Arnish Lighthouse

Another photo compilation, this time from a bustour of South Harris. Started out by going down the West Side of Harris to Leverburgh, and returning through the Bays area (on the east side).

Last Thursday, I went to Uig and called into the museum at Erista / Timsgarry - well worth a visit. Afterwards, I crossed the moors to Cliff and the cemetery on the road to Valtos. Although the weather was very wet, grey, misty, overcast, windy and cold, the walk was in places quite spectacular. The below video is a compilation of most of the pictures I took that day. Enjoy!

Before we lose more blogs from this site (after X333XXX, Breasclete Mick and now Gravirlife), can I just appeal for some perspective on this deplorable situation? I appreciate that people sometimes don’t get on, for whatever reason. I decline to become involved in that debate / discussion / row. I would like to share my take on blogging and the Internet, having been involved in the former for nearly five years and the latter for more than nine. This is not directed against anyone involved in IB at present or in the past.

When you’re reading and writing on-line, conducting discussions and what not, you have to bear in mind that it is a real person you are talking to. Reading words on a screen tends to make you lose sight of that, quite literally. You don’t hear their voice, or the inflection in the voice; you don’t see their facial expression or general body language. It is ever so easy to take things the wrong way. Or to write in words and phrases that are disproportionate to the discussion in hand.

When someone leaves a nasty comment out of the blue - just delete it. Particularly if they have not commented before.

Let’s not lose what has been built up over the past five months, since the BBC pulled the plug on the original Island Blogging site.

Two cruiseliners, two fishingboats, one tanker and two ferries. That is today’s harvest in terms of boats at Stornoway. Just before 8 am, the cruiseliner Spirit of Adventure came into port, passing the much smaller Quest which was at anchor in Glumag Harbour.

In the meantime, the ferry (MV Isle of Lewis) was not going anywhere for most of the day. Its problems with the bowdoor continued to plague it. After staying shut all week last week, the visor was now open since at least yesterday afternoon. By 4pm, it finally sailed for Ullapool for the first time today. With some mighty fed up passengers on board, judging by what was hanging around the ferry terminal two hours previously. The second ferry, incidentally, is MV Muirneag, our cargo ferry.

A restored fishing boat, the Reaper, arrived in Stornoway yesterday evening at 6pm, after a rough voyage up from Grimsay (in the Uists). Today, the museumship had an open day, and all who were interested could come aboard and have a look. Knowing my luck, I came at low tide, so the gangway was quite a steep step down. The boat, 107 years old, was in great condition and a pride to those who maintain and crew her.

The other fishingboat, the Jean Claude Coulomb, was in such a blazing hurry to get in and out for a crew change that I could not get a picture of her.

As I type, the tanker Border Heather is approaching the port, which completes our boatful day.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has started a campaign to warn against the danger of Tombstoning. This is a craze that has been around for some years, and involves (young) people jumping off cliffs or other high points into the water below. If you don’t know what lies below the water’s surface, you are literally playing with your life.

Mike Bill from Humber Coastguard said,

This sad loss [of a 17-year old on the coast near Humberside, AL] highlights the dangers of tombstoning and pier-jumping and our sympathies are with the family. Coastguard figures show this is the ninth coastal death in just two years but hundreds of incidents happen every year and many end in severe permanent injuries.

We advise people never to tombstone or pier-jump. Jumping from height into water is dangerous because water depth alters with the tide and it might be shallower than it appears, submerged objects like rocks and structures may not be visible, the shock of cold water can make it difficult to swim, plus strong currents can sweep people away.

This activity is becoming increasingly popular and although we realise we cant stop everyone who wants to participate in this activity, we urge people to use common sense and consider the advice on offer:

Think before you jump:

• Be aware of the depth of the water. Remember tides go in and out very quickly – it may start off deep enough but can quickly become shallower
• Be aware of hazards in the water. Rocks, groynes or debris under the sea may not be visible through the surface
• Never jump from any object into the sea while under the influence of alcohol or peer pressure
• Consider the risk to others. Young children may be easily influenced by the behaviour they witness.

(End of quote).

Further advice can be obtained from this page on the MCA website.

Please relay.

This poem, by Donald S. Murray, was originally published in the Glasgow Herald. I have to put it up, as it is so evocative of life in Lewis.

We do not need road-maps
to be sure of our direction.

No green lights gee us up to go
No red lights halt our progress

Only the passing-places where we greet
stranger and neighbour with a wave

Yet there are times we long to be snared
in a snarl of streets and bye-roads

Caught in a confusion of choices
Bewildered by the breadth of highways

To drive in the knowledge our journey
will not end on a pierhead

Or terminate on a sandblown track
Leading to a rusty cemetery gate.

The big fight has started. The Lord’s Day Observance Society have now instructed a sollicitor to argue their case against the introduction of a Sunday ferry service, rubbishing all the arguments put forward by ferry operators Calmac. They are accused of naked commercial greed.

I am bemused by the assertion that Calmac’s legal advice has not been published. I have seen it printed out on several local blogs, which to me means it has been published, if not by Calmac. The letter, which I’m checking on as I type, is pretty clear.

I am considering relocating to the Arnish Gun Emplacements, getting food in from Tesco’s by special tender to Downie’s Harbour and chartering MV Lochnevis to bring me guns and ammo. This is High Noon at the Ferry Corral, and it’s every man for himself. Where’s my helmet?

It’s been a drastic few days in the world of Island Blogging, born out by a fairly heated discussion on View from the Helm. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sadness at the manner of departure of X333XXX, formerly of Achmore, presently of southern England. I wish him well in his recovery from the health problems which necessitated his departure from Lewis. I do hope it will be possible for him to return to the Hebrides at some point in the future, and resume blogging on this forum, should he so wish. A similar wish is extended to Flying Cat of Stromness, soon to be the mainland.

Those of you who have this application installed on your computers may be interested to know that imagery of the Scottish islands has been vastly improved; Orkney looks as if new images are still being added, but it does look nice. Below image shows the Clisham from Mullach bho Thuath; a place I’m not likely to venture to.