Picture post - 11 May

Boats under repair at the Goat Island slipway


Anyone lost a box?


Newton


Cruiseliner Hebridean Princess


Cruiseliner Marco Polo

Tuesday 11 May

A nice bright day, but feeling quite cold. Daytime maximum was a miserly 8C / 46F. There were a few showers, but not as bad as yesterday. We awoke to the sight of two cruiseliners. The Hebridean Princess, which had been at anchor overnight off the Braighe, east of Stornoway, came in at 8 am. The Marco Polo was by that time at anchor off Sandwick and discharging passengers ashore by tender. Those booked on bus tours were charged £60 for an all day tour of the sights on the West Side (Callanish, Broch, Gearrannan, Arnol). If I were to do that on the servicebus, I'd be charged about £7. Some on board the cruiseliners were wise to the rip-off charges and had hired a vehicle. That costs about £40.

Political events have accellerated this evening, with the resignation at 7.45pm of Gordon Brown and the appointment at 8.15pm of David Cameron as Prime Minister. Coalition talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats came to nothing during the day, but seem to be reaching an consensus this evening. After 13 years, Labour is out of Downing Street, and a Conservative PM has taken over. The speed of succession is breathtaking, although the formation of a cabinet will take a wee while yet.

Monday 10 May

Today it is 70 years ago since the forces of Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands. After four days of fighting, in which a third of the German Luftwaffe (airforce) was downed over Holland, the Nazis bombed the city of Rotterdam. As the military situation was becoming more and more dire, and the government had no desire to see more of the major conurbations destroyed, the Dutch surrendered to the Germans in the town of Wageningen. In the five years of occupation, 110,000 people who were marked as Jews were taken to concentration camps like Westerbork and Vught, then taken to deathcamps like Auschwitz, Mauthausen and Bergen-Belsen to be exterminated. They were remembered six days ago. The liberation of Holland followed on 5 May 1945, with the surrender of Nazi forces, again at Wageningen. Three days later, Germany surrendered. Yesterday, May 9th, Russia celebrated its victory day. They, as a nation, suffered the heaviest losses, about 25 million. This fact is little known but should never be forgotten.

As I type this, the snow shower gave us a dense fall of snow (which did not settle) half an hour ago has moved away south. It is only 4 degrees outside, and it's supposed to be the month of May. I've been following the continuing saga of politics in the UK, as in "who will form the next government". Although the Conservatives and Liberal Democrat parties continue their negotiations, the Labour party is dangling carrot after carrot in front of the Lib Dems, this time by announcing the resignation in September of its leader and current PM Gordon Brown. He and Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, do not get along at all, and in fact Mr Brown's resignation was one of the demands of the LD's before they would contemplate serious talks with Labour. One pertinent point: Labour lost 90 seats in the last elections, and are considered to have been voted down.

I am watching our local AIS feed, as the ferry and the small cruiseliner Hebridean Princess converge on our small port. The Princess is the old Calmac ferry Columba.

Lewismen in Canadian service

I have compiled a new website, entitled as per header of this post. It shows information on 134 men from the Isle of Lewis who entered military service during the First World War as part of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. They fought on the Western Front in Belgium and France.

You may remember my main tribute site for WW1 casualties from Lewis, Faces from the Lewis War Memorial.  I have extracted those men who are marked as Canadians, and tracked down their details on the website of Library & Archives Canada. LAC have scanned the attestation (registration) forms of all 600,000 Canadian men who volunteered or were drafted into service during WW1. Apart from those that died, I am also tracing the 420 Lewismen who served as Canadians, but survived. It is startling to see the rate of volunteering dropping off during 1916, and compulsory military service being introduced in 1917. This leads to men absconding after being served their papers, being arrested and taken to their barracks. Some abscond and never return, and are marked as taken off the force.

The details on the attestation forms are quite personal, as shown on the front and back pages of this attestation of a man from Skigersta, Ness. Angus Morrison had emigrated to Victoria, on Vancouver Island, but volunteered to join up in 1915. He died in action two years later.

This poster says it all. On the flag are the names of battles where many died. And (as a consequence) they want more men to join up.

Picture post

Dandelions galore




Cruiseliner Funchal outside Stornoway on 6 May


11.20pm on 6 May

Sunday 9 May

Bright and fairly sunny in the Outer Hebrides this morning, although I can see a threat of showers. What is not just a threat is the cloud of volcanic ash, which has closed several airports, including Stornoway's, in the north of Scotland. Even more disruption is currently being experienced in southern Europe, where airports in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland have been closed. Another natural disaster has struck Sumatra in Indonesia, where a magnitude 7.4 quake hit the Aceh region in the north of that island.

I am currently tracing details for 560 men from the Isle of Lewis who signed up for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War. Some 140 of them did not survive the conflict, and are remembered on the Faces from the Lewis War Memorial website. The details include descriptions of eye- and haircolour, as well as their last place of residence in Canada. It is possible to track these addresses using Google Streetview, which adds a sense of poignancy.

Progression

This evening, I reached a minor milestone in my 10 year activities on the Internet: I posted my 5,000th tweet on twitter.com. I opened a Twitter account in October 2008, but did not become fully active on the site until February 2009. This was at the behest of a local contact. As the weeks and months went by, I focused my Twitter activities on local issues and contacts, disseminating information of local interest to a wider audience. And using the account also as a relay for fast developing situations, such as the Queen's Day attack in Holland when I became a pivotal user in the supply of information on that tragedy. Information, incidentally, that was available to all on local TV, by the way.

Another social networking site that I started using around the same time (October '08), was Facebook. This came about due to the closure of AOL Journals. AOL's loss was our gain, even though I do not use the site as much as I did in the beginning. Facebook acts as a relay point for several of my on-line activities, such as blogging and photography. And of course keeping in touch with my buddies from J-land - the AOL Journals are gone, but the community remains, in a different form.

Saturday 8 May

The sun is setting on the 65th anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe Day), when the Second World War ended in Europe. The forces of Nazi Germany surrendered to the victorious allies, ending twelve years of national socialism in Germany and a war in which six million Jews, twenty million Russians and hundreds of thousands of nationals from all over Europe had lost their lives. It ended the unspeakable atrocities of the concentration camps, the persecution of the Jews - and it ended the unwholesome politics of the 19th and early 20th century, where one conflict was put up as a pretext for starting another. It was to be another three months and two nuclear explosions before the Second World War was over in the Far East.

Negotiations to form a government here in the UK continue. The Liberal Democrats are presently talking to the Conservative Party, which gained 90-odd seats in Thursday's elections. Labour, which lost 90-odd seats, is not likely to form a government again - unless the Liberal / Conservative talks fail. It is a very delicate process, which is not likely to be hurried. It is for the first time in 36 years that there has not been an overall winner in a British poll. Coalitions are the rule of the day in many other European countries, Holland, Belgium and Germany being prime examples. The recriminations in all parties are already starting, but I wish all involved the wisdom required to make a deal that best serves the interests of all.

Friday 7 May

A bright and sunny day, which dawned the day after the election. As I type, 622 out of the 650 UK parliamentary seats have been declared and no party has an overall majority. This means that the sitting PM, Labour's Gordon Brown, is conventionally entitled to make the first attempt at forming a government. This will require the cooperation of other parties, primarily the Liberal Democrats. They were expected to do rather better than the loss of about 8 seats that the current result shows. Second option is for Conservative party leader David Cameron to have a go, also primarily with the Lib Dems. The situation is still fluid, and I refer to BBC and other news channels for updates. Here in the Western Isles, the Scottish National Party's Angus Brendan Macneil has held on to his seat with an increased majority. Mr Macneil was distracted by a serious road traffic accident in his home island of Barra, in which several youngsters were badly hurt - some are his relatives.

The North Atlantic hurricane season has stepped into the starting blocks this week, with the emergence of the first tropical wave of the year off the West African coast on Sunday. It was only recognised as such yesterday. Up to 85% of all hurricanes and tropical storms in the Atlantic form off tropical waves, which are bursts of moisture in the lower and middle atmosphere, emanating from the African continent.

More later.

Thursday 6 May

The polls have closed about 20 minutes ago (as I start writing this post) in the General Election. The results will start to come in from about 10.45pm onwards, although the bulk will be declared at around 2 am. I am fed up with pundits saying what it will be like, and I'm not looking forward to an evening of journalists talking to each other about worms, swingometers and other stuff that usually turns me into an electophobe.

The second cruiseliner of the summer season called into Stornoway today. The 1961 built Funchal dropped anchor off the Arnish Lighthouse early in the morning and began discharging passengers ashore using tenders. They were bussed round the island to see the sights, like the Callanish Stones, Carloway Broch, Gearrannan and Arnol Blackhouses and what not. At around 6pm, it weighed anchor to head for Invergordon, north of Inverness. I've got pictures of the ship, which I will display in a day or so.

The weather today? Fairly bright with the odd light shower and not too cold. The volcanic ashcloud is threatening Ireland (i.e. us as well), forcing the closure of Irish airports tomorrow. I think I'll abandon airtravel in favour of surface travel for the foreseeable future. May stow away on one of the cruiseliners one of these days.

Wednesday 5 May

Well, it's 10.30pm and I can't express loudly enough my sense of relief that that infernal election campaign here in the UK is finally over. Tomorrow, between 7 am and 10 pm, the polling stations will be open, and I too urge all who are eligible to vote to come out. That excludes me, by the way.

Here in the islands, it has been another drab and dreich day. It wasn't cold, and the dandelions are having a feast out the back.





Although the airports in the west of Scotland and Northern Ireland are closed today, I did hear an aircraft passing overhead a minute ago. Must have been the coastguard helicopter on an emergency call. 

Two minutes silence in Amsterdam

In my last post, I referred to the two minutes' silence that the Dutch were observing at 8pm local time. I watched the ceremony in Amsterdam courtesy the Internet. In the last 15 seconds of the two minutes, people suddenly started running away from an area of the Dam square in Amsterdam, panicking at - nobody knew what. The Queen and other royals were quickly led away into the nearby Palace. The master of ceremonies quickly announced that someone had collapsed and was being attended to by paramedics. Judging by the some of the pictures on NOS TV, which was being relayed on the Net, some bystanders were pushed over and hurt. It brought back some very bad memories of just over a year ago, when a deranged man drove into a crowd of spectators at the Queen's Day celebrations in Apeldoorn, killing 7. Hearing of the cause of the disturbance, I can only assume that the panic was caused by the memory of that terrible incident.

Within a minute or two, everybody had resumed their places, including the Queen. Amidst emotional scenes, the ceremony resumed by the playing of the National Anthem, colloquially referred to in Holland as the Wilhelmus.

Tuesday 4 May

As I'm typing this, the rain is once more closing in from across the Arnish hills, a mile away across the water. It has been a dreich day, with frequent drizzle although not really cold. The northwesterly wind has brought us a return of 'volcanic conditions' and 'dirty air'. The latter quote is courtesy Hebrides News, and can be happily misconstrued, which I'll do for a moment. If planes can't fly in dirty air, how come they are able to fly around London, where the air can be pretty polluted at the best of times?

Away from levity.
I was deeply saddened to see that Jane, "A journey of another kind", has now reached the point that once her pain has stabilised, she will return home to die. It is not that long ago that she was in Brazil on holiday. My thoughts are with her and her husband Martin, who keeps us informed when Jane is not able to. I posted on Call for Support yesterday, when things took a turn for the worse.

In just over half an hour's time, the Netherlands will come to a halt to observe a two minute's silence in memory of those that lost their life in the Second World War. The national event will take place on the Dam in the centre of Amsterdam; another event in the dunes outside The Hague where up to 280 people were summarily executed by the occupying forces of Nazi Germany. I observe this, as well as the Armistice Day commemoration in November.

In the context of the latter, I have been looking up further information on the Canadian casualties from Lewis from the First World War. The attestation papers give the address in Canada where the man in question lived before he signed up. It is possible for me to view the house courtesy Google Streetview. It struck me how many came from Fort William near Thunder Bay, Ontario. There is also a Fort William here in Scotland, 100 miles north of Glasgow. Many Lewismen emigrated to the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and were then transported up the Great Lakes to end up in places like Thunder Bay. Some crossed over into the USA, not far down the road, and abandoned all identifying items in order that they could not be sent back into Canada.

Monday 3 May

A cool day, but no complaints - at least it stayed dry and the sun put in an extensive appearance. Out of the wind, it felt quite warm. In the wind, it was cold.

The election circus is rollicking on and I'm heartily sick of it. I can't wait for Thursday to come along. To my mind, this election is all for the benefit of the media and the politicians. That is an over-simplification, but I hardly dare switch on the telly for fear of seeing more of the three prime culprits, not to mention the shouting champion of Scotland, otherwise known as its First Minister, Alex Salmond.

The volcanic ash cloud is back to haunt us. The Irish are closing their airspace, and the Western Isles are keeping a close eye on the ash, which is hovering just to the west of us. If I detect a sulphurous smell, it's either the Eyjafjallajoekull or I've had beans for supper.

Finally, I spent the afternoon mapping the villages of Pairc, which were cleared in 1821. Using an old map and modern satellite imagery, I could locate Brunigil, Stromos, Airigh Dhomhnuill Chaim, Rias, Scaladale Beag and Mor, Gilvicphaic, Ceannmore, Bagh Ciarach and Bagh Reimsabhaigh, Bunchorcabhig, Glenclaidh, Smosivig, Caolas an Eilean, Valamus and Valamus Beag, Ceann Chrionaig, Brollum, Hamascro, Mol Truisg, Molhagearraidh, Ailtenish, Buhanish, Gearraidh Righsaidh, Ceann Tigh Shealag, Gearraidh Reastail and Stiomrabhagh.

These foreign sounding names once meant home to small groups of people, scattered on the periphery of an area of mountainous moorland, whose highest peak, Beinn Mor, crests 1,700 feet. You can access the map on this link to find out which village each marker represents. Looking at the linked map, you can switch over to satellite view and zoom right into the marker. It will show a ruined house, homestead or even farmhouse. Kinloch Shell (Ceann Tigh Shealag) used to host an inn where the men from the district would come to drink. The ribbed appearance of the land is an indication of the runrig (or lazybed) system of agriculture. A lazybed is a ridge of ground generally used for growing potatoes and sometimes also for raising corn, the seed being laid on the surface and covered with earth dug out of trenches along both sides.

It is nearly 190 years ago since those villages were cleared, and its occupants packed off elsewhere. Not necessarily overseas, but certainly to elsewhere. To date, the evidence of their toil remains visible, even from as far away as outer space. The Eishken Estate, on which these tiny hamlets lie, is now the domain of the toffs, the shooting and fishing fraternity. In a few years, the hills will be desecrated by 33 wind turbines, each standing a third of the height of Beinn Mor, with attendant electricity transmission infrastructure.

Trying to read up on the history of the district pre-1821 yields practically nothing. It is heavily focused on the trials and tribulations of the Clan Mackenzie and the Earl of Seaforth. Nothing on the people who lived off the land. In a way, a distant echo came back from those days in the year 2005. The fifty folk living on the shores of Loch Seaforth objected to the Eishken Windfarm. But they were drowned out by the roar of big business.

I close with an image by BBC Islandblogger Molinginish showing Reimsabhagh.

Sunday 2 May

A quiet day, which started sunny, turned wettish around lunchtime and is turning sunny again now that the evening is drawing nigh.

In the world of snooker (for the uninitiated: a form of billiards), the world champion, John Higgins, has been accused of match fixing and been suspended indefinitely. One of his competitors is quoted on Twitter as saying "It's a bit of a flat day in the press room, nothing much going on". Nuff said.

Spent the afternoon tracking the Canadian element of my WW1 casualties, linking to their on-line attestation papers and submitting their portraits for the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. Should see some feed-back on that later this week.

Dinner tonight: leg of lamb with veg and spuds.

Swell at Sheshader

Showing a few moments of the swell, rolling in from the Minch at Sheshader this afternoon.

Two years later

It is two years ago today that I received word of my mother's death at the age of 72.
I would like to thank the J-land community (as was) for their support at the time and since.
Although I miss my mother every day, her deteriorating condition in the years up to May 2008 meant that her passing was a blessed relief.

Thanks to all.

Saturday 1 May

A brilliantly sunny day with a steady northeasterly breeze, keeping the temperatures in single figures. We're under warning for a slight overnight frost. Went into the town centre this morning, and ran into the two main candidates for next Thursday's general election, trying to win votes. I managed to get past without a balloon, which was being handed out to the younger passers-by. Perceval Square is being dug up, meaning that the public toilets are closed, the trees chopped down and four callboxes uprooated. Hope it's worth the upheaval; will post pictures when I get them.

This afternoon, I went to Point with someone in a car, visiting the villages of Knock, Swordale, Garrabost, Shulishader, Sheshader and Portvoller.


Tiumpan Head Lighthouse


Portvoller


Aird, Point




Around Sheshader slipway


Shulishader


Coastline below New Garrabost


New Garrabost


Swordale

Friday 30 April

After a sunny afternoon, the sun has disappeared behind the clouds and the wind is picking up. It hasn't been cold today. The day started badly for an Irish fishing boat which took on water in the Atlantic northwest of Lewis. Another fishing boat dashed to their aid and saved the 5 crewmembers on board.

I'm glad the three 'prime-ministerial debates' on television are over. We still have to endure another 5 days of politics until the General Election next Thursday. I am not denying it is an important event, but it is turning more into a media circus than anything else, and I'm heartily fed up with it. I will go so far as to say that Gordon Brown's gaffe has blown away his credibility. Saying one thing in someone's face, then the opposite behind their back is insincere. Just as well I'm not eligible to vote. I would probably not bother.

Visit to Kershader

This afternoon, I jumped on the bus and paid a brief visit to the village of Kershader, 22 miles by road and 12 miles as the crow flies from Stornoway. Kershader (Cearsiadar in Gaelic) is a small crofting township on the shore above Loch Erisort, the 15 mile long inlet from the sea. It is the cause for the lengthy detour. As you come down the main road at Laxay, you can actually see the village across the water. But you still have to go down a 10 mile detour round the head of the loch!

The object of the visit was the Ravenspoint Centre, a venue that I am only too familiar with. I stayed there during the 2004/5 winter, making many miles in the surrounding moorland until conditions became too inclement. It was there that I sat through a 48 hour black-out, caused by 100 mph winds on 11 January 2005. This same hurricane claimed 5 lives in Uist, 60 miles to the south.

Today, the Ravenspoint Centre (have a look on Streetview, link provided) looks a lot smarter. The shop is now much larger; I did not look in at the hostel, which can't have changed that much. The museum is all in a small room, but held some interesting artefacts.

It helped that the weather cleared up and warmed up as the day wore on, although the wind stayed chilly.

Loch Erisort at Balallan



Pairc Museum, Kershader



Inside the Ravenspoint Shop

A year ago tomorrow

On 30 April 2009, the annual Queen's Day festivities in Holland were cruelly torn apart by a man in car, who smashed into a crowd of spectators at 60 mph. He bore a grudge against the Dutch royal family, who were seated in an open-topped bus, within yards of his car as it veered across a road and collided with a monument. Kars Tates died not long after of his injuries. So did seven innocent bystanders. A memorial to these will be unveiled this afternoon in the city of Apeldoorn, 65 miles east of Amsterdam.

I was watching the events on television in Holland that day, and it is was quite strange to see a small black car, obviously not part of the festivities, suddenly appear at high speed and crashing into a monument. Unreal. But only too real for the bystanders, and the seven who died - and their relatives. They have requested the media to please leave them alone (Google translation of Dutch article).

Tomorrow, 30 April 2010, will see the 30th anniversary of Queen Beatrix's ascension to the throne in The Netherlands. I hope it will be a festive occasion, even if the weather will be a little cool and showery. I'll keep an eye on proceedings from here in Stornoway, courtesy the internet.

Thursday 29 April

After two days of continuous rain, today dawned fairly bright, if not very warm. I'm not really complaining about 11C at 10 am, but there is a breeze going and that cools things down. I am normally a late starter, but this morning saw me heading for Sandwick Cemetery at 9 am in order to search for a particular gravestone. I did not manage to locate it (the person in question died in a  hospital in Glasgow in 1917, but might have been transferred to Lewis after death for burial). I did find 9 other gravestones that are of interest to me for wargrave purposes.

Gordon Brown had his open mike moment yesterday, when he was all smiles to a voter in Rochdale, but called her a bigot when he was safe in his car. Or so he thought, because a mike on his jacket was still working. The tape was duly played to the voter, and also played to Gordon Brown himself as he was live on air on BBC Radio 2. He was also video'd, and he knew he had dropped a clanger. The PM returned to the lady's home to apologise, but the damage was done.

The dangers of deep-sea oil exploration are becoming clearer by the minute as an open oilwell continues to leak oil into the Gulf of Mexico, following the destruction of an oilplatform. The sea is 5000 feet deep, and efforts to plug the leak by robot have so far proven unsuccessful. The oilslick on the surface is a lot bigger than previous thought, and is set to come ashore in the US state of Louisiana in the next few days. It is forecast to be the worst oilspill in history.

St Kilda

This year, it will be 80 years ago since the islanders of St Kilda (Hiort) were evacuated to the Scottish mainland at their own request. It was on 29th August 1930 that the culture of St Kilda died with the passing to other shores of its inhabitants. This evening, Monty Halls in his Hebridean Hideaway visited the islands. The scenery was absolutely stunning. But otherwise, there was nothing there. There are no permanent residents left, the houses are ruinous, with a few exceptions, and the storage huts (cleits) stand empty and derelict. In other words, St Kilda is dead.

Monty Halls, who stayed in North Uist for six months from July 2009 onwards, got involved with the controversy surrounding the location of the St Kilda Centre. It will be a point where the culture and people of St Kilda will be celebrated and kept alive. The strife was bitter, and already reflected in Monty's programme. The other contestants were Mangersta (Lewis) and Leverburgh (Harris). Cleitraval (North Uist) is a hilltop location near Sollas, where a plaque sits on the hill, pointing out where St Kilda can be seen, 41 miles (70 km) away to the west.

In the end, the St Kilda Centre was allocated to Lewis, and will be erected off the road between Mangersta and Islivig, overlooking the cliffs of Mangersta to be reminiscent of the St Kilda clifftops. (This link will take you to the location courtesy Google Streetview). The people of Harris and North Uist are deeply upset over losing out over the centre. It will obviously bring tourists to the location involved, and Uig (in which Mangersta lies) can very well do with the revenue.

Some people in these islands have voiced misgivings over having a St Kilda Centre in the first place. I can have some sympathy with those who say it is not right to make money off people who were cruelly neglected by the Government of the day - and neglected they were. Conversely though, nothing will bring them back, and it is a way of keeping their memory and the memory of their culture alive.

Wednesday 28 April

Another day of rain with rather more wind than yesterday. Whilst the south of the UK basks in temperatures of nearly 22C, we're having to make do with 11C this afternoon. By the end of the week, all of the UK will have to do with 11C. It's only April (nearly May), and anything could still happen.

The Southern Hemisphere hurricane season is simpering to a conclusion on Friday, with nothing happening at present. The Northern Hemisphere season is slowly cranking up, with one tropical disturbance bringing rain to the south of the Philippines. The North Atlantic is still in winter mode, as is the Eastern Pacific. The seasons there will commence on June 1st and May 15th respectively.

My local rag, the Press and Journal, reported on events in the "Showboat" area of Lewis. Having a spell checker on your wordprocessor can be useful, but be careful not to allow it to automatically correct everything it perceives to be wrong. Shawbost is a lively community, and some would argue that the moniker "showboat" would not go amiss there.


Next week, it will be three years since Madeleine McCann disappeared whilst on holiday with her parents in Portugal. No reliable sightings of the girl, who would be nearly 7 now if she is still alive, have been made. Parents Gerry and Kate continue to search, and now accuse the British police of giving up on her. I can fully understand that the McCanns will never quit searching for Madeleine, but it is cringeworthy to note the flurry of fake sightings in the British gutter press. Employing the media is like wielding a two-edged sword: it can help you, but you will be chewed up and abused by the hacks to their own ends.

Finally, the Scottish National Party has failed in their bid to be allowed a representative on the final election debate on BBC TV on Thursday. They had argued that as the party in government in Scotland, they should be permitted someone alongside Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown. This argument has been rejected by the court, which found that the BBC had not breached its impartiality in refusing the SNP request to participate. The comments from other political parties, at the bottom of this BBC article, speak for themselves.

Caught up

I've just spent the past hour and a half catching up with blogs, something I had not gotten round to this month. In fact, since Palm Sunday (March 27th). Quite a few people have been saying on Facebook and their journals that they miss J-land. The good ole days of AOL, alerts (working or not), the wee chatroom we had for about 10 months and all that sort of jazz. I've never really taken to Blogger, but it's what we have, so that's it.

Tuesday 27 April

A very wet day here, with no immediate sign of improvement on the horizon. The rainfall radar shows a mass of rain moving in from the southwest, which will take its time to make its way east. Tomorrow should see a slight improvement, but more rain is forecast.

The coverage of the general election is beginning to tire me out, it seems to be a game for politicians and journalists, with Johnny Average left gasping on the sidelines. My take on elections is that the politicians are like tomcats in March, caterwauling their promises of everlasting fielty to the credulous recipients of their goodies. And when the evil deed is done, all the fair promises are so much fried air.

I was horrified to hear of the teacher who battered a pupil during class. It appears that the teacher had lost control of his class, and when he was sworn at also lost control of himself. He dragged the 14-year old culprit out of the classroom and hit him repeatedly with a heavy object.

When I was in school, I have witnessed a couple of occasions where the teacher lost the plot, after being goaded. Anyone can be provoked, given the wrong circumstances, and the battered youngster was by all accounts a pivotal player in classroom disruption. I do not condone violence in any form, and trust that measures will be taken to prevent a repeat. Not just towards the teacher, but also the class involved.

Monday 26 April

Forgot to put in the entry for Monday, so a few lines about that here. It was a nice and bright day, albeit without much open sunshine. But there was sufficient clearance between the clouds to give it a decent feel. Temperatures about 12C. I went to see an exhibition of local art in the An Lanntair gallery. Grinneas nan Eilean is an annual event, where everybody can submit their artwork for exhibition and, potentially, sale. The quality was variable, from the extremely good to the "I don't know what this is supposed to be" very bad. An Lanntair hangs works right down to the skirting boards, putting the sticker with artist's name and price on the skirting board.

I spent the past few weeks on a revision of data on the Faces from the Lewis War Memorial website, and continue to put them onto the site from a workingfile. Bit of a job, if you bear in mind there are 1300 names on it.

Afternoon stroll

Stornoway on Sunday is a very quiet place, where very few people move. I went for an amble round South and North Beach, and caught the following images.

Sunday 25 April - Anzac Day

Today is ANZAC day, the day when Australia and New Zealand remember their troops, lost in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. I refer to the linked article on Wikipedia for a detailed account of this campaign. The 95th anniversary commemorations today have been darkened by a helicopter crash near Wellington, New Zealand, in which three people were killed. The chopper was to take part in the ceremonies marking ANZAC Day.

The casualty figures of Gallipoli are sobering. The Allies lost about 44,000, with 96,000 injured. The Turks lost 86,000, with 164,000 injured. Of the Allies, the British suffered the worst losses, nearly 50% of the above total. Australia and New Zealand lost 8,700 and 2,700 respectively, with 19,400 and 4,700 injured. I once watched a movie named Gallipoli, which is a moving account of an Australian boy who put his age on in order to join up - only to be mowed down in a senseless rush on Turkish lines.

Like the First World War as a whole, Gallipoli was an unnecessary exercise in bloodletting, exacerbated by military and strategic incompetence.

More later.

Saturday 24 April

Quite a nice day, although not with a lot of bright sunshine about. The mercury is going in the right direction, with a max of 13C this afternoon, making it feel much milder than earlier in the week.

Last night, we had the first indication that summer was on its way. The small cruiseliner Quest came into port just before sundown, and left at lunchtime today. The picture I took this afternoon was not very good, but she is a regular appearance at the start and the end of the cruiseliner season.



Today's excitement centered on the Condock II, the strange ship which has been in Glumag Harbour, directly opposite my position, for the past few days. It appears, so Hebrides News tells me, that this ship can pump water into tanks in its hold, lowering it into the water. As a result, it is like a floating dry-dock. When the stern doors are opened, water floods in and the barges that it has transported here can be taken out.

Which is exactly what happened earlier this evening. I noticed a flurry of activity, with a small tug in attendance and the stern doors of the Condock II open. With a lot of manoeuvering, choice language and tight squeezes the first barge was eased out of the ship and towed to one of the piers on South Beach. The whole exercise took about 45 minutes. I had taken up front row position by the Coastguard Station and later on Goat Island and gathered about 30 pictures of proceedings.


The barge


The tug


The tow


Emerging from the hold of the Condock II

Friday 23 April

A wet day today and quite cold. The mercury has not reached much above 5C today.
The Condock II continues to discharge its cargo at Glumag Harbour. I have now found out that it came with three accommodation units for use on fishfarms.


A discussion was held on BBC Radio Scotland this afternoon from the An Lanntair arts centre here in Stornoway. It was between the five main candidates, with an audience in attendance. The BBC's main political correspondent Brian Taylor was in the chair. The Conservatives' candidate was speaking by radiolink from Dundee, as she had been unable to fly up due to volcanic ash. The BBC crew had been unable to use the same airlink, but probably squeezed onto the overnight freight ferry MV Muirneag. The link from Dundee had a bad echo on it. Mssrs Macneil, Macsween, Murray and Ms Davies provided an entertaining 45 minutes on issues pertaining to the Western Isles. As I am not eligible to vote in this election, I shall refrain from passing further comment.

As I indicated above, the plane service to this island was disrupted this morning due to unsafe levels of volcanic ash. A flight service did resume in the afternoon.

To be remembered

Norman Morrison, formerly of 10A South Dell in Lewis, died on 16 March 1917 after suffering with TB for 9 months. He had served on the Western Front, but was repatriated with gunshot wounds. He was interred at Swainbost Cemetery, but his grave was not marked. Norman would have qualified for a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) gravestone, but was overlooked.

I have gathered what I hope is sufficient evidence for Norman to be included on the CWGC files and be afforded a proper gravestone. Even if his actual grave cannot be located.

Thursday 22 April

Nice day with a lot of bright sunshine and no showers worthy of the mention. No flights at all out of Stornoway, as a no-fly zone remains in force over the far northwest of Scotland due to volcanic ash.

An unusual ship came into port this afternoon to deliver what looks like prefabricated buildings and boats. I don't know what that is all about, but Glumag Harbour, where the ship docked, is directly in my line of sight, so I'll keep an eye on proceedings.

I should explain my previous post 'Out of Office'. When I post on Tropical Cyclones, about 70 people get automated emailed notifications of the new entry. Two people had an automated reply engaged on their email accounts, as they were away on holiday.

STV News came from outside the Woodlands Centre in Stornoway this evening, which was a nice surprise. Tomorrow, there will be an election debate at An Lanntair here, which will be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland at 1215 pm. It should also be relayed on-line.

Out of office

This morning, I made the first entry on the Tropical Cyclones blog in ten days, a record time. There were no hurricanes or the like to report on. However, my entry elicited two automated Out of Office replies from the Southern Hemisphere. One from Rarotonga and one from Australia. Both were away on holiday.

Enjoy yourselves down there.

Wednesday 21 April

As I'm typing this post, MV Muirneag comes in, nearly 3 hours late. The Muirneag is our cargoboat which takes lorries and other goods vehicles from the mainland on an overnight crossing. It is cold and bright with intermittent heavy showers this morning. Much like yesterday, which saw a litany of showers of snow, hail, rain and the kitchensink. Yesterday, Stornoway airport was the busiest in the country. This morning, there is hardly a plane to be seen, as only the flights to Inverness operate. It has something to do with the presence of ash from the Iceland volcano in the area. That should not be a problem for very much longer, as the weather forecast shows the wind direction to be veering to the southwest tonight.

Meanwhile, the airlines can now start the mammoth task of repatriating 150,000 Britons stuck overseas.

Back to normal?

Since 10pm this evening, all airports in the United Kingdom have been reopened to flights. The Civil Aviation Authority has issued guidance, stating that it is now safe to reopen British airspace. This comes after a reassessment of the risk, posed by volcanic ash, to aircraft engines. Engine manufacturers have said that lower levels of ash do not pose a substantial risk to engines.

This advice was issued as a dozen British Airways flights were headed east across the Atlantic towards the UK. The airlines have been clamouring since the weekend for a reassessment of the risk posed by the ash - a reassessment they have now got. I find it very strange that 6 hours after almost all UK airports were closed, they are now suddenly back to normal. Well, up to a point. I feel that BA (and other airlines) have leaned on the regulatory authorities to shift the goalposts in their favour. Yes, it was also imperative to sort out this mess for the sake of 150,000 British travellers stuck overseas, faced with days of travelling, mounting expenses etc.

It will take a fair number of days for the backlog to be cleared, of people wishing to return to the UK and of people wishing to depart overseas. It is just as well that the weather patterns over the Atlantic are shifting, with the wind veering to the southwest later this week.

Tuesday 20 April

April showers are the order of the day here, with rain, hail, snow and the kitchen-sink coming down at regular intervals. The ferry was nearly an hour late coming in at 1.50pm (usually 1pm), and it's just leaving port on its way back to Ullapool on the mainland.

Stornoway Airport was open this morning, and was the busiest airport in the country for a while. It is closing as I type, after a flight bound for Aberdeen, takes off. Observations across the UK still show one or two layers of ash in the atmosphere at altitudes up to about 16,000 feet. It bears out the continued closure of UK airspace today. The blustering from airlines that it was all on over-reaction has been proven incorrect, as several NATO jets returned to base with damage to their engines after flying through the ash-cloud.

The poor people of Iceland are not very popular in the UK, what after the 1970s cod war, the collapse of banks in the island state with billions of savers' deposit in it and now volcanic ash. To quote a newspaper editor on Sky TV last night: we want your cash, not your ash.

Monday 19 April

After an overnight frost, the day dawned bright - but that was not to last. Several showers, most with hail, have been passing over and the wind is brisk. Although we have managed 10C / 50F today, it has mostly been around 6C / 43F.

The volcano in Iceland that has been spewing out a lot of ash in recent days, causing havoc in European air travel, appears to have changed to spewing out lava, and less ash. There have been calls from airlines to review the blanket ban on flights - they are losing £130m / $200m a day. I feel this to be premature. Reports have emerged that two fighter jets were damaged by volcanic ash, and a Met Office plane encountered dangerous levels of ash. However, the weather forecasts hint at a change by Friday, when strong southwesterlies could sweep it all away.

The British government has enlisted the Royal Navy to get Britons, stranded across the Channel home; arrangements are being made with Spain to fly people stranded in America, Asia or Australia in there, thence to be taken to the UK over land or sea.

The latest news is that UK airspace, from Scotland south, will be reopened in the course of Tuesday.

Sunday 18 April

Fairly bright and calm, with some slow-moving, wintry-looking showers about. Although London is getting up to 19C today, we're just managing to crest 5C / 41F at the moment.

No flights anywhere in the UK today, with a ban on flights now in place until midnight GMT tonight. Several airlines have sent research aircraft up to 40,000 feet to see what happens. All have returned to the ground safely, but the planes will be checked for damage, which may not be immediately obvious. It was explained this morning that flying through the pall of ash, currently lying over Europe, may not shut an engine down, it could cause irreparable damage. The volcano is still emitting ash, and the weather patterns appear to be unchanging.

Zimbabwe is celebrating 30 years of independence. Its revolutionary leader from 1980, Robert Mugabe, remains in power, having made a pig's ear of leading his country. After permitting inflation to reach eye-watering heights, wrecking the country's farming system and embarking on a systematic campaign of bullying, harassment and murder against white farmers, there is precious little to celebrate. A degree of economic stability has been achieved after a power-sharing agreement with the opposition, but things are still dire.
Below video was made in November 2007.

Saturday 17 April

Pouring with rain all day, a situation not likely to improve.

Neither is the situation around air travel in western and northern Europe. The cloud of ash out of the Icelandic volcano continues to track southeast across the Atlantic, causing a near-total shutdown of airports on the continent. The UK is also still a no-fly zone. The implications are massive. Not only are people unable to travel within countries, or fly overseas, those caught out abroad since Thursday are unable to return by air. The situation is dire but manageable for continental Europe; there are ferries across the North Sea as well as the Channel Tunnel. The situation is horrendous for anyone caught out on another continent. Travellers will run out of credit on their creditcards, hotelbills will ratchet up to dizzying heights, they cannot return to work or school. As far as transportation goes, food cannot be imported from overseas (if it has a short shelf life, e.g. soft fruit), spare parts cannot be flown in at a couple of hours' notice.

At moment of posting, all flight movements across the UK are banned until 0600 GMT tomorrow morning, and this is likely to be extended for a couple of days beyond that point.

Picture post

First of all, I have changed the front pic - I was getting depressed by the wintry scene with that ruined house. Its place is taken by a view from Harris, and I'm taking the liberty of lumping the southern part of the Long Island with Lewis, the northern part of it.

The volcanic ash from Iceland gave us a fantastic sunset last night.


Is this man drowning in his own lawn?


Smoke plumes from muirburn (this was before the volcanic ash story erupted)


Prevailing winds

Friday 16 April

A grey day with occasional light rain. Seen no evidence of volcanic ash, other than a rather nice sunset last night. I'm not expecting anything tonight, as the weather is not conducive.

Virtually all flights to and from (and within) the UK remain grounded, with the exception of a few flights to and from the Western Isles - including Stornoway. It is a patchy service, and only going to Glasgow and Aberdeen, not to Edinburgh. It will not be until tomorrow at the earliest that we'll have a resumption of services elsewhere, and that is not certain. It all depends on two factors: the eruption of the volcano in Iceland and the weather patterns. At present, winds are veering towards the west, near Iceland, meaning that the ash will be blown towards Scandinavia. However, the weathercharts do indicate that a northwesterly airflow could resume quite soon. And nobody knows how long the volcano could continue to erupt. Estimates vary from a few days to a few years.

The General Election. How long until May 6th?

Not remembered - 3

You may remember from a few weeks ago that I am working to get a casualty of the First World War on the Commonwealth Wargraves Commission register. Things have progressed, and the last piece of the jigsaw is about to fall into place. In the next day or so, I shall receive confirmation that Norman Morrison, formerly of 10A South Dell, was buried at the Swainbost Cemetery on 16 March 1917. He died 9 months after contracting turberculosis.

Once I have confirmation, a case will be submitted to the CWGC to have Norman entered onto their records. A CWGC wargrave stone will then be erected at the cemetery.

In connection with this, it has come to my attention that reservists who died after being discharged from war service do not qualify for CWGC status. Not fair, is it?


This is the Swainbost Cemetery, where 9,000 people have been buried since the 16th century.Norman Morrison's grave is somewhere in here - each stone represents a grave.

Thursday 15 April

When I have finished writing this post, all flights within UK airspace will have been suspended due to a cloud of ash in the upper atmosphere. The ash is being pumped out by a volcanic eruption in southwestern Iceland. The disruption is considerable, with tens of thousands of passengers unable to fly. People in Shetland are presently reporting a sulphurous smell. The cloud is expected to pass across northern Britain in an hour or so. It is not known how long the disruption will last, as this is tied to the volcanic eruption. Flights are grounded, because volcanic ash can cause considerable damage to aircraft engines.

Here in Lewis, we will therefore not have any mail, and the papers will be in this afternoon, on board the ferry. Not smelling any rotten eggs outside - yet.

More information on the BBC and many other websites.

Wednesday 14 April

A very nice sunny day in Stornoway, albeit slightly on the cool side. Mercury at 11C, but we are under warning for more * wintry * weather next week. Right.

I was outside earlier on when I noticed two large columns of smoke, rising to the northeast of the town. That is actually towards the airport. I then heard sirens. My twitter contacts advised me that it was most likely to be muirburn - people are allowed to burn patches of moorland in early spring.

A ship has docked at the Arnish Fabrication Yard across from my position and is loading those strange contraptions that have been sitting on the quayside for a week. I don't know what they are.


A few days ago, I learned a new expression from the field of military history. "Disembodied". It turns out that this means that a reservist is embodied when he is called up into active service. When he is discharged, he reverts to being a civilian immediately, which renders him disembodied. Weird. 

Retrospective - II

The sun is sinking towards the horizon on what has been a gloriously sunny if slightly cool day. The ferry is just preparing to dock on its customary 8.20pm arrival, now in broad daylight. I guess I'm in reflective mood today, with no fewer than two retrospectives.

The J-land Central blog lists the names and blogs of those that have gone before, and I went round their journals, now transferred to Blogger. The year 2007 was not good for our community, but 2008 was not much better, if for a completely different reason.

Lahoma's Laments - Lahoma, RIP 25 December 2007
The Diatom Project - Walt, RIP 27 April 2007
My Reason for Reasoning - Barbara, RIP 20 November 2007
Dribble by Chuck Ferris - Chuck, RIP 1 July 2008
There are no Sundays - Jim, RIP April 2007
I shaved my legs for this??? - Kim, RIP 26 December 2007
One Girl's Head Noise (UK) - Pam, RIP 16 April 2006
Pennie's Pieces of Ohio - Penny, RIP 1 October 2007

Please call round our old friends. Their writings will be there for us all to enjoy for as long as we want.

Retrospective

Every once in a while, I do a retrospective on this blog, and today you're going to get one from me again.

I started blogging in October 2004, as a way of keeping a travel diary. At the time, I was flitting back and forth across the north and west of Scotland, until I settled down in Stornoway. I became aware of a community of journalers on AOL, and was propelled into that when I learned that one of their number, Pamela Hilger (his1desire) had died after a lengthy struggle against breast cancer.

In the two years following that Easter Sunday in 2006, I came quite actively involved in J-land - until AOL decided to commit corporate suicide and pull the plug on various services, including its journals. Since then, most people who wanted to continue blogging went to Blogger, but quite a few have given up. Or moved to Facebook, Myspace, Twitter or other social networking sites.

I was very pleased to note the response to an appeal on Call for Support and Facebook for one of the former bloggers, Joyce, who lost her daughter last week. It only goes to show that the community spirit is still alive, although the blogging and commenting has fallen off.

Tuesday 13 April

Nice bright day with good sunshine although with a veil of haze and some cloud about.

The piece below relates to the Harris Tweed industry. It may benefit some of you to know that Harris Tweed is a trademark, and the tweeds have to comply with standards, set out by Act of Parliament. Simply put, wool is processed by  Harris Tweed mill in the islands into yarn. This is then taken to the weaver's home, who will weave it into a tweed. The tweed will then be collected by the mill and processed to a cloth that can be turned into garments or whatever. When reading my critique, it should be borne in mind that until now, the skill of weaving was passed on between people informally.

It was with very mixed feelings that I read on Hebrides News that as of 2011 all Harris Tweed weavers will require a formal qualification before they are issued with tweeds by the Harris Tweed mills. Whilst it is a good thing that people’s skills are recognised, I am just wondering whether this is not one more nail in the coffin of the Harris Tweed industry.

In the past, weavers learned their skills informally and did not have to gain a formal qualification for the Harris Tweed mills to send them materials to turn into tweeds. They would have been only too happy for any weavers to do work for them, as their order books were bulging and could hardly keep up with demand. And I do not recall that there were major problems with the quality of the work.

I am fully aware that in this day and age, you can only do most jobs if you hold the requisite paperwork (diploma, certificate, whatever) issued by a recognised college. I do not fault anyone for going down this path in the case of Harris Tweed weavers - but only for the reasons given in this paragraph alone.
The Harris Tweed industry has been decimated, with dozens of weavers giving up their looms for lack of work. The closure of the Stornoway mill due to the (lack of) activities on the part of its owner, Brian Haggas of Keighley, exacerbated the situation further. To place a further impediment in the way for people to rejoin the industry is not very wise at all. It shows in a painful manner how skills are being lost that used to be passed down the generations, and commend those in charge of the course for endeavouring to keep them alive.
In my opinion, it would have been much better to have built up a substantial workforce first, and maintain it in later stages using the system of qualifications.

However, there is a final point which is NOT being addressed - the lack of industrial capacity. The mills at Shawbost and Carloway have nowhere near the capacity that used to exist in this island and I am very cynical indeed when I read of all the promotional activity that is going on for Harris Tweed. What is the point of doing all that, including training people to be weavers, if you don’t have the capacity to process the tweeds in the volumes that you need to make it a viable industry that will make a substantial contribution towards the economy of these islands.

Hurricane update - 12 April

There are no tropical cyclones (hurricanes, typhoons) anywhere in the world, as the Southern Hemisphere season moves to a close at the end of the month. By the second half of May, the Northern Hemisphere season cranks into gear with the East Pacific beginning to spawn hurricanes. The Atlantic follows suit in June.

Those in Hurricane Alley probably don't need reminding to start preparing for what will follow in the summer. Although a forecast for the 2010 hurricane was issued today, it is not held to have any accuracy. The above average sea surface temperatures in the area where hurricanes commonly form (1.26C above normal) does not bode well, but there are many other factors that will determine how many hurricanes will form.

Monday 12 April

Morning all. Later this week turns out just a day later, so nothing unusual after all. Felt quite tired yesterday, hence the notice.

Yesterday, I was able to sit outside for lunch and enjoy the warm sunshine. The midges were out there as well, as was a large bumblebee. That one was a queen, looking for a nest site.

This morning is overcast and not as mild as yesterday. I'll make another posting later this afternoon.

Sunday 11 April

It was a brilliantly sunny day, and we went up to 18C / 64F this afternoon.

I am resuming updates on Atlantic Lines later this week.

Saturday 10 April

A beautiful spring day, which saw the temperatures reach the dizzying heights of 60F or 15C. The highest this year so far. The garden table and chairs were put outside and mould removed from same. The birds are busy building their nests and the doves cooing lovingly around the backyard.

A plane crash near Smolensk in western Russia has claimed the lives of all on board, which included the Polish president Lech Kaczynski and senior members of his government. Poland has declared a week of mourning, and I join in the worldwide expressions of condolences to the country on its sad loss. Mr Kaczynski was headed for a commemoration of the massacre at Katyn, then in Poland, where Soviet forces murdered 20,000 Polish intellectuals at the start of the Second World War. It is now 70 years since that dreadful event and today's tragedy cast an even blacker pall over the Katyn event.

It is suggested that the crash was caused by fog. The air traffic controllers at Smolensk had suggested the plane divert to Minsk in Byelo-Russia (to the west), but this was refused by the pilots. Visibility was down to 500 metres at Smolensk, and the plane made several attempts to land before its wings clipped treetops and crashed, killing all 96 on board.

I hardly ever play the geegees, but today I stuck some money on the Grand National. Chance had it that my horse won!

Two interesting findings in the course of my local history research (see map above, click on markers to see locations). First was an interesting census record of the village of Crola. This is no longer inhabited. It stands at Kinlochresort, the head of Loch Resort, in the remote west of Lewis. In 1891, a shepherd's family resided there. Catherine Macdonald, aged 63, is quoted as a shepherd's widow, living there with her two fishermen sons John (41), Malcolm (26) and daughter Annie (22). There is also a granddaughter Ann, aged 13, presumably (but not certain) the child of John. Catherine's home is marked as having two rooms with windows. The noteworthy thing is that her offspring is marked as living in Lewis, whereas she and her granddaughter Ann, aged 13, are marked as being born in Harris. This is significant, because Lewis used to be part of Ross and Cromarty, and Harris was part of Inverness-shire.The confusion arises on account of the fact that the county boundary ran at Kinlochresort. On the Harris side of the river lies Luachair, also uninhabited today (white house in image to the right). Would you believe that there was once a school at Crola, which was a so-called side school to the main village school at Loch Croistean, a mere ten miles away. More stories on the local historical society website.

One of the nearly 1300 local casualties was Angus Macdonald, who served with New Zealand forces in France. He died of wounds on the Western Front on 4 December 1917. A naturalised American national, Angus must have crossed the Pacific after emigrating to the States. He was born in the hamlet of Islivig in the district of Uig, 40 miles west of Stornoway.