Sunday 29 January

A bright and at times sunny day, but feeling very cold in the southeasterly breeze. Visibility is very good, as I can clearly see the Applecross Forest (no trees, but hills of more than 2,000 feet), 60 miles away. Glancing at the forecast for eastern Holland, they're going down to -14C as an overnight low by the middle of this week. Fortunately, us in the Western Isles will keep the mercury between zero and +4C through the week. Went on a Sunday morning stroll through Stornoway, which is dominated by empty streets, full of parked cars (of people in church).


James Street


An Lanntair and South Beach


Francis Street


Cromwell Street


Stornoway Town Hall, inside from outside

Saturday 28 January

One of those days, which start off wet and only gradually improve. Not worth writing much about. Even the pictures I took today are of raindrops. I did some research into this island's WW1 casualties, and dug out some information on two of them that was not immediately apparent when I made the listings back in 2007. Apart from the Roll of Honour, I also obtained information by visitings local war memorials and cemeteries. Local historical societies were also quite helpful. I am using the Ancestry.co.uk site at the moment, after a lot of help from Berneray based researcher Direcleit.