29 August 1930

Yesterday, it was 79 years ago since the last few dozen people were evacuated from the archipelago of St Kilda (Hiort), 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. The move, requested by the people themselves, came in the wake of a decline in population and the increasing problems posed by their remoteness. St Kilda has remained without permanent habitation since, with only Ministry of Defense personnel monitoring the rocket range on Uist and National Trust for Scotland staff looking after the remains of the houses there. Upon departing their shores, the St Kildans left a handful of grain on their tables, alongside the family bible, opened at the chapter Exodus.

A few houses have been restored, and cruiseliners regularly call in the summer. Reaching the islands is still difficult, due to the weather and sea conditions found in the North Atlantic. Efforts have been made to retain the history and culture of the islands, and quite a few books have been written. Yesterday was the first-ever St Kilda day. It is a good thing to celebrate culture. Celebrating an extinct culture in 21st century fashion is something that doesn't sit very easy with me.

Tour of Norse Mills

Yesterday, I went on a guided tour round Norse mills (or what's left of them) around parts of Lewis. According to the guide, there were hundreds of mills around - a figure of 262 was quoted.


The weather on tour


Mill at Cleascro, Achmore


Mill at Breasclete


Scrambling down to the mill site near Tolstachaolais, below



Near the site of a mill at Carloway


Old School centre, Shawbost


Restored mill and kiln, Shawbost


Millsite at Bragar

Picture post - 28 August

On Friday, we made for Garry Beach, which is located 2 miles north of North Tolsta and 15 miles north of Stornoway on the east coast of the island. The weather was completely different to the day before, starting off bright and sunny, but ending with showers.


Coll Beach


Glen Tolsta


Garry - the valley








Garry Beach


The heather is blooming!


Traigh Mhor [the Big Beach] at Tolsta


View south along the east coast of Lewis

Picture post - 27 August

On Thursday, we had use of a car, so after picking up someone in Ness (north Lewis), we headed south to have lunch at the Blackhouse Village in Gearrannan. By late afternoon, we made for Uig, west Lewis. Paid a visit to the wee museum in the community centre at Timsgarry, then headed south for the Top End. Total distance travelled: 135 miles.


Along the road in Ness


Blackhouse Village, Gearrannan


Along the road at Breasclete, north of Callanish


The B8011(M) at Enaclete


Near Mangersta


Waterfall at Brenish


The End of the Road at Mealista


Beyond the End of the Road

Hurricane update - 30 August

Hurricane Jemina, carrying winds of 100 knots (115 mph), is headed northwest some distance offshore from the coast of southwestern Mexico. It could make landfall in the peninsula of Baja California in the next few days, and I do not relish the prospect of a category IV hurricane making landfall there.

Tropical storm Krovanh is headed north in the Pacific and could graze the city of Tokyo in Japan. This is unlikely to reach typhoon strength, but I don't think it is a teaparty to have force 10 to 11 winds in a big city like that. I'll keep an eye on progress there.

In the Atlantic, no formal tropical cyclones, but a disturbance is winding up 1,000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. NHC is tracking that one closely.

Sunday 30 August

Trying to brighten up on a cold morning. OK, shouldn't complain about 14C, but there's this penetrating wind blowing. Went to the shop up the road to scout for the Saturday papers, but there were none. It appears hardly any came yesterday. Feeling withdrawal symptoms from my daily fix of north news.

It is very quiet here on a Sunday, and the grand total of two cars on the move bears witness to that. Things will liven up in a bit, when traffic heads for the 2.30pm ferry (it's 12.20 now). Otherwise, you could fire off a gun and hit nobody.

Saturday 29 August

Freezing cold day today, with strong winds and frequent heavy showers. And that was the day I went out on a tour round former grain mills in the island. The heavy rain had turned the streams, powering those mills, into torrents and the wind made the 14C feel more like 4C. Anyway, quite interesting. Will post pictures tomorrow.

Friday 28 August

The day started bright and sunny, but the cumulus clouds built up to showers, some of which quite heavy although brief in the afternoon. After a lunchtime visit to Garry Beach, 15 miles north of Stornoway on the east coast of Lewis, we returned to Ness for the afternoon. Total number of pictures about 80. Will upload today's and yesterday's photographs this evening.

Japan is eyeballing tropical storm 12W, which is yet to be named. This system could be on a collision course with Tokyo on August 31st, although you never know what happens next with tropical cyclones. Should the forecast prove correct, Tokyo could be seeing a typhoon on Monday.

This morning, the A866 road in Lewis was closed for a while following a one-car accident at Braighe na h-Aoidhe (Branahuie). Its sole occupant had to be extricated by the emergency services, while queues of traffic built up on either side of the Braighe, the narrow isthmus of land that links the Point peninsula to mainland Lewis. The driver was taken to hospital for treatment of injuries, sustained in the crash.

Thursday 27 August

The day is nearly over as I type this, but then it's been a busy one. It took me all over the west of the Isle of Lewis, from Ness to Gearrannan, then on to Timsgarry and Mealista. Took about 120 pictures, which I'll upload to Flickr tomorrow. Weather was not terribly good, occasional light rain, but visibility sufficient to show me the Flannan Isles, 35 miles west of Lewis. The Top End of Uig, between Mangersta and Mealista, is an absolutely amazing place, and I could only just resist the temptation to carry on walking from the point where the road ran out. A total distance of 136 miles (218 km) by car.

Title picture

Have changed the title picture that fronts this blog. It is a very wintry image, although that doesn't mean lots of snow. Just very brown and dull colours, with the black ribbon of the road leading into the distance. The hill is called Eitsal, and carries transmitters for radio, television and mobile phones. The location is about 15 miles southwest of Stornoway.

Cruiseships galore

It's been very busy with cruiseliners in recent days, even though two of them were unable to dock due to the poor weather conditions at the time. Today, two have come to call. Le Diamant is docked alongside no 3 pier, as I reported earlier today. At 4pm, the National Geographic Explorer dropped anchor in Glumag Harbour, directly across from my position on the seafront. Needless to say, I was out with the camera.


Le Diamant


National Geographic Explorer


Vistamar - was unable to dock on 24 August in spite of deceptively bright conditions.

Hurricane update - 26 August

This afternoon sees a new kid on the block: tropical storm Danny. This system is located 775 miles south southeast of Cape Hatteras, NC, and will head northwest. At present, winds blow at up to 45 mph, mainly to the north of its centre. Danny will gradually gain in strength and is anticipated to veer north northwest, to parallel the US coastline. Landfall in the Carolinas cannot be ruled out, although a course further out to see would see landfall in New England or the Canadian Maritimes over the weekend, as a category I hurricane. This is all still very uncertain, so keep watching the NHC output every 6 hours; as soon as land becomes threatened within 36 hours, these updates will come every 3 hours.

Wednesday 26 August

The sun is just poking through the clouds after a sopping wet morning. That is all that Hurricane Bill (or what's left of it) will be bringing us. The rainfall radar shows the back end of the rain moving into the West Side of Lewis (at 1130, 40 minutes ago), so it'll be sunshine this afternoon. Prime midge weather :-\

Channel 4 is going to axe Big Brother after next summer's session, thank heavens. I have not watched it for 5 years, and have come to regard it with no respect at all. It is one of Holland's exports I am not proud of. Don't forget it was Dutch TV producer John Endemol who came up with the format some years ago.

Strathclyde Police (who cover Glasgow) have stated that they would have provided whatever police cover would have been necessary for Al Megrahi, if he had been released into the community in Scotland. This flies in the face of what Justice Secretary Kenny Macaskill said last week, namely that 48 officers would have been required, which was too much for a hospice situation, and too much for one man. I'm disappointed.

And we have a cruiseliner in. Docked, alongside number 3 pier. Le Diamant, a 35-year old French boat. The previous two cruiseliners were not able to put anyone ashore, so it's a relief to see one alongside as per normal. I'll post some pictures later today.

Boycott Scotland

That was the tenure of about a dozen letters, published in my regional paper, the Press & Journal, today. They had all come from North America, although only a few had bothered to include their postal address. A sense of shock, shame and disgust permeated from the relevant page in the newspaper, and my reaction was one of disbelief. It is pretty obvious that these letter writers had got hold of the P&J's letters email address from the Boycott Scotland website (which lists each and every Scottish newspaper of some repute). One of them made me howl with laughter, as it warned us that we could be expected to wear traditional apparel (e.g. burkhas) in the next few years if we continued to give in to Islamic imperialism.

I have made it clear over the past 5 days that I support the decision by the Scottish Justice Secretary to release Al-Megrahi on humanitarian grounds. Mr Macaskill made it crystal clear yesterday that he had done so purely on legal and humanitarian grounds, without consideration for political or economic consequences. I do not like the Nationalist administration that currently rules Scotland, but am prepared to give them full credit for this, their most difficult decision to date. I am profoundly shocked at the stubborn silence from UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has so far found it more important to congratulate the English Cricket Team on winning the Ashes off Australia, rather than focus on an issue with implications on Foreign Affairs. Oh, Foreign Affairs are not a devolved matter, the Scottish Government cannot deal with that.

I am also disappointed with the ignorant section of American society, who act like seagull hatchlings, mindlessly swallowing what their peers vomit into their gullet. There are precisely 259 families in the US and beyond who have a genuine grievance in seeing man walk free, who stands convicted of the murder of their loved one. He was shown mercy that he denied his victims, and I fully understand that this does not wash with the families of those killed over Lockerbie. The world has changed beyond recognition since flight 103 was blown up, and it has also changed massively since 9/11. I wish people would take cognisance of that.

Tuesday 25 August

Heavy showers passing through at all too regular intervals - summer is firmly a thing of the past up here. More rain tomorrow, as the remnant of Hurricane Bill scoots northeast across Scotland.

As I mentioned last night, it would appear that Michael Jackson died of an overdose of sedatives. Although charges of homicide are likely, it would appear that MJ insisted on having more sedatives when the previous lot wasn't working. A very sad tale.

Prime Minister Gordon is finally going to say something about the release of Lockerbie bomber Megrahi 5 days ago. Well done, Gordon, a fine example of being Heathcliffe of Dithering Heights (quote Gerald Scarfe). Everybody can continue blustering, but the deed is now done, the man is free and that's that. In the end, the voters will decide. There is this vague hope that some goodwill will have been created in the Middle East, bearing in mind that Libyan officials are at pains not to comment on the case. They will probably see the hullabaloo in Europe and America, and don't want to jeopardise the improved relations with those parts of the world. Also, the welcome that Megrahi received could be seen as a tribal homecoming party for one of its members - Libya is apparently a society based on tribal loyalties.

Michael Jackson

I don't normally pay much attention to celebrity hype, but Michael Jackson's death has now had an unofficial follow-up. According to a court official in LA, a lethal cocktail of drugs was found in the blood of the singer after his death. Among those was the anaesthetic propofol together with two sedatives. If confirmed, this will make it likely that charges will be brought against the physician tending to Jackson before his death.

For our American friends

Graphic courtesy Lillysphere (please note, this is a blog in Portuguese - no I don't speak that language).

Monday evening notes

The cruiseliner Vistamar, which left us unvisited this morning, is currently just west of the port of Scrabster on the north coast of Scotland (some 20 miles west of John o'Groats), heading for Invergordon. That is a deepwater port on the northeast coast, some 25 miles north of Inverness. Although she is billed to arrive at 7 am tomorrow morning, I think she'll be there before midnight now. We're due another cruiseliner on Wednesday - that being the day that Bill will call round for tea. Bill? The former hurricane, now winding itself up as a nasty-looking depression in the Atlantic.

The Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny Macaskill made a statement to the Scottish Parliament this afternoon to account for the decision to release the convicted Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds. His statement was pretty much like the one he made on Thursday, with the exception of mentioning the scenes that met Megrahi upon his arrival back home in Libya. Opposition MSPs [Members of Scottish Parliament] felt that his decision had been flawed from start to finish, and were wondering why he had not been transferred to a hospice in Scotland. Mr Macaskill replied, saying that it would have taken 48 police officers to maintain security, not really compatible with a hospice situation.

Although I do not like the current nationalist administration in Edinburgh, I feel that their decision to release Megrahi was taken with the right reasoning in mind. I agree with the Edinburgh Leith MSP Malcolm Chisholm that the politicisation of this case is regrettable - and at any rate, Megrahi is now over in Libya, to die.

Monday 24 August

Quite a bright and sunny day, but breezy - a southerly wind force 5 this morning. Which means that we had a third abortive visit by a cruiseliner. The Vistamar hove into view at 10.30, with all intention of docking. Unfortunately, the southerly wind made it quite hazardous for this large vessel to manoeuver (read: perform a 180 degree turn), so about an hour ago, she duly went on her way again. At this time, AIS does not show her updated destination. Please note: if you read this much later than the time of posting, the AIS map that the link leads to will not show an up-to-date position of this vessel.

Hurricane Bill has ceased being a tropical cyclone; it is now a non-tropical depression, headed east across the Atlantic. The UK will see its remnant on Wednesday, blowing northeast across the country with a lot of wind and rain. That means a nasty northeasterly for us, as we'll be in the northern quadrant of the depression. Another tropical cyclone I have so far not mentioned is typhoon Vamco. That system is gradually weakening as it moves north along 156 degree longitude east towards Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific. It peaked at 115 knots (130 mph), but was not bothering anyone apart from seafarers.

Canoeists die on Loch Maree

Loch Maree [bottom central on the above map] is a large inland loch near the west coast of Scotland, east of Gairloch and south of Ullapool. It was the scene of a rescue operation this afternoon, after a father and his 7-year old son set out on to the loch by canoe, but failed to return. Stornoway Coastguard turned out by helicopter and recovered the two from the water. Local news website Hebrides News reports the search, but not the fact, relayed by BBC Highlands and Islands, that they were both dead. My thoughts are with the family of the deceased.