NaBloPoMo - day #6

As I type this, four hours after sunset, the rain is clattering against the windows. The weather has treated us to a varied menu, from sunshine to showers, from poor visibility to a glorious sunset. It's November, and we'll know about it. Sun rises at 8 am, and sets at 4 pm, and we'll lose a total of two hours of daylight by the time we hit the winter solstice. This is the time of year where people here complete their preparations for winter. Extra light-bulbs, candles, oil lamps; coal and logs for the fire; salt for the drives and paths around the house - and anti-freeze for the car. Winter here means short days, long nights - not necessarily perishingly cold, but certainly cold enough for ice on the roads. The local council, under severe financial restraint, has had to prioritise roads for gritting, which doesn't normally start until 6 am. That is not going to help anyone going on the ferry in the morning, as you have to be at the ferry before 6 am. Those in the outlying districts have to leave before 5 to make it on time; the ferry staff are very strict on the deadline. I have not seen much snow in Stornoway over the nearly one dozen winters I have been here. The deepest snow fell in the winter of 2010 / 2011, when 6 inches fell in November, which did not melt until January. The slush that resulted froze again at night, leaving the pavements in the town impassable. Pedestrians (like myself) had to chance their lives in the roadway, and when I wanted to go to Sandwick one day, I was physically unable to cross a 6 ft wide path, as it was too slippery. I don't mind winter, but some people do. It is that time of year when people who came to love the island in summer, with blue skies, the green grass and the glistening sea, endless days of sunshine - suddenly find that the streetlights stay on all day, it is dark grey outside, with hail and rain lashing the windows, the grass is yellow, brown or even black and there is only 6 and a bit hours of daylight. If you do survive a Hebridean winter, you're made of stern stuff. I've made it through about ten.

NaBloPoMo - day #5

Today is November 5th, Guy Fawkes night here in the United Kingdom. Fireworks displays in various places, including here in Lewis, and warnings about safety for people as well as animals. Guy Fawkes is credited with the gun-powder plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Nowadays, he would be called a terrorist. If he had succeeded, he would have been a hero. With all the talk of terrorism around the world, it reinforces the old adage that one man's terrorist is someone else's freedom fighter. Which brings me onto those that abuse religion for their political ends. At the moment, it is "Islamic extremists"; 500 years ago, it was Roman Catholic extremists. I mean, burning at the stake, exterminating the population of an entire continent in the name of God, isn't that any better than "Islamic State" in 2015? Before Columbus felt the religious imperative to conquer what became known as America, people from Europe were trading quite happily with folk in East Africa, without batting an eyelid at the colour of their skin, or having qualms about their religion. Trade was the name of the game. Soon, it became exploitation. In the name of God? I don't think so. Want my take on it? God is setting us challenges, and we're failing abysmally. Why do I say that? I paraphrase the Qu'ran (yep, that Book): God gave man the Torah, and he ignored it. God gave man the Gospels, and he ignored it. God gave man the Qu'ran - and he ignored it!

NaBloPoMo - day #4

November is settling in nicely, and I'm progressing nicely with Movember as well. You can donate, if you wish to do so, through my page on that site. I'll think about posting a pic on the final result. I do think it is a good idea to highlight issues surrounding men's health. For men, it is perceived as a sign of weakness to admit that there is anything wrong with them. Particularly when it comes to things like your prostate or your testicles. However, cancer in either can be just as deadly as any other form of cancer, and it's a good idea to give men a heads-up about things like that. Another problem is mental health, with 1 in 4 people experiencing a depressive episodes at some point in their lives. Again, men don't want to admit they are feeling down, or worse, for fear of being regarded as a wuss, a weakling or not very virile. Taking mental health issues out of the taboo corner is imperative. Having a broken mind is just as bad as having a broken leg, and it takes far longer to heal. You can't ignore a broken leg, and a broken mind also needs fixing. Support Movember.

NaBloPoMo - day #3

November rules, and it rules foggily. Fog also shrouds the identity of those who gained control of the Twitter and Facebook accounts of our esteemed weekly paper, the Stornoway Gazette, aged 99 come next January. Apparently, there is considerable disquiet about outsourcing of work, such as design, journalism and what not. The editor was called unpleasant names, the paper was referred to as having declined from an esteemed broadsheet to a dire publication. To top it all, the Gazette shop, at the corner of Francis Street and Kenneth Street, is to close at the end of the year, since it is not seen to be commercially viable. Somebody is seriously rocking the boat, and although Johnston Press (who publish the Gazette) say they are dealing with it, the Gazette's Twitter account continues to display the last utterances of the disgruntled employee. Those who are supposed to be in the know of course say 'It wasn't me guv, honest'. In this small community (Stornoway's population is about 9,000), everybody knows everybody else, and as a result you tend to sit on criticism, or ventilate it in limited circles. This little spat made it as far as the webpages of the BBC and the Glasgow Herald, one of the largest papers in Scotland.

NaBloPoMo - day #2

November has come in quite mild this year. I always talk about the weather because it is important, if only because it determines whether our ferries can sail. That in turn is vital, as everything comes from across the water. Stornoway, a town of 9,000 souls, lies on the eastern shores of the island of Lewis, and is 50 miles northwest of the mainland port of Ullapool. The passenger ferry Loch Seaforth takes two and a half hours to cover the distance. At present, her predecessor, Isle of Lewis, is on the run, as the Seaforth is in drydock for her annual overhaul. At night, freight is taken to the islands by ferry, which currently is undertaken by the Hildasay. She will leave once the Seaforth comes back from drydock. The Hildasay normally plies the route to the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland) and is run by Serco. This brings a political angle, as the Western Isles ferry routes are up for retendering. There are two contenders, Calmac (the current operators) and Serco. Calmac is state-funded (its island routes are lifelines), but if the tender is awarded to Serco, it will become a private enterprise, a wholly for-profit operation. Whether that is in the best interest of the islands, or even the ferry crews, is subject of a fierce debate. A decision on the tender is to be taken in 2016.

NaBloPoMo - day #1

This month, I endeavour to post on this blog at least once a day, each day. My post count should therefore stand at #3435, if not more, by the end of November. I have blogged for more than eleven years, starting in October 2004. At first, it was a diary of my travels through northern Scotland, later a diary of life in Stornoway, in the island of Lewis. In 2006, I became involved with J-land, the community of journalers on AOL - America Off Line as some called the service rather scathingly. To date, I have never met any of the bloggers from the community. But I have become involved with their trials, tribulations, triumphs and challenges of day life. Some have passed away, and I felt their loss keenly. Latterly, I have moved onto Facebook, and Atlantic Lines, the successor to Northern Trip on AOL, was in danger of languishing in the doldrums. This month, I hope to revert back to old form.

NaNoWriMo & Movember

NaNoWriMo means National Novel Writing Month, and that is always November. Every day, you are committed to writing at least 1,840 words of a novel, that will eventually comprise at least 50,000 words. Some of you may have read my short stories, and I'm not sure I can manage 1,840 words each day. I'm writing this on 31st October, and I'll sleep on the subject matter of my novel. I may not come out with a coherent idea to start with, but it'll grow. Much as my facial hair is set to grow in November, as part of Movember, when men grow their moustaches and beards for charity. No, you're not getting any pics, not on a public blog like this. LOL.

I shall continue with my occasional postings on this blog, but will publish a NaNoWriMo posting every day for the next 30 days. Gawd, what have I let myself in for ;-)

Migrants

In amongst the furore of the large numbers of migrants, refugees and what else, that are coming into southeastern Europe, one question remains unanswered. It is not why all those people are on the move. That is pretty well documented, hashed up on our television and computer screens day in day out. A brutal civil war in Syria, unrest in Afghanistan (tell me something I didn't already know), repression in various parts of the Middle East and griding poverty in large swathes of Africa. I am slightly non-plussed why all those people are united in their desire to go to Germany. But even that is not relevant.

The question is: how do they come to Europe's shores, and more to the point, who is organising it. Who stands to pocket a million pounds a boatload, and doesn't give a pin for the fate of those on board, whether they reach the other side or just Davy Jones's locker? Who has the logistics to organise hundreds of boats and thousands of lifejackets? Seen those pics of the mountains of lifejackets that are accumulating on the Greek island of Lesbos? A lot of the Middle Eastern migrants arrive through Turkey, which (on the surface at least) doesn't bat an eyelid at what goes on on its western shores. I do not point the finger at the Turkish government persé, by the way, although their role does not stand up to scrutiny. A similar people smuggling exercise was occurring between Libya and Italy, with countless numbers of boats and thousands of people ending up on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.

In the fierce debate over the numbers of people that have to be housed across Europe (do they?), the question of transportation and logistics is not being addressed.

Who are the people smugglers, who supports them, bankrolls them (if they need bankrolling by now), and what do they stand to gain by Europe's discomfiture; in plain English, what is the political angle.

Interconnector

For several years now, there has been discussion on upgrading the electricity link between Lewis, Harris and the Scottish mainland. This is particularly necessary in view of the various windfarms and other renewable energy projects in the island. SSE, which are proposing to build the link, are holding a public consultation from 21 October until 20 November. I am publishing my feedback to the project below.

For reference, HVDC means High Voltage Direct Current.

[Start]

A few points as feedback for the Western Isles project.

1. The list of renewable energy sites which would connect into the HVDC link does not include the Pairc Windfarm. Planning consent remains current (if memory serves), but the developer SSE withdrew a while back. A new developer is still being sought. I would have expected this project to be included as well. Again from memory, the output would have been not far off 100 MW.

2. The Muaitheabhal windfarm (Eishken) still features in the list, in spite of the fact that developer GDF / Suez (or whatever they are called these days) pulled out. If the logic applies as per point 1, I would have expected this project to have been omitted from the list.

3. Over the past few years, SSE have put back a decision whether or not to proceed with the HVDC link on the grounds that they did not feel its economical viability was assured. This became an issue after consent for the North Lewis Windfarm was withheld in 2008. The rump of that is now the Stornoway Windfarm.

4. From the above points, I feel that the question becomes pertinent whether SSE feels that the HVDC is economically viable. If the answer is now affirmative, the follow-up question should be whether this still applies if no developer is found for Muaitheabhal, as that would slash 159 MW off the total Western Isles output, reducing it to approximately 290 MW. A developer has to be found by 2017 - the expiry date for the planning consent. Looking at your documentation, your timeline suggests that the construction of the link would be well underway. Would it not be commercially more sensible to wait for a developer to be found for Muaitheabhal, rather than take the substantial risk of committing SSE to a major investment (of some £1bn) on which it may then not get sufficient return?

5. I am getting the impression that SSE is actually now committing itself to the construction of the HVDC link, possibly under political pressure. This, from my perspective, emanates from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar all the way up to the Energy Minister in the Scottish Government. Whilst I appreciate that renewable energy has its role to play in fulfilling the energy requirements of the United Kingdom, there has also been a shift away from on-shore windfarms, due to changes to the subsidy structures that underpin these projects. Not everybody is happy to live under the shadow of a windfarm.

6. I am bemused to note that the Muaitheabhal project, without a single turbine on the hills, without a millimetre of infrastructure to link it to the National Grid, and without a single wattsecond to show for output, has already succeeded in producing hundreds of thousands of pounds of 'community benefit'. If anything, that shows me that this drive for on-shore windfarms has more to do with the lapping up of subsidies than a genuine desire to reduce the environmental impact of electricity generation. I am aware that there is the Siadar Wave Barrage amongst the Western Isles projects, adding the grand total of 40 MW to the overall output.

You will appreciate from my comments that I am critical of the advent of the HVDC and some of the renewable energy projects that have come to dot Lewis. I do hope that my remarks, meant constructively, are of use.

Regards,

[End]

Film rebuff

I am not into films at all. I have only darkened the door of a cinema twice in the last twenty years. First occasion was in 2001, when I went to see The Fellowship of the Ring (Lord of the Rings trilogy) - too violent and noisy. My remaining memory: please lob off his head so we can get on with the storyline. I know Lord of the Rings back to front. Second movie was Harry Potter and the Somniferent Stone, which (as my cheeky rename implies) nearly sent me to sleep. 

Oh, I saw a few local movies during my time in Stornoway - The Rocket Post (December 2005) was enjoyable. The Rocket Post is about the explosive failure of the experiment to send mail from Scarp to Harris by rocket - which exploded after launch, scattering the mail far and wide. 

Another example is Crowdie and Cream, after the book by Finlay J Macdonald. The subject matter is a young boy growing up at Scarista in the shadow of looming World War II. It brings a laugh, mingled with a tear. The most moving episode is when the men go off to war on the ferry, and are sent off with a Gaelic psalm. You can watch the excerpt here.

Putin in Syria

Russia's president Vladimir Putin has put in his nine-pence worth by bombing Syria, to bolster his buddy Assad. The Americans are predicting reprisal bombings in Russia proper by IS militants; the Russians already have had their less than fair share of terrorism from the Caucasian republics like Chechnya and Dagestan. These bombers also claim Islamic allegiance. Syria is a long-standing ally of Russia (previously: the USSR) in the Middle East. Apart from providing a port for Russian warships on the open Mediterranean, it is also Russia's sole true ally in the region. Not something they'll readily give up. 

If you want a yardstick to measure Putin's policies by, he is a bully. If you show him weakness, or if he perceives a weakness, he will exploit it. Politically, I don't think he cares if he is described as on the left or the right. I have watched a frightening documentary on the rise of extreme nationalism in Russia, not unlike the rise of national-socialism in the Germany of the 1930s. Like in pre-war Germany, Russia's fall from grace in the 1990s is blamed on someone else, being the West of course.

I am not saying that I am that enamoured with "the West's" world policies. The current situation in the Middle East is entirely of the making of the Europeans and the USA, right up to the present day. If I start to write about that, I'll be here until next year.

Autumn

October is here and autumn is strengthening its hold in the Outer Hebrides. Summer wasn't much to speak of out here, with a few warm days and / or a few sunny days. Summer 2015 here was mostly cloudy, windy, cold, or a combination of any of the three aforementioned. That has not deterred the visitors, which have come thick and fast. On foot, on their bikes, in their cars, in coaches, by plane or by cruiseliner. The local bus service, which (for the population of 20,000 that it serves) is excellent, will have done very well. Some buses even take bicycles, for those pedallers whose energy is short of the distance they need to cover. When October is over, the bus service will have reduced somewhat, as the requirement is no longer there. Did I mention that a return ticket from Stornoway to Leverburgh, a distance of 55 miles (90 km), only costs £10? That's $15 or €13.50. A single ticket from Ullapool to Inverness, same distance by road, costs £12, just to give a comparison. October sees the advent of the Royal National Mod, which is being held in Oban this year. Next year, it will be in Stornoway, and the participants are already busy with their preparations. The Mod is a Gaelic cultural event along the lines of a competition. The most coveted prize is a Gold Medal in traditional singing. The Mod is also known, irreverently, as the whisky olympics.

I have not posted pictures on this blog since the middle of August, another victim of the easy-posting lure of Facebook. I'll post a selection in a separate post.

Facebook is down, but we blog on

Facebook is down around the world, so, as I smirked on Twitter, a surge of productivity is gripping the globe. At least I have the option of writing down my thoughts on Twitter in 140 characters, or (more verbosely) here on Blogger. Google Plus is still around, in spite of it all. Ach, let's just go and do something useful. Posting the hurricane updates, for instance. Isn't it 10 o'clock yet?

Inter island connections

Joined up thinking (and more importantly: ACTING) required for improved inter-island connections. Are they really that bad though? It is possible to cover the 140 miles between Stornoway and Castlebay in 8 hours by public transport, which I think is not too bad at all. Yes, re-instate the inter island flights post haste. What should also be done is the double-tracking of the entire Outer Hebrides spinal route. Sections which are still (partly) single track comprise the A859 Tarbert to Leverburgh, the B893 Berneray to North Uist, the A865 North Uist circular, the A867 North Uist to Lochboisdale, the Daliburgh to Eriskay road and the A888 Barra circular road. OK, I'll dodge the flying pigs.

Blogging anniversary #11

On 28 September 2004, I was seated in the common area of Kirkwall Youth Hostel, and had my half hour on the communal computer. At the time, I was user of AOL, and discovered their blogging service Journals. I opened a blog (or journal) and named it Northern Trip. At the time, I had been on the road for about seven weeks, and was coming to the end of my four week stint in Orkney. I returned there, for those interested, four years later, in different circumstances. A fortnight later, I found myself in Kyleakin, in Skye (see pic below), and decided to start making daily entries in my blog. The first entry refers to people going swimming in the sea at Kyleakin, which today sends shivers down my spine. Last week, a man went missing doing just that, and his body was discovered last Wednesday a few miles away to the north. From Kyleakin, I went to Eigg, Rum, Lochaber and finally the Western Isles, which greeted me on November 10th. My entry into Lochmaddy was one to be forgotten, and my eleven year stint here has not been without hitches. But then, what would life be without its challenges. Four years after opening Northern Trip, AOL closed it down and I switched to Blogger to open Atlantic Lines. A transfer to Facebook followed shortly, and I am now mostly 'blogging' on Facebook. I kept this blog going mostly as a photoblog, but have recently taken to writing longer postings here, something that Facebook is less suitable for. What the future holds is not clear for me at this stage. I have enjoyed 11 years of blog, and hope to add many years to that.

Kyleakin, Skye, October 2004

Winter looms

The tourism season is entering its last four weeks. It will come to a close with the mid-term break in the second half of October.

When the Royal National Mod Oban 2015​ is over, and the islanders and their youngsters back on home soil, we batten down the hatches for winter.

Locals will be familiar with the EVENTS: what's happening in Lewis + Harris​ magazine, the latest edition of which will be ready for picking up in early October. There is a surprising amount of stuff to do in the Outer Hebrides, even in winter.

Those dependent on public transport will have their wings clipped after October, as winter timetables come in with a reduced service.

Coming home

Coming home has a special meaning in these islands. Anyone coming to Lewis, e.g., is said to be coming home. Even if their actual home is elsewhere, even if they have no connection to the island. The expression encompasses more than just arriving in the island, it denotes a spiritual connection, one that the islanders themselves feel very strongly, particularly when away. They experience what in Gaelic is termed cianalas. However, this longing transcends life itself. Many an islander who passes away on the mainland, or even outside the UK, will be brought back to these shores, where he or she was born, grew up, went to school, and left to go to university, college, work, raise family and live their lives. However, they always want to come back to their home soil, even in death.

Next week will see another instance, when the remains of one islander (I did not know him, only very indirectly) will be brought back on MV Loch Seaforth at lunchtime. The coffin will then be driven to a mission hall in Bragar, 15 miles north of Stornoway on the west coast of the island where a brief funeral service will be conducted. After that, the interment will take place at Bragar Cemetery. As in the case of all island cemeteries, that graveyard is located near the sea, looking out west over the Atlantic - for ever.

Operation Market Garden - 71 years on

Seventy-one years ago last Thursday, the airborne landings commenced just west of the city of Arnhem in eastern Holland. On 17 September 1944, the Allied forces had been on campaign through western Europe for 3 months, after the successful landings in Normandy on 6 June. Airborne troops were parachuted into the area between Ede and Arnhem to engage the Nazi-German forces, which were occupying Holland at the time. Although the Allies managed to penetrate into Arnhem, they failed to seize the Rhine bridge there. Fierce fighting in the city dislodged them from forward positions. Poor communications as well as a stronger resistance than anticipated forced a withdrawal south across the River Rhine.

Arnhem and Oosterbeek were evacuated, and looted by the Nazis. Holland north of the Rhine remained occupied until the early spring of 1945. In the wake of the failed action at Arnhem, the Netherlands' railway network in the occupied sectors went on indefinite strike. This caused major problems for the Nazi forces, but also for food supplies - by the spring of 1945, many people in the major conurbations in western Holland had starved to death. Others survived by eating flower bulbs. The Allies finally managed to cross the river at Remagen, between Cologne and Koblenz, in February 1945.

Reposted and modified from an original posting in 2009

Refugee crisis, Assad and Putin

I feel for those people from Syria, who see no way out of their situation but to flee their country. They flee president Assad, not ISIS. Who is bolstering Assad? Vladimir Putin. Next question. Tens, hundreds of thousands of people is an invasion. It is going to destabilise Europe, something by which Putin has to gain. By bolstering Assad, ostensibly against ISIS, Putin will gain brownie points. He may well help to obliterate ISIS, something we would all benefit from. It would also show him to be stronger than the USA, which cannot make a substantial impact against ISIS. Who, meanwhile, is facilitating the transport of those tens of thousands across the Mediterranean to Greece and Italy? People smugglers. It is time we addressed the root cause of the refugee crisis. Can we, if its root cause is being supported by a major player on the world stage?

Politics

The British Labour party has elected Jeremy Corbyn as its new leader with nearly 60% of the votes, leaving his competitors behind by a margin of 40%. Will this be the start of a reversal of fortunes for Labour in Scotland? Some Scottish commentators immediately take the constitutional slant (that's the reason I've gone off the news big time recently), but let's see whether Mr Corbyn can mount an effective opposition in the UK, thereby reestablishing Labour as a credible party of opposition north of the border. Both are needed; neither are present at the moment. For reference, I'm not a natural Labour supporter; I dislike many of the Tory policies and can certainly not stand the SNP.