Arnish Lighthouse

<![CDATA[ I have, on consideration, revamped this entry.

I have had some critical comments in recent days about my stance regarding NHS Western Isles. Implicit in the criticism was the assertion that I blindly copy reports that slam the NHS Board.

The current senior management team in NHS Western Isles have allowed a culture of bullying and harassment to fester, making it impossible for people to air constructive criticism. This is necessary, in order to improve the running of any organisation. A report in the regional press (West Highland Free Press, 26 May 2006) left me therefore deeply concerned.

Three people have died of cancer-related illnesses, allegedly because crucial information about hospital investigations did not reach their GP, either on time or at all. It is suggested that as a result, further tests were not carried out and the patients basically did not receive the care that their condition warranted. In one instance, the discharge summary from the hospital took 8 weeks to reach the GP surgery. NHS Western Isles have replied to this report, saying that it is aware of its findings.

These are press reports, pertaining to an extremely serious matter, if substantiated. Any Health Board will have the health and wellbeing of patients under its care as a top priority. A breakdown of communication of the magnitude as alleged in the WHFP report would warrant immediate investigation and more importantly, resolution. The incidents of alleged bullying and harassment of staff, who are critical of higher management leave me deeply concerned. In the past, criticism of the Health Board Management by staff has been met with an icy disregard. Now that allegations have surfaced which, if true, would suggest that patient care is in jeopardy as a result of systems failures. I would call on the management of the Western Isles Health Board to act constructively and regain some of the confidence lost. Failing that, resignation is the only other option. ]]>

<![CDATA[ I was quite surprised to read last week about a novel use for new technologies. When visiting major attractions elsewhere in the UK, one can often hire a hand-held device, which carries recorded information on various aspects of the attraction. Five years ago, I visited the Roman Baths in Bath and was issued with a device on which I had to type in a number, displayed at one part of the building to get further information on it.

The community at Uig, West Lewis, has gone one better. They have commissioned so-called IPAQ devices, which work on GPS. In other words, if you walk to a "magic circle", the device will play music and information. The information includes historical background, going back to the Iron Age. Local musicians will sing and perform the music. There are 6 magic circles on Traigh Uige [Uig Beach] at Timsgarry, 35 miles west of Stornoway. This beach, one of the largest in the island, was the place where the famous Lewis Chessmen were found during the 19th century. All 90-odd pieces have been removed from Lewis; about a dozen are in a museum in Edinburgh, the others are in the British Museum in London. A replica chessman was recently erected at Ardroil, to the south of the beach, and other replicas stand outside the Woodlands Centre in the Castle Grounds at Stornoway.

The IPAQs will be available to visitors later this summer through Proiseact nan Eilean (PNE). Although this info is not definite, it stands to reason that they are likely to be issued from the Community Shop at Timsgarry. ]]>

<![CDATA[ The phrase "poorly organised" pops up when I think of this weekend.

At the same time as the Stornoway Half Marathon (130 participants) there was the Great Give-Away. There were up to 3 compost bins per household up for grabs for each household in Lewis. There is a great drive towards recycling in the Western Isles, with big blue bottle banks in various locations, taking glass, aluminium and plastic together with separate ones for paper. This weekend, the compost bins were going to be given away for free from the Creed Park Industrial Estate, a couple of miles south of Stornoway along the main A859 Stornoway to Tarbert road.

The result was total mayhem. Everybody turned up for their bin, everybody wanted their full entitlement of 3 bins and everybody wanted it there and then. Miles and miles of tailbacks, people deciding that the Highway Code is the first item in their compost bin. Police very quickly closed the road and the council closed the give-away early. The A859 was closed at Willowglen, and not a mouse could get through, until the entire lockjam was cleared.

What a contrast on Sunday.

As announced in the Stornoway Gazette, the cruiseliner Costa Classica turned up off Holm Point. She went at anchor at 1pm and proceeded to ferry the passengers ashore using tenders. According to the website, this ship can carry up to 1300 passengers. I went into town to see what had been laid on for these poor folk. The answer is a big, round

ZERO

The passengers came ashore at the linkspan for the ferry, and were let loose in the town. Stornoway echoed to the excited talk of the Italian passengers, but not a shop was open, perhaps the odd bar. The place was derilict. Only a handful of enterprising taxi drivers hanging around the busstation, hoping to get a fare to take some people over to Callanish.

I will say that the cruise company got it wrong to put their Stornoway visit on a Sunday. It is well-known that nothing moves here on Sunday. But for these folk, the abiding image of Stornoway will be the resounding silence.

The only shop open is the one incorporated in the petrol station on the roundabout at the Sandwick Road / Island Road junction. And people were queueing out the door at 3.30 on Sunday afternoon, by all accounts. Sounds like there is a demand for a shop on Sundays after all. ]]>

<![CDATA[ Today, the Stornoway Half Marathon was run. At time of submission, I do not have the final results. Nonetheless, I'll print the map of the course and some pictures I took just after the race got underway, and one towards the end.
Further info about this annual event can be obtained by visiting this link.

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<![CDATA[ Last Thursday, I was invited on a brief trip by boat around Stornoway's Outer Harbour. It was a beautiful evening, cool but brilliant. It took me around Glumaig Harbour, which is being dredged for hawsers, nets and other pieces of discarded gear. After a circle of Arnish Point (with Arnish Lighthouse looking out over proceedings), we crossed over to Holm Point and the beacon on the Beasts of Holm. This is the point where HMY Iolaire foundered on New Year's morning 1919. A twenty minute sail returned us safely to Goat Island.

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<![CDATA[
A few days ago I mentioned the community buy-out for the South Uist estates. Further details of the fundraising appeal, which aims to raise

<![CDATA[ A few months ago, I wrote about a list of names of people who were involved in the Iolaire Disaster of New Year's Day 1919. In that incident, 205 island men drowned within sight of Stornoway on their return from the Great War. The exact circumstances have never really been cleared up; a formal inquiry did not take place until 1972. It is one of the worst maritime disasters of peacetime, but hardly known outside the islands. It is as little known as the sinking of the Norge, a Norwegian emigrant ship that foundered at Rockall in 1904, leaving hundreds dead.

Since publishing the names on the web (visit this link), I have had a trickle of feedback, which gives a window of insight to some of the underlying stories.

(1) A gentleman emailed me from southwest Scotland, saying: "I knew nothing of the Iolaire Disaster [...]. Very moving but tragic that more people don’t know more about a large group of young men taken in such tragic circumstances. To have survived a war and then die within sight of home is beyond belief.” Others expressed similar sadness.

(2) One lady contacted me from Ontario, Canada. Her ancestors came from Marvig (South Lochs). She gave me permission to reproduce their story.
“My grampa’s younger brother, Donald MacLeod (7 Marbhig, then Stornoway),
died coming into harbour on the Iolaire. From the memorial in South Lochs
I think two of my greatgrandparents’ brothers were killed in the war, as
well as losing Donald. My grandfather Alasdair was forbidden from fishing
anymore for fear he’d drown too, after his family’s losses. A torment for
him, as he loved the sea and fishing. He drove for Lord Leverhulme then
went to the shipyards in Glasgow to make some money. Her returned to
Stornoway for a short time then came to Canada on one of the two ships
for which there were no passenger lists. Settled in our praries for a
time (no water at all) then went west to Vancouver Island for the
remainder of his lifetime… built himself a little boat and enjoyed it
to the end in 1980. So fortunate I visited Stornoway last summer and saw
for myself why Alaisdair chose Nanaimo…it looked so like Stornoway…
His mother I think suffered too much heartbreak for it all and was a lost
soul in the sanatorium for the rest of her life. And oddly, when I’ve
written lyrics all through my life they have been laden with images of
water, and the sea…long before I knew of this event in my family’s
history. Funny how these things can follow you. I’d not be at all if it
weren’t for the Iolaire disaster…a ponderous thought, that.”

(3) One correspondent mentioned that her ancestors came from Harris, but wondered whether any had been on the Iolaire.

(4) Another reaction bears out the extreme distress that the Iolaire Disaster caused within the islands: “I only found that my grandfather’s first cousin [...] was lost on the Iolaire when I looked up his death certificate. The family had never mentioned or talked of him. I go to Harris and will post a photo of his headstone after my next visit. I only learned of how he died after my last trip to the island.”

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<![CDATA[
I know that this puts me well out of area (sorry), but as I’ve made clear that I support the move towards community ownership of the land in the isles, I could not pass this by without comment. I apologise to anyone in South Uist who would rather blog about it themselves, but all publicity is needed.

Over the weekend, it became clear that the people on the South Uist Estates (encompassing part of Benbecula, and the islands of South Uist and Eriskay) had to find