Wednesday 12 February

A cold grey morning in the Western Isles. Far more of note is the red warning for 80-100 mph winds in west Wales and northwest England later today. We will just about miss the worst of those winds, although the Highlands will get a dumping of snow.

The curse of the Muirneag strikes again as MV Hebridean Isles slammed into pier number 1 yesterday. We now do not have a freight ferry, although the Heb Isles is supposed to be fixed this afternoon.

A rescue going on today, the final outcome being that the fishing vessel "Fearnot" (from Peterhead) was taken into Stornoway by Stornoway RNLI lifeboat Tom Sandersen (see pic below).

Checking the weather reports in the afternoon, and the deep depression that is going to bring very high winds to Wales and NW England is currently over Sligo, Ireland, with a pressure of 955 mbar. Meanwhile, a gust of 91 mph was measured at Shannon Airport, and 110 mph off the south coast of Ireland. Gusts in excess of 90 mph are also being recorded along the west coast of Wales.

And we had snow amidst a moderate easterly breeze. I don't envy the people in west Wales their hurricane force winds, Aberdaron was getting 81 mph gusting to 107 mph.

Scottish independence and the EU

I have been watching a speech by Scotland's First Minister on the issue of the impending independence referendum, a speech that left me with profound misgivings. I disagree with Mr Salmond's ideas, and I am glad that I am in a position to do so.

Yesterday, EU president Barroso stated that Scotland would have to apply to join the EU after the eventuality of independence. Whether that is the case or not, is not the object of my post. Mr Salmond suggested that Mr Barroso's intervention should be read as not being prepared to accept the outcome of the referendum. Doing that, in my view, is wrong and misleading. I also find it profoundly disturbing that there is no acceptance of the rejection of the idea of a currency union by the leaders of all major UK parties. Yes, it's very clever to play the parties out against each other, that's basic political campaigning. But what happens, after the poll in September, there continues to be rejection by all partyleaders? No answer to that. My attitude remains unaltered. The Scottish National Party has been in existence for 80 years, and been in government for 7 years. During all that time, and particularly since 2007, they have not given thought to any substantive policies related to running a country. Whenever any issue is raised, there is an unhealthy scrabbling for a policy, and usually one that backfires spectacularly. I hope the Scots turn out to be as canny as they reputedly are.

Tuesday 11 February

A breezy but cold morning, with intermittent showers. The sun has come out, but we should expect snow showers, particularly after dark. A touch of winter. We had sleet and snow showers this afternoon, and this bitingly cold wind. At one point, the mercury dipped to zero celsius (32F). At the moment, the moon is out, but we could always get snow in the night. If so, it is likely to settle until the sun rises around 8 am.

I'm checking whether I missed any Isle of Lewis casualties from the Great War by doing a focused search on the CWGC website, using the keyword 'stornoway' and First World War. Up come 772 results (not too bad), of which (to date) 6 have nothing to do with the town. The majority I have on file, but four are not, although the CWGC information states that they were the son of someone living in Stornoway, or elsewhere the island. Found one with Gearrannan connections. The name was not on the Carloway war memorial, and upon checking locally, was told that he was born and brought up away from the island (Govan). Would he merit inclusion in the ranks of the island war dead? I was told - be wary of inadvertently opening up cans of worms...

Wednesday 12 February

A cold grey morning in the Western Isles. Far more of note is the red warning for 80-100 mph winds in west Wales and northwest England later today. We will just about miss the worst of those winds, although the Highlands will get a dumping of snow.

The curse of the Muirneag strikes again as MV Hebridean Isles slammed into pier number 1 yesterday. We now do not have a freight ferry, although the Heb Isles is supposed to be fixed this afternoon.

A rescue was going on this morning, the final outcome being that the fishing vessel "Fearnot" (from Peterhead) was taken into Stornoway by Stornoway RNLI lifeboat Tom Sandersen. Here the two vessels are pictured in Glumag Harbour.

Checking the weather reports, and the deep depression that is going to bring very high winds to Wales and NW England is currently over Sligo, Ireland, with a pressure of 955 mbar. Meanwhile, a gust of 91 mph was measured at Shannon Airport, and 110 mph off the south coast of Ireland. Gusts in excess of 90 mph are also being recorded along the west coast of Wales. And we have snow amidst a moderate easterly breeze. I don't envy the people in west Wales their hurricane force winds, Aberdaron was getting 81 mph gusting to 107 mph in the last hour.

Thursday 13 February

After a very wet night, the sun is starting to peek through the clouds. No, we did not have any strong winds to speak of, being at the centre of the low pressure system that wreaked devastation across northern England and Wales. Things did brighten up in the afternoon, but we never lost the showers. Could have been so much worse, though.

Currency union

So, having watched the Daily Politics programme, I can only conclude that an independent Scotland would continue to use the pound sterling, without a formal currency union with the remnant of the UK. In the programme, Andrew Neil grilled Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the issue. Ms Sturgeon declared that the decision by the three main party leaders at Westminster to refuse to go into a currency union with an independent Scotland was a 'bullying tactic', and would not elaborate as to plan B. I'm beginning to get seriously concerned about the economy of an independent Scotland, something I have always (for many, many years) regarded as the Achilles heel issue. Rather than playing the silly card of bullying, I think it is time for the SNP to wake up and smell the coffee, in other words, realise what it means to just use another country's currency. I'm not an economist, but judging by what I'm hearing, it leaves Scotland seriously exposed, also to the risk of losing investments, industry and jobs. Scotland would become the banana realm of western Europe. What's plan B? The US dollar? That's freely being used by countries around the world, who are not in a currency union with the USA.

Scottish independence

A few notes on the subject of the Scottish independence debate. UK chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) George Osborne has indicated that in the event of Scotland voting for independence on 18th September, there will be no currency union with the UK using the Pound Sterling. Scottish ministers will now have think up plan B. They previously stated that they didn't want the Euro (this was at the time of the crisis in the Eurozone), so what will it be? The dollar??

I just couldn't make sense of the wish of the Scottish government to be in a currency union with the very country they were wanting to break away from. If Scotland were to be in a currency union with the UK, fiscal and economic policies will be directed to a large extent by the Bank of England, so why become independent in the first place?

However, what I find concerning is the noises coming from heads of industry, who are getting seriously concerned about the uncertainty surrounding an independent Scotland. What currency will it use? They may not wish to invest in or indeed continue trading in Scotland.

The Scottish government should learn to take decisions that are not dependent on others' actions, and STICK by them. And if it really isn't going to work, have a plan B ready.

Monday 10 February

Afternoon all from a fairly bright Stornoway. We had some pretty heavy showers earlier on, but the sun is out now. The bomb squad is in Stornoway to deal with the unexploded French ordinance that was found at Gress Beach yesterday, and a fishing boat was towed into port this morning after breaking down off Harris. Meanwhile, the burning of rhodondendrons in the Castle Grounds continues apace, when will they ever be done with that.

So here I was, innocently going about my business when I came across this heap of feathers outside the back door. I had been seeing some collared doves around, attracted by the seeds from the bird feeder, and I thought they had been having a spat. Until I noticed two large bloodstains on the concrete path. Oh. A year ago, we had a visit from a sparrowhawk, which made a meal of a sparrow. This time round, it must have had a very good lunch off a dove.

A fishing boat that broke down off North Uist was towed into Stornoway this morning for repairs. By 3pm, it was already on its way back out.

Sunday 9 February

A reasonable day of sunshine and showers. Not too cold, not too windy. Enjoyed watching some of the Winter Olympics from Sochi, and been putting some more bulbs into the ground. These were already sprouting, so that will yield a colourful display in the next few weeks.

Saturday 8 February

What a lovely morning. Broad sunshine, just the odd shower, not much wind, it almost feels like spring. The only thing that gives the game away is the barometer. Did I see that right, 957 mbar (28.26 inches) and falling? The actual low pressure centre, located off Ireland, is estimated to have a pressure of 944 mbar, corroborated by a weatherstation in Donegal, Ireland, which is reading 948 mbar. Batten down the hatches in the south of England, this will give you a blow to remember - for all the wrong reasons.

In the afternoon, it turned grey and ominous from the south. Our rainfall radar was zapped by lightning in December, so can't check what's around. Oh well, never a dull moment in these islands, that's for sure.

In the evening, we found ourselves in the eye of the storm, located over the Isle of Skye, sporting a lovely 952 mbar as central pressure. The depression will move north, leaving us with westerly winds. If my reading of the weathermaps is correct, we (in the Western Isles) should be VERY wary of Tuesday, when a nasty little low with tightly packed isobars comes scooting by.

I have been checking my listings of Lewis WW1 casualties against CWGC entries, finding three with island connections that I had not previously located.

Friday 7 February

Today saw the opening of the Winter Olympics at Sochi, Russia. It went nearly flawless, except for the  snowflake that refused to open. And the fact that one of the torchbearers was the alleged girlfriend if not wife of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Sigh. Rumours, rumours, rumours.

I was quite horrified to see the extent of flooding southern England. Now that villages in the Somerset Levels are slowly being submerged, we also learn of flooding in counties further east. It is suggested that the government was slow to act on the situation, which first arose in December. However, the weather situation is quite extreme, and I just hope they manage to get everything under control again soon.

Thursday 6 February

A quiet day in the isles, with the first hints of spring appearing in people's gardens. Went for a walk across town in the afternoon, just managing to avoid the odd rainshower that was passing through. The weather here is positively benign in comparison to the south of England, which seems to be getting our winter weather. We can cope - they are not used to such extreme rainfall.

One of the above pictures, featuring the tower in the background, was taken from Leverhulme Drive. This residential street is named after landowner William Hesketh Lever (Lord Leverhulme) who owned Lewis and Harris between 1918 and 1925. Leverhulme is famous for establishing the Sunlight soap company and Port Sunlight village in the Wirral, near Liverpool. His enterprises in the Outer Hebrides came to very little, and ended upon his death. The remains of one, the whaling station at Bunabhainneadar in Harris, is still visible. Leverhulme had great plans for Stornoway and the island, but coming in the aftermath of the devastating losses in the First World War, his intentions fell on deaf ears. He offered the island to its people, but only the parish of Stornoway took up his offer for them to own their land. The Stornoway Trust, set up in 1923, is the first community landowner, and is still in existence.

Wednesday 5 February

A fairly bright day, although mostly overcast. We had a moderate breeze, an enormous contrast to the stormforce winds that wreaked havoc in the southwest of England. A fishing port was wrecked in Portleven, Cornwall, and the Exeter to Plymouth railway was broken at Dawlish, where the sea washed away the trackbed.

I was disgusted to hear that the UN had severely criticised the Vatican for maintaining a method for alleged child abusers in its ranks to be protected from punishment. I count devout Roman Catholics among my friends, and am deeply distressed for this betrayal of their trust - and worse, the betrayal of trust to the vulnerable in society that were abused by a number of RC clergymen. It does not sound as if the Holy See is about to act fast on this issue, which makes it worse. I will say that an organisation which states that its supreme leader (in this case the Pope) is infallible is vulnerable to corruption (in the widest sense). The RC church was known to sell absolutions for money in the Middle Ages, and the litany of child abuse scandals that has come to light in recent years has done little to improve the image. I have just as little time for some Protestant denominations, which split and split among themselves over interpretations of the Scriptures. That is such a moot point, the Bible being a conglomerate of texts which have been translated several times over during the millennia.

Tuesday 4 February

Quite a reasonable day, with the mercury around 7C / 45F and no rain to speak of. The winds are also moderate, which makes a change. We even had good spells of sunshine. At lunchtime, it was musical piers, as the ferry boats jostled to dock at the ferry terminal. The Hebridean Isles is here to take freight traffic, but was drafted in as passenger ferry at lunchtime. Only after she left could the Clansman, which had suffered a breakdown on passage, dock and discharge her passengers. In the afternoon, I went for a short stroll in the Castle Grounds.

Monday 3 February

A very windy day, with no ferry service at all. The Clansman remained tied up all day, as did the Hebridean Isles, which is currently covering the freight run. The Hebrides, serving Harris and North Uist, did not sail either. Windspeeds in Stornoway were at force 7, but it was blowing a full gale further south.Spray was blowing over the causeway, but did not cause major problems. Tides are receding now.

One piece of interesting local news: traffic lights will be installed on the Laxdale Bridge this spring, to ease the flow of traffic at peak times. The one-lane bridge, with priority for northbound traffic, is a major bottleneck for people heading to or from Back, Ness and the West Side.

Very pleased to have discovered a soldier from the Great War who I can bring "in from the cold", in other words, have him awarded Commonwealth War Dead status and possibly put a CWGC gravestone over his last resting place.

Private ARCHIBALD MACPHEE
Last known address in South Uist: Garryhillie
Son of John and Mary Macphee
Service unit: 3rd Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
Service number: 3/5553
Date of death: 10 February 1917 at the age of 23
Died at home of illness
Local memorial: South Uist

Sunday 2 February

Another high tide, but I wasn't going to get up early again to have a look. Yesterday showed me what Stornoway under water looked like, no need to see it again.It was still windy, and tomorrow will see yet another gale.

A cat had been found in Aberdeenshire with a microchip from the Canary Islands. Fortunately, its owner lived rather closer than Fuerteventura, so the feline could be reunited with its owner in short order.