Carloway - 11/03/05

 It’s getting colder and colder. There is a bitterly cold north wind today, which carries snowshowers. I nonetheless venture out to Carloway Broch, where I arrive at 1.30. I sit against a wall, in the sun but out of the wind. The broch is very interesting, having two circular walls inside each other, with walking platforms in between. It’s 2,100-2,200 years old. The visitor’s center is closed, so I don’t have much more info. The broch has a commanding position, overlooking a large area from an elevated location. I walk to Carloway and onto Garenin. Hail- and sleetshowers clatter down at regular intervals, the wind is bitingly cold on my face – it’s only 5C. Arrive in Garenin at 3pm, and have my cuppa on the beach shingle. I walk back at 3.30 to meet the schoolbus coming out of Carloway. The driver drops each child off by his/her frontdoor. We gather a new lot of smelly, sweaty youngsters at Shawbost school. There are two lots here, primary and lower secondary pupils. The driver growls at them to sit down properly. One little boy stutters his way through a message to the busdriver, overawed by the importance. He is not getting off at Carnan, but at Barvas. “Where in Barvas?”, the driver needs to know. That village stretches for 2½ miles! Well, our dapper youngster stands by the driver and directs him to the end of Loch Street in Barvas. It’s always a laugh, traveling on the schoolbus. We go all the way through to Upper Barvas (on the Ness road), to return to Stornoway at 4.50. The boots fit well.