Saturday 20 April

It was wet and very windy, a marked contrast to yesterday's warm sunshine. After breakfast, I checked out of the hotel and went on the bus to Berneray. At the ferry terminal, I marched on board the MV Loch Portain, which duly carried me to Leverburgh. At one point, it encountered a bit of swell coming from the Minch, but we reached Harris without incident. The bus took me north to Tarbert, where I had to wait for an hour in rain and wind, having a bite of lunch. The sun came out and I completed the journey to Stornoway by 2.30pm.


Tarbert War Memorial / North Uist from the Sound of Harris ferry

Sound of Harris crossing (in reverse order)

Friday 19 April - picture post

Near the Hut of Shadows, Lochmaddy


Ewe with triplets / Church of Scotland, Lochmaddy


On the Sound of Harris ferry


RNLI 12-36 at Leverburgh / West Harris


An Empire of Stone / Loch Seaforth

Friday 19 April

This afternoon, I took the bus down to Leverburgh, the ferry to Berneray and another bus to North Uist to attend a musical event at the Taigh Chearsabhaigh cultural centre in Lochmaddy. It was a fairly bright and sunny day, feeling warm in sheltered locations. I stayed at the hotel in Lochmaddy, and had a meal there. Whilst there, I was joined by two friends, who I had arranged to meet in the village to go to said event. One of them I had met last month, and had some memorable chats with. This time, we hardly had time for that.

I did take many pics, of course, but have not yet uploaded them. I shall post those in a future entry.

Wednesday 17 April

The funeral for a former prime minister, who served between 1979 and 1990 took place in London today. Some were celebrating the death, on account of the consequences of the policies of said PM. Some were mourning her passing, on the same account; others for personal reasons.

The whole ceremony cost £10m. Big Ben was silenced. The Queen attended, as did 2,000 others.

When James Callahan and Edward Heath died in 2005, nobody took much notice. They too were prime ministers, enacting controversial legislation and policies which had both positive and negative consequences. Yet their funerals were private affairs. So what was so different about Margaret Thatcher? She was a woman? I believe women are capable of any jobs that men do. She served for 11 years? Well, that was indicative of the political scene, with an ineffectual opposition. She went to war over the Falklands? If it hadn't been for that, she would have been booted out at the 1983 elections. So I don't see what the fuss is about.

Monday 15 April

The world has come knocking on the door of the USA again, nearly 12 years after 9/11: two bombs appear to have gone off at the Boston Marathon today, killing at least 2, and injuring several dozen. I'm very sad that such a happy event got marred in this way.

Here in Stornoway, the wind has dropped after a day of sunshine and showers. Went for a wee amble around the Battery in the afternoon. It has become milder, but not nearly as mild as the 20C in eastern England.

Sunday 14 April

A complete change in fortunes for the weather today. What started out as fairly bright soon turned wet and windy. Not nearly as windy as in the southern isles, which were subjected to a force 9 gale. After a while, the sun came back out again, but a severe squall heralded some more breezy weather.

Friday 12 April

So the windows fall out of the schools, the ferry suffers an engineroom explosion, and the papers come in after the shops close. Good week. 

A year or so ago, half a dozen new school buildings were handed over to the education authority. This week, there was a safety scare, after skylights fell out of ceilings - fortunately it is half-term holiday, so nobody got hurt.

The newspapers now come on the ferry, meaning they don't hit the stands until 2pm. In the Uists, that's even later. Two of the ferries to the Western Isles that have been away for refit have suffered breakdowns, meaning that there were no papers.

Thursday 11 April

Yesterday, our ferry suffered a major breakdown, as I posted on here. Well, the backwash duly arrived. I spoke to some people who had been subjected to a 6-hour delay, with diverted journey through Skye, arriving into SY at 2 am. They were still bleary-eyed twelve hours later, as someone had to put them up in their private home.

I went on an amble around the shopping precincts of Stornoway, including Point Street, North Beach and Cromwell Street. From North Beach, it could be seen that the works on Lews Castle are progressing well.

Wednesday 10 April

Today was more of the same weather, with sunny intervals and remaining chilly. The ferry suffered an explosion in one of its engines, putting that out of action and reducing its speed by almost half. The Isle of Lewis limped into Ullapool, where it had to remain pending repairs. Passengers for the island had to drive 170 miles to Uig in Skye, thence by ferry to Tarbert and on to Stornoway. Average arrival time: 2.30 am.

We also had the first cruiseliner of the summer season in port today, the MV Marco Polo lay at anchor all day while its passengers explored the town and the island. I went for a wee amble around town, but did not see much evidence of cruise passengers, except for those that came back, laden with souvenirs.

Tuesday 9 April

The news today was dominated by yesterday's news. No further comment.

Monday 8 April

An overcast and still not very warm day. The news is dominated by the death of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher. I'll leave it to the media to expound on her legacy.

Here in the islands, the news is dominated by the fact that the newspapers will not be in the shops until well into the afternoon. Until this week, the papers came by plane at 7 am, and would hit the shopshelves in Stornoway at 10.30 am, and lunchtime elsewhere in the island. From today, that time is 2pm for the town, and up to 6pm elsewhere. The papers are carried on the lunchtime ferry, and on the ferry from Uig to Lochmaddy for the Uists. Likewise, the papers will not likely be at the shops in time for closing time (6pm) in places like Lochboisdale and Eriskay, 40 miles south of Lochmaddy. This all stems from a Council decision to cut the air service from Barra to Benbecula, and reduce the service from Benbecula to Stornoway. This has prompted to Loganair to cut the service further, and increase the rate for carrying papers on planes.

Sunday 7 April

A fairly bright and sunny day, but quite cold for the time of year. A good fall of snow occurred over Harris, with problems reported on the roads around Leverburgh. We had some wet snow last night, but nothing to bother us.

A submarine turned up off Stornoway harbour this afternoon. The craft did not enter port, but its superstructure was easily recognisable from a distance. It hung about for a few hours, and the Coastguard stated that they were after papers. My guess (and nothing more than that) is that it was most likely a Norwegian sub, as they have come to call a few times in recent years.

Saturday 6 April

A complete change in weather today, with overcast skies and occasional drizzle. As temperatures fell during the afternoon, the drizzle changed to snow. It tried to settle, but this is April, and it was just not cold enough.

One of the things that displeases me in Scotland is the propensity of certain people to look back towards the past. Dates like the battle of Culloden, that idiot Bonny Prince Charlie, Bannockburn and heaven knows what else. Rather than continually looking towards the past, I think it is much more imperative that those in power start to look towards the future. They have been in that position for 7 years, and have hardly given a moment's thought what it would take to run an independent Scotland. Each and every time a question is asked, a reply is hurriedly dragged up - not thought through or anything.

Friday 5 April

We had something strange falling out of the skies today. It made you feel wet and slightly chilly. Looking up at the skies, the customary blue had been replaced by strange hues of white and grey, with odd wisps of darkness trailing down towards the ground. I had to check on Google, but the phenomenon is commonly referred to as rain. All the wildfires that have been plaguing the island have been put out, but a major wildfire is continuing at Skeabost in Skye, 50 miles south of here.

For the next week or so, I will not be posting pics of the usual quality; my camera has ingested an excess of dust, which (as readers will have noticed) has found its way onto the photographs. The camera has been sent for repairs, and a replacement camera (with lesser technical capability) is currently in use.

I just want to make it clear that I write very little on this blog about my personal life, partly as a pact with some of the people around me off-line. Last Friday, I posted in a state of distress, without making clear what was going on. I had an extremely unkind comment from one regular reader, who is kindly invited to refrain from attempting to comment in future.

Wednesday 3 April

The northeasterly wind, which has been plaguing us for weeks now, has subsided to a force 3, making the 7C on the thermometer feel almost springlike. Went out for a long walk this afternoon, by taking the bus to Achmore, 11 miles (18 km) by road and walking back along the Pentland Road, 9½ miles (15 km). The walk took me 3¼ hours. The first half was along the road, the second half led along a track to the access road to the Pentland Road windfarm, on the foothills of the Barvas Hills. I have been driven up and down the Pentland Road to Achmore many a time, but even when you tootle along at 35 mph, you don't have the time to take many proper pics. I therefore took a total of about 85 this afternoon.