Sunday 17 March

After a wet and windy start, the sky blew open and after breakfast I could head out to the hills with impunity. I walked up the road towards the hill of Cleitreabhal, 4 miles to the east, which is 450 feet in height and offers a view stretching from the Clisham in Harris to the Isle of Barra, to the south. Beyond the summit, which is crowned by communications equipment, I decided to traverse an area of moorland, which proved to be amongst the most challenging I have encountered. Nonetheless, I managed to reach the other side without anything worse than a slightly wet foot. My local contact arranged, by text, a meeting for 5pm, which allowed me plenty of time to complete my walk. It led me on into the village of Hosta, and onto the machair land beyond. I circled the coastline down to Hougharry, and returned to the B&B by about 4. After refreshing myself, I joined my contact on the machair near the Bird Reserve for a final evening's hospitality. I did not leave Cuddle Castle until about 1.45 am, meaning I still had to walk the 40 minutes to Hougharry in complete darkness. Nonetheless, a memorable visit to North Uist.

Saturday 16 March

Today, I am playing the keyboard at the cultural centre Taigh Chearsabhaigh in Lochmaddy, but as the bus is not leaving until 11.40, I have time to walk around the bay by the Balranald RSPB Bird Reserve, next to Hougharry. After breakfast, at 9 am, I walk into the reserve, as far as the coastline permits, then return along the north shore, which faces Hougharry. Keeps me going for two hours. Several people are looking for rare birds; apparently, a harlequin duck has been sighted in the area. Attracts twitchers from all over the UK. My bus, a postbus, duly appears at 11.40, and after changing at Clachan, I arrive into Lochmaddy at around 12.30pm. I claim my bowl of soup, after which another local musician alternates with me by playing the guitar. My main contact had decided to cycle into Lochmaddy, 18 miles into a headwind, and was consequently late. The guitar player left at 1.30, and I kept the show on the road for 20 minutes until the singer turned up. At 2.30, the cafe closed and we ambled off for a walk around Lochmaddy. She left her groceries and bicycle in shed in the village while we retraced my steps to the hut of shadows. Upon return, we were on time for the 4.20pm bus to the West Side via Sollas. I went on to Hougharry, giving my host some time to prepare for my return a little later. This evening, I did not hit the road until about 1.30 am, and it was tipping it down and blowing a hoolie. Was well and truly soaked - to one side - on return to Hougharry. Bins and fences had been blown into the road.

Friday 15 March

Set off at 10 am for the island of North Uist, 75 miles southwest of Stornoway. This requires a 55 mile bus ride to Leverburgh, then an hour on the ferry to Berneray and half an hour by bus to the main village, Lochmaddy. The bus journey is familiar to me, and the two hours (plus some waiting time in Tarbert) went by quickly. I am carrying a musical keyboard in a large cardboard box, which I am needing on Saturday when I shall play at the Taigh Chearsabhaigh cultural centre in Lochmaddy. TC have a "soup & jam" session at lunchtime on Saturdays, where musicians get a free bowl of soup in exchange for some music. I was invited there by a local singer, in whose company I shall spend much of the weekend. For reasons of privacy, I am not divulging the name on an open internet page.

After crossing the Sound of Harris to Berneray, I changed into a local bus which was very warm - in the sunshine - for the ten miles to Lochmaddy. Once there, I popped into TC to leave my keyboard in a safe place, pre-arranged with my local contact. I then walked around the village for an hour and half, waiting for the 3.15 bus to my B&B. I ambled out to the wee bridge, which leads to the Hut of Shadows, which is situated on one of the many headlands around Lochmaddy. The hut of shadows is a camera obscura, which, in the right conditions, will project an image on an opposing wall.

At 3.15, the bus to Bayhead pulled up and I was taken west. After a lengthy stop at the local primary school, where two young kids boarded, the vehicle whizzed off to Clachan, then north to Bayhead. Once there, we had to wait for 40 minutes for the school bus out of Lionacleit (Benbecula) to disgorge - one pupil to take onwards. I arrived in the village of Hougharry at 4.30, and into my B&B.

After 6pm, I walked up the mile and a half along the road to the next village, where I knocked on the door of my contact - cue an evening's chatting. Just as well I had bought a torch, as I did not head back down the road again until nearly midnight.

 

Back Monday

I'm travelling to North Uist today and will be there for the weekend. I will not be making entries on this blog until Monday evening.


Lochmaddy

Tuesday 12 March

Overcast and feeling cold today, mainly because we have no sun. However, I'm the last to complain, if I look at the major problems caused by a fall of snow in southeast England, France, Belgium and Holland. Belgium had 1,000 miles of standing traffic at one point in the morning, and the images from England spoke for themselves. Bus services were withdrawn in Brighton in the evening, to quote but one example. Fortunately, the strong March sun quickly went to work on melting all the white stuff.

The 115 cardinals have been locked into conclave [con clave = with keys] at the Vatican in Rome, and will not come out until one of them has been elected pope, with a 2/3 majority (having obtained 77 votes). After each vote, the ballot papers are burned, and the resulting smoke (with a bit of help) is coloured to signal no pope elected (black), or a pope has been elected (white). A strangely archaic ritual in this modern age of internet and what not.

Here in Stornoway, we have once again been treated to the sight of our regular ferry ship, the Isle of Lewis, being parked up alongside the ferry pier, undergoing repairs. The Clansman continues to take the run to Ullapool, but it is hoped that the situation will return to normal soon.

Violated

What is the value of a piece of remote bogland, where nothing of value grows, and nobody lives or works? This is an image from August 2005, from a hill called Beinn Mholach.


Viewed from about 8 miles away, at Sandwick, it now looks like this. Yes, a number of tall wind turbines, almost as tall as Beinn Mholach itself. The wilderness aspect lost.

And I hate them.

Monday 11 March

A brilliantly sunny day, with only a light east wind. In spite of the low temperatures (6C / 43F) it felt warm enough to sit in the sun (and out of the wind) for about 15 minutes. I went for an amble over to the Iolaire Memorial in the afternoon, which takes about 2 hours (4½ miles). The walk has become a bit easier since a path was cleared from the gate behind Stoneyfield Farm through all the gorse. The new windfarm on the Barvas Hills is horribly visible from Sandwick, and it is a violation in my book. I know the hills that it sits on very well, having walked there in perfect solitude in April 2005; and it is now an industrial site. Yuk.

Sunday 10 March

Another very cold day, with a strong easterly wind which blew in a number of snow showers in the morning. These subsided into the afternoon, leaving us with plenty of sunshine but also plenty of cold. I am currently arranging a visit to North Uist next weekend, where I have been invited to play at Taigh Chearsabhaigh, the arts centre in Lochmaddy, who do a "soup and jam" session. When you play your instrument, you get a bowl of soup free. So, I'll be toting a keyboard down to North Uist, and am also arranging to meet one of my on-line acquaintances there. Should make for an interesting experience.

Our ferry remains out of commission, and the Clansman is now covering the run to Ullapool. This does mean that the Clansman's normal patch has had to be covered by the smaller Lord of the Isles, and all sorts of knock-on problems up and down the west coast ferry network. The embarassing thing is that the Isle of Lewis had only returned from a £700k ($1.5m) refit two weeks ago...

Saturday 9 March

Overcast initially, but with a few sunny intervals during the afternoon. Although it is still only 5 or 6C, the east wind appears to be abating a little, so the cold is not quite as penetrating. The easterly wind is wreaking havoc with the ferry schedules, as the Muirneag (our freight ferry) cannot sail, and the main ferry, the Isle of Lewis broke down yesterday and is being fixed. The Clansman had to come haring up from Oban in the night to take up the run. The result is empty shelves in the supermarket, and as supplies now have to come through Skye, this means that a resupply will not be in the shop until 8pm tonight.

The recent attack of a sparrowhawk on our colony of sparrows has had a devastating impact - the starlings appear to have disappeared for good, and the sparrows themselves are very nervous around the feeders. These hang out in the open, under the tree.

Friday 8 March

Well, what else can I say? More of the same. A cold easterly wind, no rain, pale sunshine. March appeared to come in like a lamb, but it has shed its innocent wool and is now behaving like an ill-tempered lion. Winter has gone, for all intents and purposes, but March is holding on to its tail. Whew, that wind is cold.

The ferry is not sailing today, due to serious technical problems. The Isle of Lewis has only recently come out of dry-dock and should have no problems. Instead, she is not able to move and her replacement, the Clansman is having to relocate up from Oban. Worse than that, the Muirneag is once again cancelled due to the easterly wind, but nonetheless, the shelves in the shops were not empty. A lot of people forget that their supplies all come by ferry. I never cease to be amazed on the day of the force 11 when folks come into the shop, stop dead in their tracks and exclaim "This shop is empty!!!".

Thursday 7 March

Weather is pretty static at the moment, with a persistent easterly breeze at force 6 and temperatures not much above 5C / 41F. That makes it feel bitterly cold, and is not much of an enticement for going out. I just nipped out for the newspapers. Thursday is the day the Stornoway Gazette is published, but it was not available. The reason being the cancellation of the freight ferry Muirneag, which is unable to safely dock in easterly winds. Easterly winds blow her away from her berth, and have been known to drive her into the Castle Grounds here in Stornoway.

I am reading a couple of books at the moment, one of them being Lewis in the Passing, by local historian Calum Ferguson. About 15 years ago, he spoke to a number of people who were born between 1895 and 1935, about their lives. One story in particulary, from a lady born in 1896, really shows the changes that have occurred in this island over the past century. Much has changed everywhere, but it has been even more noticeable in Lewis. Last year, I transcribed a report from 1912, by Sir John A Dewar. It vividly described conditions, from a doctor's perspective.