island in 2008; and hardly anyone knew about it.

I am completing the transcript of the war memorials here in Lewis, all 15 of them. The Lewis War Memorial, at the northern end of Stornoway, is proving a challenge, due to the poor legibility of the panels on my photographs. I'll get there yet.

Friday 11 February

Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak has stood down and has left Cairo for Sharm el-Sheikh, a resort on the Red Sea coast. His departure follows 18 days of protests in the centre of the capital, broadly condoned by the army. Several attempts by Mubarak to placate his opponents by promising to resign later in the year did nothing to assuage his critics. And today, he left office.

It is a victory for the ordinary man and woman of Egypt, all 85 million of them. Nobody from outside was involved, and outside issues did not feature in the protests. It was an impopular and despotic ruler that was the object of protests. The advent of the Internet has made it possible, it has shown Egyptians what is possible. Tunisia, but other places too, has shed its despots. Who will be next? Gadaffi, Assad, the Arabian leaders?

What will happen next is anyone's guess. But it will be a series of decisions that are up to the Egyptians to make. If free and fair elections, promised by the armed forces, result in an Islamic party coming to power, so be it. The peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, signed by the late president Sadat and late premier Begin in the 1970s, does not appear to be in jeopardy. Tearing it up is in nobody's interest.

Our wet weather pales into insignificance compared to the momentous events in Cairo today.

Thursday 10 February

A bright and sunny day, which makes a change from the dreich and grey conditions of late.
I kept myself busy compiling a map showing the positions of cemeteries and memorials across the world, where casualties from this island lie buried or are remembered, who fell in WW1 and 2. Unfortunately, Google Maps is not the ideal tool for that, and my internet connection ground to a halt after 6pm. 

Having watched a programme about the natural wonders of Madagascar, the tropical cyclone centre in La Reunion promptly issued a warning that cyclone Bingiza will hit the island in a couple of days from now. As the forecast stands, maximum sustained winds will be at 85 knots, 90 mph.

The saga surrounding the downgrading of coastguard services around the UK coast took another twist, when the CEO of the MCA admitted that local knowledge would be lost if the current plans were to go ahead. Ever more unacceptable.

Wednesday 9 February

It's a grey day in Stornoway, with occasional light rain. At least it's not really cold, with the mercury up a few points to 9C / 48F. The weather will continue to fluctuate, as a battle is being fought between cold air over Scandinavia and milder air over the Atlantic. The mild air looks set to win at this stage. However, it's still only February and three weeks left in that month.

Yesterday, I was thinking that the southern Indian Ocean had been quiet so far, in terms of tropical cyclone formation. Promptly, up pops this disturbance (94S), which is rumbling away some 450 miles north of La Reunion, which looks set to turn into a nasty piece of work. At the moment, it may well intensify to a category II hurricane as it passes just west of La Reunion over the weekend. I should get a flood of visits to my Tropical Cyclones blog - when cyclone Gamede passed by the Mascaregnes in 2007, the record for the number of daily visits was around 3,000.

If you want to read a long and verbose account of speeches to a departing president of the Gaelic Society of London, look no further than my local history blog Pentland Road. Roderick Macleod lost a son in WW1 (hence my interest), and left the presidency of the GSL in 1927. His farewell do attracted about 200 dignitaries.

Tuesday 8 February

Not a very inspiring day, weatherwise, with a cold wind blowing and increasing amounts of cloud. Processed information on a Lewis-related item (see Pentland Road blog). I have more, but that will involve copying nearly a dozen pages of small print.

The Coastguard revamp continues to hog the news headlines for us in the Western Isles, because the CEO for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency insists that his staff broadly support the plans for downgrading the service, and it's just the members of the public that cry blue murder - because they are unfamiliar with the workings of the Coastguard service. The only problem with that problem, Sir Alan Massey, is that a lot of criticism of your plans actually come from Coastguard staff. Furthermore, you have only been in office for 7 months, and I think your staff know rather more about their agency than you do.

There was this journalist who thought that everything she wrote on Twitter was only intended for her 700-odd followers. She is obviously not aware that anybody can see your Twitter feed (except if you make it private). Still on the subject of social media, many people have an account on Twitter as well as Facebook, with different contacts on either service. And cross-posting may not always be a good idea!

Monday 7 February

A day of sunshine and showers, and the most fantastic gallery of cloudscapes that graces the southern horizon. Who needs paintings, television, internet when you can just look out of the window and see an ever changing tableau in the sky? Worth more than anything I can think of.
On a related topic, I have been told that my submissions to Blipfoto could feature on the website of the Scottish Government. Nice accolade.

As I have been posting on Twitter and Facebook, I have today reduced the number of Facebook apps from 187 to 44. The excellent social media website mashable.com featured an article on Facebook privacy which I strongly recommend to everyone who uses Facebook. I have heard too many instances where people got caught out by the stuff they innocently put on their Facebook page; only to get into serious trouble over them. Varying from losing a job to family strife or marital breakdowns.


The reduction also showed how my use of Facebook has changed since I started on the site in October 2008. I used to authorise all sorts of apps (hence that high number), but nowadays I can't be bothered to reply to the requests - sorry.

I am presently compiling a website listing the fifteen or so war memorials in the Isle of Lewis. It's a work in progress at the moment, but you can preview on this link.

Sunday 6 February

A sunny day, but with varying amounts of cloud and one or two showers passing us to the south.

I could not believe my eyes when local broadcaster STV reported that Molly Campbell had returned to the UK. Molly made headlines in the summer of 2006, when she vanished from the Nicolson Institute here in Stornoway to be with her father in Lahore, Pakistan. Her mother, Louise, reported her missing, but the daughter later turned up in Pakistan. Molly (now called Misbah) voluntarily went east. She has now returned of her own free will again, and is living with her sister in England. Their mother has travelled south of the border to be with her daughters. Misbah's return is said to be permanent.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has enunciated that the multicultural society has failed, and we should return to a sense of national pride. That, to my mind, opens the door to negative discrimination of ethnic minorities and the victimisation of those who adhere to the Muslim faith. It is perfectly possible to be proud of your nationality, and you can take even more pride by being welcoming to those who want to join you from overseas. Mr Cameron's remarks are more redolent of the extreme-right BNP party than of a party in national government.

Saturday 5 February

Was treated to the unusual sight of MV Muirneag hoving into view this morning. Our freight ferry has not put to sea at all this week, and last night was the first time she ventured out. The Muirneag is more than 30 years old, and is not good at manoeuvering in adverse conditions. Long term readers of my blog may remember an episode in 2005, when she was caught in stormforce winds which forced her 60 miles off course, well on the way to the Faroe Islands (250 miles north of here).

I have completed another big chunk of transcriptions from the reports from the Napier Commission (1883), which is a crucial document in the history of the Highlands and Islands. The county of Sutherland was the scene of the some of the worst abuses of crofters. Bear in mind that there was more to the clearances than people being shunted off to Canada or Australia. The session at Bonar Bridge e.g. revealed how the rent of some crofters was bumped up from 1s to £6 - an increase of 1200% [£1 = 20s] over a few years. It is a long read, but if you take the time, you'd be horrified.
The next batch of transcriptions will cover Ross-shire; for Scottish readers, this is strictly speaking Wester Ross, from Ullapool south to the Applecross peninsula; as well as a session at the county town, Dingwall.

The Politician

The SS Politician was a merchant ship, which was sailing from Liverpool to Jamaica in December 1941. On February 5th, she ran aground on the island of Calvay, between the larger islands of Eriskay and South Uist. She later broke up and sank. Her cargo included tens of thousands of bottles of whisky - which inspired Compton Mackenzie to write his famous book Whisky Galore, the word Galore being one of the few Gaelic words that are in common usage in English today. Gu Leor means plenty.

The whisky was salvaged by the islanders. Although a near-endless supply of whisky may seem like heaven on earth, it did cause serious health problems in the longer run. Alcoholism and all its attendant problems, for instance.

The Politician did not just carry whisky. She also had a consignment of Jamaican banknotes, a grand piano, bathroom fittings and bicycles. The fittings were put to good use outside one islander's home, and were still being used decades later - in an outhouse beside a stream.

Even here in Lewis, there are stories around, if you know where to listen. Of the odd case being 'smuggled on request', and the skipper of the ferry distracting the 'polis' whilst the runner makes his get-away.

Friday 4 February

Yesterday's storm finally abated after midnight, but not before blasting the north of Lewis and Shetland with gusts of 104 mph. A fishing vessel broke free from its moorings in Scalloway, Shetland, and had to be tied up again - in 90 mph winds. There appear to have been no casualties. The weather continues inclement in central Scotland, but is not too bad here in the islands. There was a thin drizzle this afternoon.

Events in Egypt continue to develop unpredictably. Liberation Square remains the focal point for the movement which seeks to oust president Mubarak, whose followers tried to remove the protesters with violence yesterday - unsuccessfully. It would appear that this is an issue for the Egyptians themselves to resolve, and there is no way to predict how it will end.

The fishing vessel Jack Abry II which ran aground on the Isle of Rum earlier this week is still stuck fast. There appears to be an oil leak within the vessel, but no oil is leaking out. Dutch salvage equipment is on its way to the island, but the winter weather may delay the recovery of the boat.
This image courtesy hebrides-news.com.

Thursday 3 February

It was windy in the night, and a fall of snow brought the airport to a halt first thing. That was nothing. At 1pm, the weather turned increasingly savage, and at the moment the anemometer is spinning to 86 mph at the Butt of Lewis, 25 miles north of here. Curtains of spindrift are blown across the harbour, in front of my position, and angry white riders adorn the wave crests. Almost all ferry services in the west of Scotland have been withdrawn, in the face of hurricane force winds. Flights are still operating normally. The wind is from the south; as the runway at the airport is north/south orientated, planes can still take off. It will be a very bumpy ride though. There will be a springtide at 7pm tonight, clocking in at 4.8 metres / 16 feet, which coincides with the height of the storm - sandbags at the ready in the flood-prone areas of Stornoway. As I type, I can see huge curtains of spindrift crossing the basin in front of me, indicating that we're heading for force 11. Two poor collar doves were blown around so hard that they had to land in a tree (which doves don't like doing) before finally taking off for their roost in one of the buildings nearby.