Arnish Lighthouse

11 January 2005 is one of those days that everybody who was in the Outer Hebrides at the time will not forget. A deep Atlantic depression moved past our islands, bringing with it winds of force 12 on the Beaufort scale, with gusts in excess of 130 mph. At the time, I was staying in Kershader, 12 miles south of Stornoway as the crow flies - more like 22 miles by road. At 6.22pm, the power went off, not to go back on again for 48 hours. The wind was already howling around the building. Blue flashing lights penetrated the darkness from across Loch Erisort - police cars were stopping traffic on the Stornoway to Tarbert road after a lorry driver reported a sheep flying past his windscreen. The driver of the South Lochs bus that night was mightily relieved to make it home in one piece, he told me later. Trees were downed, roofs taken off, vehicles crushed under trees - and hundreds of them toppled in the Castle Grounds in Stornoway. High tides lapped at the doors of people on Cromwell Street and Bayhead in the town. Boats were torn off their moorings and smashed into the ferry terminal. Slates became like missiles, and pedestrians blown off their feet. Some who sought refuge were denied entry; others were taken inside.

The next morning dawned breezy and bright. Everybody heaved a sigh of relief. That was a bad one, but it’s only damage. By 9.20 am however, reports start to emerge from the Southern Isles. Five people are missing in South Uist, after they fled their home the previous evening at around 7pm. Rising tides had started to approach their home, and pebbles were hurled against walls and windows. They enter two cars and drive from their home at Eochdar towards the causeway, linking South Uist and Benbecula. A fatal decision. That road parallels the stretch of sea that separates the two islands. The southeasterly storm, combined with a springtide from the northwest pushed the waters of Loch Bi up; but on account of the floodtide they could not drain into the sea. The loch flooded a small causeway, sweeping the cars into the water. By morning, the five missing people are found dead. They include a mother and father with two young children and a grandfather. This article on the BBC News website shows their faces.

An additional 6 turbines have been approved for the windfarm for the Eishken Estate. It would appear that construction could start next year (2012 at time of writing), to coincide with the construction of the interconnector.

I have been out of the loop a bit in the past few weeks as I am blogging off island. However, I was not aware that the interconnector had been approved. The same applies to the Beauly to Dundonnell powerlink. I think Mr Oppenheimer is jumping the gun a bit when he makes such a sweeping announcement.

When I first came to Lewis, in November 2004, I spent some months in the wilds of South Lochs for some peace and quiet. Wondering the moors with nothing to bother the eyes but the low hillocks and tranquil lochans between Habost and Gravir.

If that infernal windfarm, together with the one in Pairc, gets built, there will be nothing wilderness about the southeast of Lewis. It will be a money-spinning factory for Oppenheimer, who so very generously has left us with some beads and mirrors, in the shape of the 6 turbines and their output + revenue.

With thanks to commenter Lady Gargar for drawing my attention to this.

This year, the Hogmanay celebrations in Stornoway will be held in the town centre, with a massive street party. About 5,000 people are expected to flock to this big shindig - which will end at 11 pm on December 31st, 2011. The thing is that New Year’s Day 2012 is on a Sunday, and any partying extending beyond midnight would infringe the Sabbath. So, it was ordained that Hogmanay in Stornoway will end an hour before “the bells”.

I have previously stated on this blog that I have the deepest respects for people’s religious convictions. I do not extend that to imposing said convictions on other people’s lives. If anyone feels that they should observe the Sabbath in a certain fashion, then they are at perfect liberty to do so. However, that should not mean that others should be forced to do the same.

There is another aspect to this question, which annuls the argument, put forward by the relevant authorities against extended the permit for the Stornoway Hogmanay do. Are the pubs closing at 11pm on December 31st? The answer to that is an emphatic no. You can get sozzled as much as you like well beyond midnight on Hogmanay. Again, a personal choice, with which I am fine as long as it does not impinge on other people. Unfortunately, we are all familiar with the results of over-indulgence in alcohol, whether it be anti-social behaviour or road traffic accidents, resulting in damage, injury or even death.

I find this discrepancy a case of breathtaking hypocrisy and double standards, and would call for an extension of the street party beyond midnight - or else have the pubs shut at 11pm.

No, I’m not holding my breath in expectation of that all to happen.

HS2 is the postcode for the outlying areas of Lewis, and the announcement that an HS2 tunnel is being considered for construction has been broadly welcomed outside Stornoway. We have seen in recent days that severe weather is common in this part of the world in November and December, and being able to walk, cycle and drive in the dry, out of the reach of the ravages of show, wind and rain is a welcome prospect. As plans currently stand, there will be a tunnel from Brenish to Port of Ness, with branches from Miavaig to Kinlochroag as well as one from Carloway to Achmore, terminating at the harbour in the latter village.

I hope Calumannabel will be able to fill us in on the details for the tunnel, which is hoped could be completed in time for the Dating Extravaganza at the Dell Fank on April 1st.

I am endebted to local Twitter user balfae for localising the Government plans for an HS2 tunnel in England.

Liam Aitchison, aged 16, went missing on 22nd November after visiting the Co-op supermarket on Macaulay Road in Stornoway. He was last seen on Anderson Road, in the north of the town. Liam came to the island a few months ago after leaving the Uists. He was due to stay with a friend of the family on the 22nd, but never turned up.

On 29th November, a member of the public reported that a body had been found in a derelict building in the village of Steinish, a mile or two northeast of Stornoway. As the days went by, it was confirmed that the body was that of 16-year old Liam, and yesterday, that the death was no longer treated as unexplained but as murder. This due to the scene encountered by detectives.

Police are appealing for any information on Liam’s whereabouts during the time between November 22nd and 29th, and any suspicious movements or activity near the building in Steinish. It stands on the eastern end of the village, and was originally the control centre for Stornoway Airport, which it overlooks.

Any information should be forwarded to Stornoway police on 01851-702222 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

My sympathies go out to the family and friends of the victim of this crime.

Image courtesy Flickr-user foxypar4

The Duke of Sutherland is a figure of revulsion in the northern Highlands, as thousands of people were turfed off their land at his whim. A statue in his memory stands on a hilltop above Golspie, Sutherland. Today, it was announced that efforts have once again been made to topple the statue.

Having transcribed the Napier Commission’s report on Sutherland, I can see that it was not just the Duke himself who was to blame. His minions were as much at fault. Whether or not the Duke knew what went on is irrelevant. It happened under his responsibility. I have passed Golspie several times on my way to the far north, and have often looked up at the statue - and then turned to the other side of the train or bus to see Dunrobin Castle. That is as much a cause for revulsion as the statue, being as it was, a scene of offensive opulence, harshly offset by the grinding poverty of the tenants, crofters and cottars on the estate.

Whilst I totally understand the horrors, wreaked on the people of Sutherland by their landowner, I do not feel that it serves any constructive purpose to destroy the statue. I agree with the speaker on Radio Scotland’s Highland News this morning, who said that the statue serves as a reminder of the atrocities, perpetrated by and on behalf of the Duke.

I will go so far as to say that the statue in memory of Sir James Matheson, which overlooks Stornoway Harbour, can be held in equal revulsion. Many of his tenants were forcibly displaced across the island of Lewis or “encouraged” to emigrate, which happened in 1851, to name but an example. His trade in opium caused no end of misery in China.

Matheson Memorial

Last Thursday, November 24th, winds gusted up to 82 mph at the Butt of Lewis as high winds strafed the north and west of Scotland. The storm had been forecast in advance and prompted extensive cancellations of ferry services.

By about 4pm, just as it started to get dark, a motorist on the A859 Tarbert to Leverburgh road in Harris, noticed a car partly submerged in the waters of Loch nan Uidhean, beside the road. The emergency services were called and they rushed to the scene. The driver of the car, a 26-year old speech therapist from Coulregrein, Stornoway, was extracted from her vehicle and taken to the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway, but tragically died. An investigation is on-going into the cause of the accident, but this occurred at the height of the storm.

Severe weather is part and parcel of life in these islands, and people tend to take it in their stride. But a fatal accident, in which the weather is thought have had some part to play, still comes as a blow. Memories go back nearly seven years, when five members, three generations, of one family were lost in South Uist at the time of a severe storm.

I copy an email I received today regarding the future of HM Coastguard in the United Kingdom.

I am writing to let you know that following the independent review of the reponses of the second period of consultation on our proposals to modernise Her Majesty’s Coastguard the Secretary of State for Transport has today announced the Government’s decision. This can be found at http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-home/emergencyresponse/mcga-searchandrescue.htm

This means that we have now begun the process of moving to a national networked Coastguard operation with a Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) at its heart. We’re also able to announce today that the MOC will be located near Fareham in Hampshire at a purpose built emergency services control centre that was originally designated as a fire control centre.

In addition to this centre there will also be Coastguard centres. at Dover, Aberdeen, Shetland, Stornoway, Belfast, Holyhead, Milford Haven, Falmouth and Humber all operating 24/7. The London coordination centre will continue to be co-located with the Port of London Authority.

We are also improving the leadership of the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service by strengthening the numbers of existing regular Coastguard officers based in these coastal communities and I’m also pleased to be able to announce that the Coastguard Rescue Service will be strengthened by an increase of 50% to the number of full time officers available to the volunteers for operational attendance, leadership and advice.

This will allow much more flexibility in the management and training of our volunteers and help to remove the current uneven distribution of Coastguard Rescue Teams between their management.

It will also give a greater presence of Coastguard officers in coastal communities and provide increased opportunity for interaction with other emergency services and coastal leisure and commercial bodies.

These officers will operate in teams with a focal point or operational hub. It is intended that these will be based in;

This structural change is about the way the regular Coastguard service coordinates search and rescue operations. It is not about the UK’s rescue capability. Although we are reducing staff numbers our new structure will give the UK a nationally networked Coastguard service that is resilient, effective and efficient.

I know that you like me will be acutely aware that whilst this announcement is the beginning of a new era for HM Coastguard it will a time of massive change for colleagues currently based in Yarmouth, Thames, Solent, Portland, Brixham, Swansea, Liverpool, Forth and Clyde whose stations will be closing before 31 March 2015.

This structural change is about the way the regular Coastguard service coordinates search and rescue operations. It is not about the UK’s rescue capability. Although we are reducing staff numbers, our new structure will give the UK a nationally networked Coastguard service that is resilient, effective and efficient. We will continue to provide a quality safety service to the mariner and coastal user and I’d like to thank you for your continued support as we move forward.

This morning, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, thousands of people in the United Kingdom and beyond fell silent. 93 years ago the guns had fallen silent, heralding the start of the Armistice, and eventually the end of the First World War. After the end of the Second World War, November 11th was maintained as a day of remembrance. I am not going to say much else in this post, but will display a number of images, showing the war memorials here in Lewis. The fact that it takes 15 war memorials to remember the war dead of an island, home to 30,000 people in 1914 says enough. 1,350 did not return from the 1914-19 war, 530 were lost in the 1939-45 war.

Following the controversy over the refurbishment of the interior of Stornoway Town Hall, I would like to share the images I took inside the Hall today, whilst attending a competition of the Royal National Mod (see previous post).

Ceiling and rooflights

Windows at rear of hall - now visible

The Hall from the back