Sunday 24 June

An overcast and grey day after some rain in the night. A local weather station reports just over 2 mm of rain, it still does not amount to very much. However, the humidity is quite high so the likelihood of wildfires will be much lower than of late, and neither is there much wind.

Continued with my researches into the WW1 casualties, this time those from Portvoller, the village closest to the Tiumpan Head Lighthouse. Port Mholair, as the Gaelic name runs, is in quite a scenic position by a loch.



Did I ever mention that virtually all the placenames in Lewis are of Norse origin? The people in Orkney and Shetland appear to regard themselves as the modern day Vikings, but the influence of the Scandinavians extends as far south as the Isle of Man. The name Stornoway means Anchorage (Bay of Steering), and only the village of Achmore (Big Field) is purely Gaelic in origin. Achmore lies 5 miles from the sea, 370 feet above sealevel. It is a practiced joke to trick people into thinking that there is a pier there.