Sunday 07/08/05

A late start today. Hear that a 76-year old walker has fallen from the summit of An Sgurr in Eigg, and went down 300 feet. He did not survive the fall. Keep it nice and lazy again today. At 4 pm, I go for an amble round the backstreets, which are at best rundown and unsightly. Many of the buildings on Inaclete Rd, Bells Rd and Rigs Road used to be part of the Harris Tweed industry, partially owned and operated by mrs B's late husband, who died in 1993. Local shenanigans meant that several conglomerates squeezed each other out of business, rather than helping each other to keep the industry afloat. The result was a slump in the industry, and only two or three mills now remain. After one conglomerate went down, the competition bought all their premises and left them empty, in order to prevent anyone else from setting up in business. Read The Islanders and the Orb, by Janet Hunter. Suffice to say that it was an old-fashioned and highly successful exercise in shooting yourself in the foot, together with some very short-sighted business dealings. The mills would take in raw wool, card it, dye, spin and turn it into yarn for use on weaving looms. This yarn would be taken to the crofters for weaving. At a requisite time, the company lorry would go round and collect the end product. Obviously crofters being what they are, they also have other things to attned to, such as sheep and cattle. On the whole, an ideal industry for the Hebrides. Quality is governed by the Orb scheme, and allegations that its products were sub-standard led to the recent closure of a mill in Carloway. Now, the backstreets of Newton echo to the sound of silence, and there are only very few weavers left in Lewis. The sound of the loom has died off. On return from my walk, mrs B gives me an ice cream. A ray of sunlight reflects off the plaque on Bonny Prince Charlie's monument across in Arnish.