Friday 19 March

The above map has been cropped from AIS Northern Scotland. The MV Wilson Dover has run into mechanical problems amidst a force 9 gale and an 8 metre (27 ft) swell. The MV Anglian Sovereign is a coastguard tug, which has come to the aid of the Wilson Dover out of Kirkwall, some 45 miles to the east, trying to tow the ship to safety in Orkney. Conditions are so horrendous that to even attempt to attach a towline is proving well-nigh impossible. STV alerted me to the rescue. The location is some 50 miles north of Cape Wrath, the farthest point northwest in mainland Britain; approximately 100 miles northeast of Stornoway.

Today has been a wild day, and the weather is taking its time in calming down. The day dawned with a force 8 gale here in Stornoway, and conditions so poor that the early morning sailing of our ferry was cancelled. The wind is slowly subsiding, currently at force 6 with winds of 25 mph, but not out at sea it would appear.

Thursday 18 March

Overcast, wet and windy. With a temperature of 9C, we're lagging behind the rest of the country. Can't say it bothers me very much; I prefer the cooler weather.

Here in the islands, a ferocious row is going on in the Isle of Barra, 120 miles south of Stornoway. The school in the main town, Castlebay, has been receiving less than favourable reports from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education, now for 3 years in a row. Parents are concerned and so are the pupils. A local internet blog highlighting the issue received 100 comments, whereas commonly the number of comments on its entries is around a dozen or so. More remarkable is that the Council blocked access to the blog from computers at the school in Castlebay. In spite of a visitation by a senior education official, parents’ and students’ fears are by no means allayed, and a move could be afoot to wrench control of the school from the council to the community. This would require the consent of the Scottish Government.

A report has been published in which the deathtoll of the bombing of the German city of Dresden in February 1945 has been put at 25,000. During three nights, British and American planes bombed the city in the east of Germany, raising a firestorm as a result. Neo-nazis have put the deathtoll as high as half a million, a claim disputed by the report's authors. They say that far fewer refugees from the east, who had been fleeing the advancing Red Army, had been in the city. Critics have claimed that the bombardment served no military purpose, but others have said that Dresden was an important logistical centre at the time.

Missing - bad outcome

Contents warning: may upset

A few days ago, I noticed a tweet from Sarah Brown, the wife of the UK prime minister Gordon Brown, that a 12-year old girl from Dordrecht, Holland, had been reported missing. A poster was linked to, provided by the Dutch national police.

Today, I received an email from my father, who is not on Twitter, saying that a girl of 12 was found murdered in Dordrecht. She had been taken across the street by a neighbour, killed and buried in the man's garden. He was a police officer. The Dutch national police fear a backlash against their officers, who are there to protect and serve.

Some of you are deeply involved with the Amber Alerts that go out for missing children. This was an Amber Alert, which can now be stood down. Unfortunately, for the wrong reason.

Wednesday 17 March

Pretty wild day and pretty wet at times. Got myself out to the Post Office to send off the letter to New Zealand I blogged about last night. Expect it to take a week to reach NZ, two weeks for the query to be sorted and another week for the result to reach me. Popped into the supermarket for a few items, and you have an express checkout available if you have less than 10 items. Well, people think that the express check-out is there if you bring your shopping in a basket. Even if it has like twenty items in it. Rant over.

Australia's northeastern coast should get worried about tropical cyclone Ului, which has been making ominous noises near the Solomon Islands for the past couple of days. The storm will head towards Queensland, but is expected to weaken to category I (on the Saffir Simpson scale) before making landfall in a few days from now.

Seen on Streetview

Snapvine Voice Comments

In my sidebar is an option where you can leave comments by telephone. A few of you have done so early last year (thank you!), but the website (snapvine.com) that provides this service will be closing down at the end of March - and I'll be removing that feature from the sidebar by then.

Tuesday 16 March

Having spent most of the day on this computer, I have yet to post a blog entry. Well, it's 10.40pm, might as well do it now, before I retire for the night.

The day started well, with my camera back from repairs. It was back in working order, even though I had to adjust all the settings back to the way I want them. I could now finally also put the new strap on, which I had bought back in February, just before the thing broke.

I spent the day transcribing the roll of honour plaque in the Uig Community Centre at Erista, which (it being 500 names long) took me a while. My contact over there, meanwhile, appears to be drowning in the St Kilda Centre. It says enough that UNESCO is going to get involved. The St Kilda Centre (Ionad Hiort) is going to be built between the villages of Mangersta and Islivig, on a site from where the islands of St Kilda can be discerned on a clear day. Two other locations, Leverburgh in Harris and Cleitreabhal in North Uist, were also in contention, but were deemed (by consultants Jura) to be less suitable. The acrimony that this created at the end of 2009 has by no means subsided.

View of the Mangersta cliffs from near the proposed site of the St Kilda Centre

I was also pointed to a new resource on New Zealand casualties from the First World War. I have duly sent off for the records of one New Zealander, who (according to my information) has island roots. My files state that Angus Macdonald came from 1 Islivig. Nobody, not even the local historical society, has been able to give me much information, so I've decided to jump in at the deep end and request information all the way from Wellington, New Zealand. Am expecting this back in the course of April.



Islivig

Picture post

Stornoway from the ferry terminal this afternoon (Monday)


Did you know about this tragedy? Don't think you did.


Supermarket carpark on Sunday evening


The Trumpets of Spring


Fridge magnets


Last Thursday's showers

Monday 15 March

Bright and fairly sunny today, with the mercury at 9C. No complaints.

The General Election is due in the next two months, and political parties have been fielding candidates in the Western Isles. One of them went flying on a banana skin of her own peeling over the weekend. Upon being asked what the top priorities were for the Western Isles, the Conservative Party candidate displayed a disconcerting lack of local knowledge. Ms Norquay (sic) stated that the fisheries industry was very important, and that the construction of the harbour wall at Achmore was top priority. That in itself is an innocuous statement, except there are a few practical problems in the way.

The village of Achmore (marked on above map) is the only village in the Western Isles not in the immediate proximity of the sea. It is about 5 miles from the sea, and at an altitude of 350 feet above sealevel. The radio and television transmitter masts stand on the hill Eitsal, at 800 feet above the sea. The state of the pier at Achmore is a standing joke in Lewis, and it is unfortunate that a young (age 22) candidate came out with that clanger - without even being prompted for it. (story courtesy Hebrides News). The water you see in the above picture is a freshwater loch, situated along the main road through Achmore. 

Tropical cyclone Tomas is currently roaring through Fiji, with forecast winds of 115 knots (130 mph) around its centre. The storm will continue to batter the archipelago for the next 24 hours.

Hurricane update - 14 March

Tropical cyclone Tomas is bearing down on Fiji, and is expected to pack a severe punch with winds in the region of 130 mph near its centre. The current warnings are:

A HURRICANE warning remains in force for the eastern half of Vanua Levu, Cikobia, Tavenui, Rabi, Kioa, Yacata, Koro, Gau, Batiki, Nairai, Wakaya, Makogai and nearby smaller islands.

A STORM warning is in force the rest of Vanua Levu, Ovalau, Lakeba, Vanua Balavu, Moala, Matuku, Totoya, Cicia and nearby smaller islands.

A GALE warning is in force for the rest of Fiji

Tropical cyclone Ului is now in the Coral Sea and moving west. The storm is equivalent to a category V hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale (winds of 155 mph near its centre), and I keep a beady eye on its northwestern flank, which could swipe the extreme southeastern islands of Papua New Guinea. Australia does not need to worry as yet. Ului is 900 miles to the east of Queensland, and is expected to veer to the south. Once it resumes a more southwesterly course is the point where we do start to worry. That lies just beyond the scope of the current forecast.

Sunday 14 March

A very late post for today, even though I've been at the keyboard for most of the afternoon. However that had more to do with finding out about those casualties from the First World War that I cannot trace on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. Although someone more expert in these matters is going to have a go on the hard cases, I do not foresee a huge flood of information.

I had to go into town just before 7pm this evening and lo and behold it was still light! We're near the equinox, so the evenings are now getting nice and long. Friends across the pond, you should have put your clocks forward by an hour.

For some reason unknown to me, comment notifications for my YouTube videos have not been reaching me. Got some today, and boy, did the air turn blue. Never seen such profanity on any of my sites before, and worse than that, it was all related to the start of the Sunday ferries back in July. A number of linguistically challenged people decided to let off steam over the poor folk in the video, who were chanting a psalm outside the ferry terminal before departure time on July 19th last year. Rather than let the cringeworthyness of the situation speak for itself, the genitals were all over the comments section. I've scrapped those comments.

Saturday 13 March

A bright and fairly sunny day, with the odd light shower. Rugby is once more dominating our television screens, although I have more than enough on my hands with two tropical cyclones in the Pacific.

Tomas is now bearing down on Fiji, which can anticipate a direct hit from this storm. Winds near the centre will be at 95 knots (110 mph), slightly less than previously forecast, when the system traverses the two main islands in 24 hours' time.

Ului is located between Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands and has exploded from a 65 knots category I hurricane to a 105 knots category III hurricane in 12 hours. This system will strengthen very rapidly, until it hits the ceiling at 150 knots in the course of tomorrow. The Solomon Islands will catch a whiff of this storm with galeforce winds. I am also keeping an eye on the Louisiade Islands, which string out to the southeast of Papua New Guinea, as they are within 250 miles of the forecast track of Ului. Yep, I too had to consult a map.

Friday 12 March

A sunny if slightly cool day in the Western Isles, so I lent someone a hand in painting some pieces of outside wood that needed painting. I'm not much use up a ladder, but managed to finish the job without mishap. Have continued to monitor the two tropical cyclones in the South Pacific; the people in Fiji are beginning to get concerned at what is going to wallop them late on Sunday their time. Up to the time of posting, just over 800 people have now visited my TC blog. The highest one-day total goes back to March 2007, when cyclone Gamede made ominous noises at Mauritius and La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, and 2,300 people called round to check for developments.

Here in the Western Isles, a war of words is raging between two writers on the subject of Sabbath observance. It is quite a personal strife, and the issue in general has polluted the letters column of local news site Hebrides News over the last few weeks. A campaign to get the Stornoway Sports Centre to open on Sunday lies at the root of all the unpleasantness.

A campaign to reinstate a ferry between Lochboisdale in South Uist and Mallaig on the mainland continues apace. At present, Lochboisdale is served by a ferry from Oban, which takes 7 hours to cross. The journey to Mallaig only takes 3½ hours, and since the A830 road from Mallaig to Fort William was reverted from single- to double-track, the shorter journey time across water easily offsets the added mileage by road. It is 90 miles from Oban to Glasgow, and 145 from Mallaig to Glasgow.

Hurricane update - 12 March

The South Pacific has come to life with two tropical cyclones in relative proximity to each other.

Tomas is brewing up to the east of American Samoa and will be carrying sustained winds of 110 knots (that's a trifling 125 mph) as it ploughs through the entire Fijian archipelago on Sunday GMT. Fiji is 12 hours ahead of GMT, hence my addition of the timezone. Since midnight, I have received nearly 600 visitors to my tropical cyclones blog half of whom came from Fiji. They have every reason to be concerned: Tomas will be equivalent to a category III hurricane on the Saffir Simpson scale. Those readers who are in Hurricane Alley in the States will know what damage that does.

Vanuatu is at the back end of tropical cyclone 20P, to be named Vania, which is moving west into the Coral Sea to the north of New Caledonia. The storm will intensify to the equivalent of a category IV hurricane - far away from land. As yet. Vanuatu lies about 1100 miles northeast of Brisbane, Australia.

The tropical cyclone in the South Atlantic looks decidedly unhealthy on this morning's satellite imagery. It is lying 900 miles to the east of Montevideo in Uruguay and will disappear as a tropical cyclone fairly soon.

Thursday 11 March

The day started very wet, but the sun is now managing to put in an intermittent appearance between the showers. These are not long or heavy, so can live with that.

In the South Pacific, the cyclone season is livening up again, although autumn is now on its way in down there. A new storm, which will be named Tomas, has formed east of American Samoa. It will slowly head southwest towards Fiji, and slam through that archipelago with winds well in excess of 100 knots (115 mph). At times like that, the name "Pacific" could not be more inappropriate for the world's largest ocean.

About 95% of the UK landmass can now be viewed on Google Streetview, and my Twitter contacts in the islands were joking this morning that productivity here had been cut by 90% whilst everybody gawped at their own residences courtesy Google. One self-employed person admitted losing the morning whilst "walking" across their island. Naturally, I've indulged myself as well.

Early Tuesday morning

Ice on the Basin (it was -5C overnight)


Ferry cancelled

Tuesday pictures

Eoropie Beach


Mainland hills


Looking south towards Dell


Geese afoot


Sheep in croft


Houses in Habost

Wednesday 10 March

Overcast but with some brightness about. It feels cold in the wind today, and I'm not tempted to do much outside. Still on matters meteorological, a tropical cyclone is forming in the South Atlantic. That is about the 7th system in recorded history to form there. The tropical depression is located some 200 miles off the coast of Brazil, east of Puerto Alegre and could become a tropical storm, before it gets absorbed by a frontal system by the weekend. In 2004, Catarina swept ashore in Brazil as a category II hurricane.

A debate will be held in the House of Commons at 4pm this afternoon on the future of the Lewis Chessmen. Our MP, Angus Macneil, is of the opinion that the 92 chessmen should be kept in the museum here in Stornoway, rather than in the British Museum in London. The Lewis Chessmen were found in the sands at Uig Bay, 35 miles west of here, in 1831. Repatriating artifacts is a sensitive point as far as the British Museum is concerned. The Elgin Marbles have been asked back by Greece, where they originate, many a time. And there are thousands of objects in the museum that could be argued have been looted from around the world by the British. Mr Macneil is also taking umbrage at the suggestion that the Lewis Chessmen originate in Norway. Research has suggested that they do come from there, although that is not a certainty. The alternative is that the Chessmen could have been made in this island. Anyone wishing to watch the debate in Parliament can view it on BBC Parliament, which is relayed on the BBC iPlayer, Freeview channel 81 and Sky channel 504.

Tuesday 9 March

Quite a varied day in many respects. Awoke at 8 this morning to the sight of part of the basin (inlet from the sea) opposite my window being frozen over. Overnight lows of -5C brought that about. The local news advised us that the ferry did not sail, and upon glancing out of the window I did indeed discern the familiar shape of the MV Isle of Lewis alongside the ferry pier.

It was a brilliantly sunny morning, and it looked like staying that way. Well, that sort of assumptions tends to get you wrongfooted in the Hebrides, and it promptly clouded over. Mind you, it did stay dry for the rest of the day, but we did not see the sun again after 1pm. I jumped on the bus to Ness, and that took ages to get out of Stornoway, dropping off and picking up passengers all along its route - more than customary. Arrived at the Ness Museum in Habost at 2pm and enlisted the help of the member of staff present in resolving some of my queries. The exhibition area of the museum was not heated, and I'm quietly wondering if an inside temperature of 7C is very good for the exhibits, many of which are quite old.

At half past two, I ambled down the road to the nearby cemetery and photographed 30 gravestones, marking the graves of or commemorating war casualties. This took me 45 minutes, which saw me just in time to catch the bus back to Stornoway. This was packed with schoolkids returning home from their day at the lessons. They are dropped off outside their doors.

I have not yet uploaded the pictures, so I shall put up a selection in a post tomorrow.

Monday 8 March

Bright and sunny after a very cold start. The mercury dipped to -3C overnight, but recovered nicely to 9C at lunchtime. Hardly a cloud in the sky, although visibility is not fantastically good. I cannot discern the mainland hills at all.

Listened to the local radio station Isles FM this morning, and was greeted by the customary Monday morning rundown of drunken loutishness that roams the streets of this town of a weekend night. The hangover for the culprits comes in the cold light of the Stornoway Court House on Monday.

I've spent Monday afternoon on a project to identify WW1 casualties who are not mentioned on the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) website. The initial total stands at just over 240, although the real number is probably a lot lower. Many names cannot be linked to the CWGC database because they are so common, and there is too little (reliable) information to link them. If you look for Donald Macleod in Lewis, you've got a job on your hands. There is a project underway to get all who qualify on the CWGC register that are not already there.