Deserted villages

In Lewis, there are at least 30 of them, most of those thirty being in the district of Eishken. Since the early 19th century, this large chunk of the island has lain derelict. It was the old story that sheep made more money than people. Incidentally, during the Napoleonic wars, the landowners were more than happy to have people on their land. They could nicely rake in all the kelp, which was the base material for gunpowder in those days. Because of the blockade of Britain by Napoleon's fleet, imports of guano (bird droppings) were halted. An alternative source of nitrate had to be found, and burning kelp was found to be yielding nice quantities of potassium nitrate. But when the war was over, and ships were able to bring in guano again, there was no more need for kelp in the huge quantities that the war required. As stated above, sheep were found to be more profitable than the dirt poor cottars, so the lairds employed all sort of tactics, fair, foul and anything in between, to shift the people off their land. Most readers will have heard the stories of the ship in the bay, a party of men sent ashore to torch the houses and the residents told to board the ship. Others were sent packing to another part of the island.

Lewis has seen quite a lot of these tactics. From the west of the island come stories of people from Uig being shunted across Loch Roag to Carloway; Gearrannan residents moved to Dalmore, then to Dalbeg, then to Shawbost. And further north. One man who worked for the Mathesons in their day was rewarded for his loyalty by having his croft extended at the cost of a neighbour's, who was in arrears in rent. A chunk of the neighbour's croft was taken away and awarded to the loyal worker. Who subsequently couldn't show his face in the village again.

Returning to the southeast, Eishken was cleared of its 30 villages in the 1820s. I have tried to locate them, but the only decent 19th century map in Stornoway library is post-clearance and shows no traces of the old settlements. When people were moved to other areas in the island, this led to a degree of 'congestion'. There was not sufficient land to go round. In the history of the Highlands and Islands, the year 1886 is a red-letter year. This was the year when the Crofters' act came into force, which awarded security of tenure to crofters, and made it impossible for landowners to summarily evict people from their land. The following few years were very important in Lewis, as they were punctuated by civil disobedience if not uprisings. One such event focused on Eishken, and has become known as the Parc Raids. In 1887, a group of men, led by a Balallan schoolteacher, committed a mass trespass on the Eishken estate and helped themselves to deer. As they sat consuming the venison, the men were ordered off the land, which they refused to do. The sherriff had to come down and read the men the riot act. As there was no intention to stay for any length of time, the park raiders left Kinloch Shell and were arrested. They had made their point. A monument to the raid stands by the Stornoway to Tarbert road, at the junction of the 7 mile road to Eishken.

To this day, Eishken stands empty. It is the playground of the rich for shooting deer. There are plans, as I mentioned in an earlier post, to build a 133-turbine windfarm on the estate. It would mean the desecration of a magnificent mountain landscape, not just of Eishken itself (with Beinn Mhor up to 1900 ft), but also of the adjacent Harris hills. Instead of planting turbines, why not use that piece of legislation I heard about which requires landowners to allow people to resettle on derelict and unused land? Wouldn't it be nice if places like those listed below were repopulated?

The number after each name represents the Ordnance Survey national grid reference, which should be prefixed with the letters NB to obtain the full reference. There were reputedly 36 villages, 27 of which I have the names. The names of another 9 are unknown to me, the location of several known ones eludes me as yet.


1 Bhalamos Beag - 291010
2 Bhalamos Mor - 298016
3 Caolas an Eilean -
4 Bagh Ciarach - 251021
5 Ceannamhor - 223067
6 Scaladale Beag - 220100
7 Scaladale Mor - 218120
8 Stromas
9 Brinigil - 277159
10 Bagh Reimsabhaigh - 258025
11 Smosivig - 273049
12 Glean Claidh - 253066
13 Brollum - 322031
14 Ceann Chrionaig - 311055
15 Mol Truis - 359056
16 Mol Chadha Ghearraidh - 367066
17 Ailtenish - 368088
18 Budhanais - 332100
19 Ceann Loch Shealg - 294107
20 Eilean Iubhard - 380100
21 Isginn [Eishken] - 326119
22 Steimreway - 346116
23 Cuiriseal
24 Gearraidh Riasaidh
25 Bun Chorcabhig - 263033
26 Gilmhicphaic - 217083
27 Ceann Sifiord - 295163

Sunday 18/06/06

Very little to write about today, as I spent the day sleeping off that bout of cold. Managed to screen the video (had 7 viewers in total, not bad) at 12, 5 and 10 pm. Mrs B cooked a very nice lasagna, and we had a pleasant chat with some older folk staying with us out of Argyll. I gave them the print-out of the bus journey they will be making tomorrow to Callanish and Gearrannan. Weather today? Wet and miserable.

The Pentland Road

The Pentland Road is not very well known to non-islanders, and takes a bit of finding. Residents of Carloway and Breascleit use it as a shortcut into town; it's only 16 miles to Carloway along the Pentland Road, but as much as 26 along the main road through Leurbost and Callanish. Its origins go back to Lord Leverhulme's years of ownership of Lewis. As I mentioned in a previous article, he had contrived plans to industrialise the island, and one of the projects was to establish a fishery station at Carlabhagh / Carloway. Fishermen from the West Side would land their catches at the pier there, which would save them the trip round the Butt of Lewis to Stornoway. They would refuel at Carloway and set out again. Their catches would be transferred to Stornoway by railway.

To find the Pentland Road in Stornoway, you need to follow the signs for the Council Dump at Bennadrove. Just after the garage, a broad road branches off to the left with big signs for Carlabhagh and Breascleit. After about half a mile, it leaves the houses of Marybank behind and heads out into the open moor. I have walked the length of the Pentland Road, all the way into Carloway in 4½ hours. That was pushing it a bit, as I had to catch a bus back to town from Carloway at 5 pm, and I didn't start until midday. It's a fascinating trip, particularly when travelling west, with great views. The road is level, because it was to be the trackbed for the railway. If my information is correct, a railway did exist at one time, out to the Marybank Quarry, starting at the Patent Slip in Stornoway. The Patent Slip no longer exists. It was the place where ships were launched, but these days the fuel depot and an engineering business are in its location.
The Carloway Railway never came into existence. New information suggests that Lord Leverhulme abandoned his industrial revolution for Lewis, because the Stornoway merchants were opposed to them. They saw those industries as competition and a threat to their businesses and interests. So, they agitated amongst the crofters with whom they traded, telling them that Leverhulmewas out to get them off their land. With the Crofting Act barely 35 years in existence, and the memories of the land struggleof the 1880s still within living memory, they did rise up.

The Pentland Road was left as a dug out trackbed, barely passable in a motor vehicle. A branch was created to Breascleit Pier, where until very recently a small pharmaceutical plant operated. It was used for extracting a compound which was used in the treatment of cancer. Its uptake was limited, for the simple reason that its efficacy was not adequately proven. Nonetheless, the loss of 11 jobs is a blow for a small community like Breascleit. I am not aware that anyone has taken over the enterprise.

Along the Pentland Road are countless peatbeds. Peat is still used extensively for fuel in the island, but it's hard graft getting it. In April and May (when the picture in the above gallery was taken), people go out to cut the peats. The slabs you can see are quite heavy when they're freshly cut. They are left to dry, and you'd be surprised how dry they become, in spite of the climate. During the summer, they are bagged up and taken home. You need a license from CnES to cut peats, and if you buy a house in Lewis (even in Stornoway), there may be a peatbank allocated to you. The second branch from the Pentland Road, 4 miles west of Stornoway, leads to Achamor. The road reaches a height of nearly 500 feet above sealevel. The views are spectacular, as you head southwest. The hills of Lochs open out, with the dark slopes of Roineabhal set off against the backdrop of the distant Harris Hills. In winter, the latter may well be covered in snow. One of the most memorable images of the 2004/5 winter, which I did not capture on camera, was walking along a road in South Lochs at 4.10 pm, 40 minutes after sunset. The Harris Hills were set off white against the dark grey backdrop of an approaching snowshower - they were lit up by light from the east - remember, the time is after sunset, so you'd expect the light to come from the southwest.

Achamore is a singular village in Lewis, in that it is the only one not anywhere near salt water. It is about 5 miles from the sea. Plenty of fresh water lochs about though. Above Achamore rises the hill of Eitsal, on whichtransmitters for radio, TV and mobile telephony have been built. If I cannot see Eitsal, I don't have reception on the mobile, unless I'm in Stornoway. Before the transmitter was built, back in 1976, TV reception was poor. There was a transmitter somewhere in Sutherland. A Stornoway company had established a reception station at Bennadrove, from which the signal was fed into town by cable.

Back on the Pentland Road, it leads right up to Carloway Pier. This is still in use by fishermen. Barely. On one visit in July, I encountered a gentleman who told me he was the sole fisherman left operating out of Carloway. I believe you can still refuel there. A barometer and thermometer is set in the wall of the building of the pier. The instruments are quite old, I believe more than a hundred years. They were paid for by girls from the island who had gone to the mainland to work, and had collected their savings to pay for the barometer, to help the fishermen to predict the weather.

Saturday 17/06/06

Awake to lashing rain and strong winds. Headcold losens up overnight, but am gradually reduced to coughing and spluttering. Two boxes of tissues later .... Rain interrupted at 11.30. A yacht sails into port with full sails, but the rain returns. Abandon the idea of going to a carboot sale in the Council carpark, up the road, because of the weather. This summer I am actively not following the WC football and Big Brother 7. The latter seems to be inhabited by a bunch of loonies this year. The ferry blows her horn before leaving at 1.45, something she doesn't normally do. Rain continues on and off (more on than off). The rhodondendrons in the Castle Grounds glow mutely purple. The rain is never far away as the afternoon draws to a close. Four guests arrive; two come on the mid afternoon bus out of Tarbert, Harris; the other two on the 8pm ferry. The latter carry on by taxi to Tarbert tomorrow (£40), as there is no public transport here on Sundays. Tomorrow's forecast has Alberto written all over it, wind and rain. Dinner is microwaveable chicken tikka massala (very good). Some blue sky appears to the south at sunset, 10.30pm.

Webcam Video

Tomorrow, Sunday 18 June 2006, I am going to show a video through my webcam link on http://adb41.camstreams.com. The subject will be a busrun of about 15 minutes along the West Side of Lewis. It will be shown at 12.00, 17.00 and 22.00 British Summer Time. Have a look at the entry in the journal about these videos; if watching outside the UK you need to take the time difference into consideration.

http://journals.aol.co.uk/pharmolo/NorthernTrip/entries/2198

Colds

I'm not given to moan on-line (hardly ever, ok). Better put a brave face on it, and face it with a wink. Bloody cold...

Anyway, there was this scare regarding bird-flu a few months back. One swan found itself flying over the North Sea. Midway between Holland and Scotland it began to feel a little under the weather. On approach to the eastcoast, it began to feel crap. It landed in a small town in the district of Fife and was found dead not long after.

Advice was given for anybody starting to feel crap to consult a doctor, as death might be imminent. The use of the word "crap" is NOT my idea; I am quoting from an official report (instance 1) and a satirical BBC Radio program (instance 2).

Although I do feel **** at times, I'm not going to consult a physician over a runny nose and feeling bunged up. All will be well by Monday.

Video, associated with 9/11

This Enya song (captured by YouTube user Angelboy99) featured at the 2001 World Music awards. Until he went private, blogger stupidsheetguy (here on AOL) had it as the backing music to a 9/11 dedication video. Since seeing it there, with the images of that dreadful day --- need I say more? Have a look for yourself.

Friday 16/06/06

Not the most brilliant of days, quite grey and misty. Shreds of fog later descend to beneath the tops of the Arnish moor. Am totally bunged up as a result of a headcold; head feels like it's full of cotton wool. I therefore do not show my face out of doors. I find a poem on the Iolaire by Iain Crichton-Smith; I can only give you the link for reasons of copyright. It's important to also read the explanation both before and after reading the poem. A man who is a Stornowegian but presently lives in Renfrewshire (west of Glasgow) gives some further info on this subject as well. My Aberdeen contact gives me further addenda to the list of names associated with the disaster. The Press and Journal carries the story of the man who squandered £158k on the Internet. Keep an eye on former tropical storm Alberto, who is currently in mid Atlantic. Looks set to bring lots of rain to us on Sunday. Temperature a very mediocre 12C. To be honest: I prefer that over the 30+C they have in Germany in relation to the football world cup. My lack of capitalisation should hint at my opinion on that event.

Lochs District

On the eastern side of Lewis, south of Stornoway, lies the district of Lochs. A loch is Scottish for lake or sea-arm. Apart from sea lochs there is a myriad of fresh-water lochs. Loch Grimshader could almost pass for a fjord, with its steep-sided entrance. The small inlet of Tob Leireabhat, just south of the Arnish Lighthouse, is similarly encased in a steep valley. Going further south, the villages of South Lochs, on the southern shore of Loch Erisort, used to be poorly served by roads. I read a book the other day deploring the advent of the South Lochs Highway (better known as the B8060). Until that road was improved, the mails were delivered from Crosbost to Cromor by boat. And in fact everything in the old days came in by boat. When the doctor had to come in an emergency, he came across the water. In a direct line, it's 12 miles from Stornoway to Cromor. Go by road, via Balallan, and you're looking at 30 miles. The people of South Lochs launched a buy-out of their estate a year ago. Their current landlord has not seen fit to lavish the district with his financial attentions, but is only too keen to cash in on the proposed windfarm development. The same applies to the owner of the adjacent Eishken Estate, to the south. Of both subjects: more later. The southernmost villages in South Lochs are Lemreway and Orinsay. There used to be a third village on the shores of Loch Sealg, Steimreway, but that was cleared in the 1920s. Not for the first time, and actually not for the last time either. The excellent Angus MacLeod archive in the Ravenspoint Centre in Kershader has published a booklet with the history of the village. These days, Steimreway is only a set of ruins in a delightful setting. Like the 30 villages in Eishken, Steimreway was cleared during the 19th century to make way for sheep. Steimreway can only be reached on foot across the open moor. I tried to reach it back in July, but atrocious weather conditions put paid to that enterprise. The village was located along a tidal inlet, the Loden, which linked to an inland water system of lochs. This makes it impossible to reach Steimreway from any other point but Orinsay. Except by boat of course. The village was repopulated between 1921 and 1945. The resettlement got off to a bad start, when a boat containing a flitting went down. And it foundered completely when the government was not interested in putting in a road or any other facilities. Familiar story?
Across Loch Sealg lie the deserted mountains of Eishken. As I stated above, until the 1820s, there used to be some 30 villages in that district. None now remain. It is a private estate, used for deerstalking. In 1887, a group of men, led by a Balallan schoolteacher, mounted a 'raid' on the estate. They shot a few deer and feasted on venison. They only wanted land. However, the estate owner would not hear of it, and engaged the sheriff to evict the intruders from her land. They were read the riot act at Kinloch Sealg, and the men departed. A monument to their endeavours stands at the junction of the Eishken road on the A859 Stornoway to Tarbert road. It is closely associated with the landraid at Aignish, Point, in 1888 where force had to be used to evict crofters. It is all about land, which is so important to the islanders. Because that's where you make your livelihood from.
Planned for the mountains of Eishken is a windfarm project. One hundred and thirty-three turbines are to be erected across the tops of the hills. Each turbine will measure 450 feet in height. This image will give some idea of scale.

Landowner Mr Oppenheimer, currently a multimillionaire, stands to become a multibillionaire if the plans come to fruition. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar nearly rejected the planning application back in June. In his generosity, the land owner has set up the Muaitheabhal Trust, named after one of the hills on which the windfarm is to be built. A year ago, letters were sent round the Kinloch district (which stretches from Lacasaidh to Airidh a'Bhruaich) and the hamlets on Loch Seaforth. The people were invited to join the MT, which would entitle them to a share in the profits. Not joining the MT would mean no share in the profit, although Mr Oppenheimer did say he wanted the community to share in the proceeds of the windfarm. The 50 people on Loch Seaforth, who live in settlements such as Ath Linne, Bogha Ghlas, Scaladal and Maraig, scorned the idea. If memory serves, about half the people in Kinloch were agreeable. Press reports at the time mentioned £16m annually for South Lochs. Aye, fancy what you can do with that. Sports facilities and all that were mentioned. My plea, aired in the local press, for the Comhairle to come up with a development plan with all that money in the kitty went unanswered.

Update
The above piece was written in December 2005. The planning application for Eishken has since been scaled back from 133 to 53 turbines, and this was passed by the local council on June 15th. The reduction in size was made in response to concerns expressed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds about the resident population of eagles on the Eishken mountains. In my piece on the Arnish Lighthouse blog, my personal response was:

Loch Seaforth desecrated, the untouched wilderness of Eishken ruined, the silence of Loch Sgiobacleit broken and the Harris mountains overshadowed by windturbines. At one time there was a plot of land for sale on the Eishken road, about 3 miles out of Balallan. Glad I didn't buy it; whoever bought it will now have his view improved no end.

Collection

Val and Krissy's photoscavenger hunt #79 is on the subject of collections. Well, I've been scratching my head over that one - just digging into a collection of about 2,500 pictures would be enough. But that gets boring after a little while. I have therefore decided to get all my ship's piccies out; all the boats that I have photographed coming in and out of port here over the last 16 months. Shiver me timbers, just one or two...

Internet gambler loses £158,000 in 50 minutes

WHAT???!!!

You read it correctly. A 25 year old Internet gambler from Aberdeen [Scotland] went on line in the early hours of April 3, this year. Using his dad's 13 credit cards (who the heck has 13 CC's?) he initially won £90,000. His luck ran out though, and he start to run into deficit. One credit card after another was used to its credit limit, until proceedings stopped at just over £68,000. Taking the aggregate with the initial winnings, total losses ran up to £158,000. As I said, the young man used his father's credit cards. The £68K would have to be paid, unless the transactions were reported to police as fraudulent. The gambler tried to take his own life, but fortunately failed. He stood trial earlier this week; sentence was deferred for 4 weeks for reports.

I know very little about gambling on-line, or gambling generally. I just fell off my chair when I read this story in a Scottish newspaper. As the judge at the trial said, this scourge of the 21st century, Internet gambling, needs to be addressed. It only took 50 minutes for this chap to lose £68k. People who would not normally go into a casino have no impediments in place for going into an on-line casino. There are regular adverts for an on-line casino on satellite TV in this country.

Distances

Lewis / Harris is one of those curious places where the distances between two places are not what a cursory glance at the map might suggest they are. I was reminded of another example last December when the Rocket Post movie was shown in An Lanntair, in Stornoway. This story is set in Scarp (although the movie was shot on Taransay), which lies just off the coast at Huisinis, in North Harris. If you want to go to Scarp, you'll have to go there by private transport. Nobody lives on Scarp these days. When I visited Huisinish, back in late April 2005, it was alive to the sound of bleating sheep. The slipway is there for going to Scarp, but like Taransay, the island is deserted. At Huisinish, you can go for a lovely walk to Cravadale and even Kinloch Resort if you're feeling energetic. That is, if you're not suffering from vertigo. When looking north, you'll see Mealista Island, scene of the Great Sheep Robbery of 2003, when 60 of the resident flock of 117 were rustled off. Mealista itself, in Uig, is only 7 miles as the fish swims from Huisinish. Driving from one to the other is a matter of a mere 70 miles. Yes, seventy. 14 to the junction at Bun Abhainn Eadar, then it's 27 to Leurbost, 8 to Garynahine and 26 to Mealista. That's the end of the road. Go any further and you either need that boat, or strong hiking boots to walk round the corner to Hamnaway. The district of Uig has been the scene of many clearances and removals. According to one local source, quite a few people were shunted across Loch Roag to the West Side, between Carloway and Shawbost. Going back to the road journey, take your time on the B887 from Bun Abhainn Eadar to Huisinish. It's only 14 miles, but should take at least 40 minutes, as it's rated as the worst road in Scotland. One person of my acquaintance nearly had a heart attack by the time he reached Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, 9 miles in. Blind corners, blind summits, grit on the road, not to mention other drivers...

A few lines ago, I did mention Taransay, scene of the infamous Castaway 2000 project. Someone asked me about it the other day, and referred to it as Outcast 2000. After stifling a huge guffaw, I patiently explained that yon project was actually a travesty of the Western Isles, and the only good it ever did was raising the profile from a tourist's point of view. The scenery from there is gorgeous, with the backdrop of the Harris mountains. Otherwise, it was an absolute non-community. What do you expect, people aren't prepared to put their backs into something that they know is going to end in 12 months' time. Last week, I went on the BBC's website and found a clip from that program, which contained a lot of screaming and shouting. All the pods, that the participants lived in, have been removed from Taransay. One is sitting along the road in Luskentyre, but when I was there in April, it looked uninhabited and rundown.

Info

Over the next couple of days, I am going to insert a number of posts from my parallel blog, Arnish Lighthouse in here. I just want to give an idea what Lewis is like, and give some historical and geographical background. I started yesterday with St Kilda, and the tragic downfall of the community there - an early 20th century exercise in toxicology.

Thursday 15/06/06

Grey day with occasional rain and a fair bit of wind. The 6 Norwegian navy ships leave port at 8 am; they are very fast. Mrs B's nephew comes for a coffee and a bit of lunch. The big Co-op on Macaulay Road has recently expanded, but they haven't sorted themselves out by a long shot, it's a shambles by all accounts. Former Tropical Cyclone Alberto is now south of Cape Cod, heading northeast towards Nova Scotia and out into the Atlantic. We can expect him by Sunday. Nothing major, except for a lot of rain. In Inaclete Road, out the back, workmen are cutting a slice out of a wall, probably in anticipation of removing a large section of wall altogether. The yard behind it is a bus repair workshop, and the drivers have no end of bother manoeuvring in and out of it. The Gazette reports on the application for the windfarm at Eishken, which the Comhairle will be debating tonight. The last I hear of it is that it has been approved, and that it will now go in front of the Scottish Executive.

Eishken Windfarm

The revised planning application for the windfarm on the Eishken Estate, submitted by development consortium Beinn Mhor Power has been approved by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar [Western Isles Council] on Thursday, June 15th. In a meeting of the full council, the scheme was voted through at 15 votes for, 5 against.

The original planning application involved the construction of 133 turbines [each standing 135 m / 450 ft high] on the west of the Eishken estate, around the hills of Beinn Mhor and Muaitheabhal. This would also necessitate the construction of 77 km / 48 miles of roads and subsidiary infrastructure. Following objections from SNH and other conservation bodies, concerned about the resident population of eagles and other creatures, Eishken owner Nick Oppenheim decided to scale the project down. There will now only be 53 turbines and 41 km / 26 miles of road. It should be borne in mind that the Eishken estate is uninhabited, except for Eishken Lodge, 7 miles southeast of Balallan. Its original inhabitants were cleared out of 36 villages in the 19th century.

Like the proposed North Lewis windfarm, this project is controversial. Kinloch Community council, the district which encompasses Eishken, was in favour, although 130 residents lodged objections against the revised application. As I have explained in earlier posts on the Eishken Windfarm, the residents of Kinloch stand to gain financially by this project. Residents of Kinloch could join the Muaitheabhal trust, the community section of the Eishken project. As things stand at the moment, they have a share in 6 turbines (a substantial reduction from the original figure).

Objections have also been put forward against the original planning application by residents of Loch Seaforth-side, from Ath Linne (on the Lewis/Harris border) to Maraig. The 50 people that live there will have the benefit of the view of 53 turbines whirring away on the hills on the other side of the loch, whilst reaping none of the financial benefits that the Kinloch people get. I recently noticed that the restored Ardvourlie Castle (at Scaladale) has been placed on the market, and its outgoing residents were the most vociferous letter writers in the Stornoway Gazette - against the Eishken windfarm.

The planning application will now go in front of the Scottish Executive, and if my reading of the current political climate is correct, they will rubberstamp this project. Fantastic prospect.

Loch Seaforth desecrated, the untouched wilderness of Eishken ruined, the silence of Loch Sgiobacleit broken and the Harris mountains overshadowed by windturbines. At one time there was a plot of land for sale on the Eishken road, about 3 miles out of Balallan. Glad I didn't buy it; whoever bought it will now have his view improved no end.

St Kilda and pollution

This entry was first published in my parallel blog Arnish Lighthouse on 12-Dec-2005

Pollution is not a word commonly associated with the Hebrides. Certainly not when I mention that I'm referring to St Kilda. It would appear that pollution was one of the factors that led to the demise of that community. Strange, but true.

The two main pollutants were heavy metals and dioxins. Heavy metals are present in fatty deposits in seabirds. The elements concerned are zinc, cadmium, platinum and many others. The people on St Kilda lived off seabirds, which were culled from the islands' cliffs. After eating the birds, the remains were disposed off by plouging into the earth for the purpose of fertilisation. Once crops were harvested, the heavy metals would come back to the islanders. Heavy metals are toxic.

Dioxins are the products of combustion of carbon-based fuels in the presence of chlorine. They are very toxic at low concentrations. The islanders on St Kilda used peat for fuel. As the islands are only small, the soil is impregnated with salt, which (chemically) is sodium chloride. When the peats are burned, dioxins are formed. These are present in the smoke and the ashes. In the original blackhouse, there is no such thing as a chimney stack; smoke would dissipate through the thatch. After the peat had burned out, the ashes were scattered on the floor. Behold an environment rich in dioxins.

One of the more poignant aspects of life on St Kilda was its incredible infant mortality rate: 50%. Only 1 out of every 2 babies born would survive the first year of life. It was thought that the deaths were caused by infant tetanus (tetanus is commonly known as lockjaw). When a child was born on St Kilda, some fulmar oil would be applied to the umbilical stump after the umbilical cord was cut. Fulmar oil was kept in a dedicated bottle, but not at all in sterile conditions.

Recent research has suggested that the tetanus bacterium was not present in the oil at all, but in the soil. The 8-day illness was thought to be the result of unhygienic living conditions, pollution by heavy metals and dioxins. It was eradicated after 1891 following the introduction of hygienic nursing practices.

Postscript: I do want to stress that many factors contributed to the decline and death of the community of St Kilda, but it would appear that health related problems were one of the main causes.

Uncle comes to call

A note of warning for readers in the UK. Uncle Alberto is now saying his good-byes to the Americas as he prepares to make his way across the Atlantic to Europe. As you can see on the above satellite image (taken at 8.45pm tonight, 15 June), the remains of Tropical Storm Alberto have turned into a massive storm system. It is expected off the westcoast of Ireland and Scotland on Sunday. Like in the USA, it will be bringing loads of rain and some wind. I am not expecting the force 11 winds they had in Florida earlier this week, but do anticipate bucket loads of the wet stuff. I suggest to follow the forecast, although Alberto has so far not been mentioned. Be wary - he is not a sugar uncle, I'm telling you.

Iolaire

Yesterday, I mentioned the correspondence in Scottish newspapers surrounding the sinking of HMY [His Majesty's Yacht] Iolaire in 1919. The image above shows the immediate aftermath of the disaster. At daybreak, at 9 am on New Year's Day 1919, one man was found hanging in the rigging of the mast. Seven others had been with him, but were unable to hang on and had fallen down, and had drowned. It is impossible to imagine the depth of grief that the loss of 200 young men brought to Lewis. Today, I was sent a transcript of an article from the Glasgow Herald of January 4th, 1919:

An old man sobbing into his handkerchief with a stalwart son in khaki sitting on the cart beside him, the remains of another son in the coffin behind --- that was one of the sights seen today as one of the funeral parties emerged from the barrack gate. Another, an elderly woman, well dressed, comes staggering down the roadway and bursts into a paralysis of grief as she tells the sympathisers at the gate that her boy is in the mortuary. Strong men weeping and women wailing or wandering around with blanched, tear stained faces are to be seen in almost every street and there are groups of them at the improvised mortuary

The islanders found it impossible to speak about the disaster. It was locked away in a cupboard. The last survivor died in 1992. A list of names, of survivors and casualties, was compiled by the Stornoway Historical Society, and can be accessed from this link. The following was the resulting feedback:

(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."

I very recently received this link, which carries more stories.

The Iolaire Disaster is little known outside the Hebrides, although its death toll exceeds that of the disaster with the Herald of Free Enterprise outside Zeebrugge in 1986. Another shipwreck, dating back to 1904, took place at Rockall. The Norge, on its way from Norway to America, foundered on this island, 225 miles west of Scotland. Hundreds perished; 9 are buried at Stornoway.

Intelligent cat

This story from BBC South Yorkshire tells the tale of Tee Cee, the cat who can sense that his master is about to have an epileptic fit. He sits close to him and stares him intently in the face, then goes to his master's wife to raise the alert. Tee Cee will then not leave his master's side until he has regained full consciousness.



Tee Cee, pictured above, has been nominated for Cat of the Year. He was dumped in a river as a kitten 10 years ago, but was rescued.

Attitude

As long standing readers know, during my stay in Lewis, I have taken on board some aspects of the island's history. In the early hours of New Year's Day 1919, a boat, carrying 300 islanders returning from the First World War, was on its way from Kyle of Lochalsh to Stornoway. On the approach to Stornoway, it struck rocks on the Beasts of Holm, a small reef. 205 drowned, 75 survived. The exact circumstances of the grounding have never been cleared up. The naval reservists on board could, to a man, have taken the boat, called the Iolaire into port. An inquiry was launched, but no conclusions were drawn.

Earlier this year, I was given a list of names, and I gathered pictures of the men who died and of the survivors. One of my sources, a man from Aberdeen, is scathing (putting it mildly) about the attitude of the British authorities towards their conscripts, and towards those who perished on the Iolaire. I think it is understandable, if I give you these two quotes.

Prior to the inquiry, a number of national papers had an accusation to the effect that "the men drowned because they were Gaelic speakers who could not understand orders given in English". This false allegation was quickly dropped before the inquiry proper started. It was pointed out that many had been at sea for years, and non-commissioned officers &c during the war. The allegation infuriated many of the islanders and their shipmates who had served at sea. This letter was printed in the Glasgow Herald, a major Scottish newspaper, on 11 January 1919,

Sir, I should like to take exception to a remark made in the account given by a correspondent, of the above sad disaster in the "Herald" of the 6 inst. He says that probably a great deal of confusion was caused by the fact that orders were given in English at the critical moment instead of in Gaelic, which the men would have understood better. I am well acquainted with the people of Lewis in general, and have sailed with their seamen for a long number of years, and never yet met a Lewisman that could not speak and understand English equally as well as Gaelic. In the majority of cases, when away for long periods, as sailors are, they never speak anything but English. So I do not think it would make any difference at all whether orders were given in Gaelic or English. It seems apparent that the ship's boats could not withstand the storm and heavy sea which was raging at the time, and it was a case of "every man for himself." By the accounts given the Arnish Light was quite visible for a long distance out at sea, which was a sufficient guide for bringing the vessel into Stornoway Harbour, combined with the Beacon Light. If, on the other hand, the lights were obscured for any length of time, why was the vessel not slowed or stopped and navigated with caution  when such a number of precious lives were involved? I am almost certain that the majority of these poor seamen, who were natives of Lewis, were quite capable of taking the vessel into the harbour had they been in a position to do so., and I am pleased that the Lewis people are demanding a public inquiry which I hope, will help to clear up the mist.   - ---- I am, etc.. ONE WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THE COAST. 

Flag Day

I gather today is Flag Day over in the USA. So: have a good one!

Wednesday 14/06/06

Wake up at 3.15 am, at daybreak. The moon shines low over Arnish. Wake up once more at 5.20, to find a dense fog covering the basin. Fog lifts to about 40m at 6.05 am (no, didn't have a good night), but according to mrs B, it returned with a vengeance at 7.30. By late morning, the layer of cloud lifted to 200 m / 700 ft. TS Alberto is now heading northeast over Florida, increasing its forward speed. It is being downgraded to a Tropical Depression, and is in the process of losing its tropical characteristics. There are temperature gradients over your average Atlantic depression, which do not exist in a tropical depression. The extra-tropical remains of Alberto are set to head across the Atlantic to Scotland, and will be a vigorous depression when it reaches here by Monday next week. At 2.30 pm, I go out for a walk. This takes me up Keith Street, then up Lewis Street as far as Bayhead. Cross into the Castle Grounds to the Golf Club. Carry on north by the Bayhead River, which is reduced to a trickle. The watermill is not operating, for lack of water. There is hardly any water flowing down the lade. Walk onto the golf course and head over towards the Castle College. I walk down to the Bayhead Bridge and return to Stornoway Town Centre. Nice views over town, and country. It's busy in sunny Stornoway. I return to mrs B's at 3.40. Half an hour later, a flotilla of 4 Norwegian navy patrolboats speed into port for refuelling. I head for the King Edward Quay, where the Geir, the Gribb, the Jo and the Tjeld are tied up. A fleet of road tankers are standing by. The boats are small and packed with gear, must be cramped. Mrs B cooks a red cabbage dish. It's a bright and sunny afternoon, warm in the sun. Several people knock on mrs B's door, but there was no space at the B&B. One group of 5 people in a car is advised to seek accommodation outside SY. An SFPA [Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency] vessel hovers outside port for a while at 7pm.

Any further events, after 7.30pm, will be recorded in a separate entry

Tuesday 13/06/06

Today does not start with very good weather, although it very gradually improves through the day. TS Alberto douses Florida with inches of rain, apparently welcome on account of a drought and wildfires. A limited storm surge, 5 ft, gives some folk wet feet. I'm appalled at the lack of awareness about hurricanes over in the States. I have all the info from the National Hurricane Centre on-line, with bulletins every 3 to 6 hours. The forecast projects the remains of Alberto to cross the Atlantic to reach Scotland by Monday next week. AOL give me hell, with the upgrade. The sun comes out in the evening as I cook "Take a leek" for mrs B. This week, we have two teenage lads staying with us who are on a week's work experience. Their mates, here on the same business, call round and stay late. The other guest works in air traffic control at the airport and has to start work at 6 am.

Monday 12/06/06

Sunny start to the day, with just a few clouds. Over in the US, Tropical Storm (TS) Alberto has pepped up to a strong feature, with winds strengthening  to 70 mph, 4 mph short of hurricane status. Mrs B's granddaughter is with us today, as she is off sick from school. I help her with an essay on life in a medieval castle. A few other visitors come to call as well. After lunch, the initially bright weather closes in. At 3.30, the first of a series of heavy showers falls. The wind strengthens to force 7, with force 9 gusts. Mrs B cooks hotchpotch for me and does very well. At 8pm, I venture out again to the Coastguard Station to take pictures of the wild conditions. Such a contrast to yesterday. Temperature plummeted from 18C at 3pm to 14C at 4pm, with the start of the rain. A couple of guests fail to materialise, although they booked ages ago. The wind eases as the evening ends.

CarnivAOL

This week, I submitted another entry to Paul Little's CarnivAOL. The entry is actually an entire journal, which raised Paul's eyebrows. However, as it was only 7 entries long, and related to one single event (an Atlantic autumn storm), he was kind enough to allow it in. Have a look at St Martin's Storm 2005 - I suggest you start at the bottom. The other entries on this week's CarnivAOL are equally readable. Enjoy!

Long entry alerts

I have also been told by Joe, the Journals Editor, that the problem of broken alerts is a thing of the past. So now, however long you wish to blether on, your entry will generate a normal alert.

Tomorrow, I'll post a normal entry.

Outage out

Hurray! Everything works again!

Outage

Found that I was unable to access the journal this afternoon, after pictures were no longer displayed around lunchtime. How long will this be going on for? No UK journals are available at this time. Thought the outage would be around the 9 to 11 AM mark this morning. Not happy! Journals are available through the AOL server, but not from the web. Aaargh!!!

Alberto - heading for UK

New version AOL Journals

Fat lot of use this new version, you can't even upload frigging pictures. GRRRRR!!!!!

Journals roll-out version 6

Journals Editor Joe has advised that the new version of AOL Journals will be introduced between 4 and 6 AM EDT [8 and 10 AM UTC] tomorrow, June 13th, 2006. Between 9 and 11 AM BST, you will NOT be able to access your journals. European AOL users will be relieved to hear that ad banners will NOT be introduced above their journals, but those in Canada and Mexico will get them.

Read for yourself http://journals.aol.com/journalseditor/magicsmoke/entries/1481.

Pay a visit

I have been reading this journal, "Watching my Sister Disappear...", for a while. It is the heart-rending story of a woman who loses her sister to Alzheimer's Disease. I think they're both in their 50s. Mary-Louise relates her sister's inexorable decline to the way we relate to people in every-day life - or not as is more likely.

Have a read, and leave a note of encouragement.

http://journals.aol.com/mlrhjeh/WatchingMySisterDisappear/entries/6049

Midnight moon

Beautiful full moon, very low in the sky, after midnight.

Sunday 11/06/06

Brilliantly sunny day, but very windy. It's warm by Lewis standards, with the mercury at a steady 20C / 68F. Wind reaches force 6 in gusts, which leads to a ballet of banging doors. Because of the warmth inside, the windows are open. So you get drafts. Anyway, it could be worse. Over in the Caribbean, Tropical Depression ONE has turned into Tropical Storm ALBERTO, the first named storm of the season. He is forecast to trek across central Florida into the western Atlantic, to join the jetstream by next weekend. It's a lazy day in Stornoway. At 5pm, I go over to the Coastguard Station to take pictures of waves crashing into the retaining wall under the causeway. I chat to a man who is going to take his boat out with his young son - bit windy, not? Enjoy sun and wind on Green Island for a bit. The isthmus between Goat Island and Green Island is covered in crab shells and crab claws. Supper is prepared for me by mrs B. Late in the evening, the full moon rises behind Arnish Lighthouse - see separate entry.

Tropical Storm ALBERTO

Tropical Storm Alberto, upgraded from Tropical Depression ONE, has turned into a nasty piece of work whilst traversing the Gulf of Mexico. It's turning into a fully fledged hurricane. Anyone concerned about tropical hurricanes can access the NHC (National Hurricane Center) website.
AT 10 AM CDT...1500 UTC...A HURRICANE WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR
THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA FROM LONGBOAT KEY TO THE OCHLOCKONEE
RIVER.

A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED
WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO
PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT SOUTH OF LONGBOAT KEY TO
ENGLEWOOD...AND WEST OF THE OCHLOCKONEE RIVER TO INDIAN PASS.
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SOUTH OF ENGLEWOOD TO
BONITA BEACH.


TROPICAL STORM CENTER LOCATED NEAR 27.1N 85.9W AT 12/1500Z
POSITION ACCURATE WITHIN 30 NM

PRESENT MOVEMENT TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST OR 20 DEGREES AT 6 KT

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE 997 MB
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS 60 KT WITH GUSTS TO 75 KT.

Saturday 10/06/06

Second day of blazing sunshine and now seriously high temperatures. By 3pm, the mercury stands puffing at 25C/77F. That is very high for this part of the country. The Atlantic hurricane seasons kicks off with tropical depression ONE, just west of Cuba. It doesn't carry much winds (up to force 8), but gives rainfall totals running up to 30 inches, 750 mm. Grand Cayman Island reported 22.72 inches = 577 mm in 24 hours. TD1 could trek northeast to Florida and be incorporated in the northern jetstream by the end of next week. It's very warm outside, and I soak up the sun in the backyard. Mrs B prepares a goulash supper. The 8pm ferry brings 4 guests, 2 of whom bang doors.

Friday 09/06/06

Up early in the morning to attend more Mod competitions - the primary school unison singing contest and the melodeon competition. Schools are those from in and around Stornoway, such as Back, Bayble, Lochs, Laxdale, Tong and Lionel. Good performances all round. Am asked to reseat myself elsewhere in the Town Hall, to allow pupils to sit together. It's well organised; the 9 schools manage to pull off their pieces within 1 hour. I hare across to the British Legion to attend the melodeon competition. Before they start properly, the accordeon competitions have yet too finish. The president of An Comunn Gaidhlig calls me out to advise me not to take photographs, as I had been doing in the Town Hall. He could have stopped me there, but found it necessary to dog my steps up the road. Enough said about that, I'm well displeased. Mrs B comes along to the final concert in the Sports Centre at 7 pm, which turns into a 3 hour 45 minutes marathon. Forty-six performances, some of lesser standard than the original competitions. Mostly very good, particularly of the young ones; it starts at age 6. Concert finishes at 10.45. Mrs B's son decides to take his caravan out at 3 in the morning. Like you do.

Thursday 08/06/06

I just couldn't get out of bed this morning. Went into town in the afternoon to buy an MP3-player/recorder. Then I headed into An Lanntair to attend competitions for the local Mod. Folk groups from primary schools were playing their hearts out. I gained admission for just £1; the program for the whole 3 day event cost £3. There are 12 competitions on today, with another 34 on other days. On Monday a separate competition focused on literature. Quality of performance is high. It's getting warm outside when I return to mrs B's for a quick bite. Next session starts at 6.30pm in the Town Hall, when secondary school age pupils play as folk groups. They all start with a soundcheck then two songs each. The schools involved are those from Bayble, Back, Lionel and Shawbost. Only one over 15 group plays, Abair Fuaim (What a Noise). Proceedings finish at 9.20. Winners are expected to play at the final concert on Friday. It's very light still by 1.05 a.m..

Tropical Depression ONE forms in Caribbean

...FIRST TROPICAL DEPRESSION OF THE 2006 SEASON FORMS IN THE
NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA...

TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS ARE RECOMMENDED FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCES OF
PINAR DEL RIO AND ISLE OF YOUTH.

INTERESTS ELSEWHERE IN THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO SHOULD MONITOR
THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 800 AM CDT...1300Z...THE BROAD CENTER OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION ONE
WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 21.1 NORTH...LONGITUDE 85.3 WEST OR ABOUT
50 MILES... 80 KM...SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF CABO SAN ANTONIO ON THE
WESTERN TIP OF CUBA.

THE DEPRESSION IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH...19
KM/HR...AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE
NEXT 24 HOURS. THIS MOTION SHOULD BRING THE CENTER OF THE
DEPRESSION THROUGH THE YUCATAN CHANNEL INTO THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF
OF MEXICO TODAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 35 MPH...55 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS...
AND THE DEPRESSION COULD BECOME A TROPICAL STORM LATER TODAY. AN
AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO
INVESTIGATE THE DEPRESSION THIS AFTERNOON.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 1003 MB...29.62 INCHES.

STORM TIDES OF 2 TO 4 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS ARE POSSIBLE ON
THE SOUTHERN COASTS OF WESTERN CUBA AND THE ISLE OF YOUTH.

AT THIS TIME...THE MAIN THREAT FROM THE DEPRESSION IS HEAVY
RAINFALL. THE DEPRESSION IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL
ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 20 INCHES OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF CUBA...
WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 30 INCHES OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. THIS
COULD CAUSE DEVASTATING FLASH FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES. RAINFALL
TOTALS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE CAYMAN ISLANDS...WITH
3 TO 5 INCHES OVER THE NORTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE YUCATAN
PENINSULA. THERE IS ALSO THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL OF 4 TO 8
INCHES POSSIBLE OVER THE FLORIDA KEYS AND WESTERN FLORIDA FROM
SUNDAY INTO MONDAY.

Local Mod - 2

So, I went down to the Local Mod on Thursday and Friday to record some of the competitions. I also brought the camera. The latter was not a good idea. On Friday morning, I was called to one side by a high-ranking official within the organising committee to tell me to stop taking pictures, because there were children involved. What a sick world we live in. Oh, everybody else was taking pictures themselves, but that was presumably OK because they had kids in the competition and everything else. Just because I'm a bloke on my own makes me a child molester in disguise, I presume.

I told the chap in question that I was making sound recordings of the competitions; I'm not interested in what I saw, I was there to LISTEN.

Local Mod

On June 7th to 9th, the local Mod takes place here in Stornoway. What is a Mod?

The Mod is a competition, in which children (from age 5 or 6) and adults participate. It is a celebration of Gaelic culture, which is centered on the Western Isles. It is not just about singing and playing music, but also writing literature, reading prose and poetry and even sports. Shinty (camanachd) is a sport which bears a vague resemblance to hockey. Gaelic culture permeates through society here, and those attending the Mod sometimes spontaneously join in the refrain of a popular song.

The Local Mod is aimed at people from Lewis. Last October, the Royal National Mod took place here as well, and was a 6 day spectacular. I do not speak and cannot really understand the Gaelic language, so I focus on the music events. Music is universal, and transcends language and culture. I recorded some of the competitions last year, and you can access about 80 recordings on http://modmusic.bravehost.com. Please be advised that there is a bandwidth limit on a Bravehost site; you may encounter an error message to that effect. In that case, try the next day after 0800 GMT. Bravehost is located on the westcoast of Canada, and they reset the bandwidth counters at midnight their time.

Enjoy!

Videos

Just to tell everybody that I have a webcam (have had it since December 2005), which can be viewed on http://adb41.camstreams.com. The webcam shows what happens outside the window in Stornoway; it's primarily intended to show the weather (it really doesn't always rain here!). I do NOT show myself on the webcam. Occasionally, I show videos through this channel. I'll leave an entry on here when that is going to happen, linking back to this entry to remind you of the procedure.

The procedure is a bit complicated. I start the video more or less exactly at the time I advertise. That time is quoted in BST (British Summer Time). The webcam site has a clock, showing BST. If you're viewing from outside the UK, you need to make a note of the time difference. The videoclip (varying in length from 3 to 15 minutes) will normally be shown 3 or 4 times a day.

When I am about to start the video, the webcam will go offline. You need to press F5 (Refresh) to view the video. If I'm so inclined, I'll open the chatroom facility, but I've gone off chatrooms in recent times.

Ad banners

AOL have decided to introduce ad-banners to all journals, not just the USA ones. This will happen on the roll-out of version 6. I am aware that many J-landers fled the US to the UK when this happened in November, or abandoned AOL altogether. I think AOL is going to lose a good few bloggers out of this. Want to leave feedback? Don't think it's going to do any good whatsoever, but at least you won't have gone out without complaint.

http://journals.aol.com/yoelcrane/thedailygrind/entries/635

Long entry alert

My entry for today was very long, so AOL hiccups and sends out a wireless alert. LOL

Wednesday 07/06/06

Awoke to the news that MV Isle of Lewis is not sailing today because 8 crewmembers and an unknown number of passengers have gone down with a vomiting bug. The ship will be deep-cleaned through today. All bookings have been transferred to the MV Lord of the Isles on the Tarbert to Uig (Skye) route. This does mean that people who expect to travel through Inverness and Ullapool will not be able to make the alternative sailing. Two ladies who were due to stay with us tonight have therefore cancelled. I have my breakfast at the unearthly hour of 8.30, in the presence of a lady from Stirling who is in town for the purposes of adult learning. The other chap has overslept, and mrs B has to go and wake him up, lest he is late for work. At 9.50, mrs B and myself head into town to go on a bustrip round the West Side. The ferry and the tug are both still tied up alongside pier no 3. After buying a load of sweets in the Coffeepot, we leave at 10.10 for the first leg on a 4 stage journey round the sights. Apart from us two there is a German lady on board on a similar mission. We pass the site of the binfight at the Creedpark Corral, and experience the only shower of the day at Achamor. The driver waits at Cameron Terrace, in case anyone wants to change buses coming up from Harris. Not required. Arrive at Callanish at 10.45. We go straight up to the stones, through a flock of sheep. Some are shedding their fleeces prematurely, others have big lambs at foot; one is being headbutted. A group of schoolkids from Lochmaddy are also at Callanish. The Stones are very impressive and set on a commanding position, overlooking Ceann Hulabhig and East Loch Roag. A skylark is singing its head off. At the far end of the Stones, the wee tearoom is shut for renovations. Those have not been carried out by the look of things. A group of 3 are looking for a WC and refreshments, so we redirect them to the Visitor Centre. We follow in their wake. The coffee was nice, one of the two pieces of cake was nice. We spend some time browsing the shop, then have to wait for 1.15 bus on to Carloway. The bus to Stornoway arrives first, then another Galson bus pulls up. I tell the German lady how to get to the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village. A short ride, 15 minutes, brings us to Carloway, where we alight to join a minibus to Gearrannan. The sun is out, and it's pleasantly warm. The bridge at Carloway spans both the river and the Pentland Road. Finally, the minibus turns up. There are 7 passengers on board. Over at Gearrannan, at 13.50, we dive into the restaurant first. Late lunch, in the shape of fish & chips. Slightly bland, but fine. We subsequently amble through the village. A large load of straw lies behind the visitor centre, intended to replace the thatch on all the houses. The current thach looks dreadful, and the thatcher apparently forgot to insert breathing strips between the felt and the thatch. Result: rotted thatch. Each house requires 12 tons of straw. There is a line of foam outside the bay. As we have seen the museum, we do not have to visit it again. After a glass of juice, we rejoin the bus to reach the final attraction: the Norse Mill, just west of Shawbost. This can be reached from a small carpark on the eastern shore of Loch Roiseabhat. A neat gravelpath leads over a low ridge to the mill and kiln. The mill no longer works, but mrs B tells me her mother used to go down there in the 1940s. A lady walks down the path with her 5 year old son. The little lad tells us exactly how the mill works. She mentions that she is not entirely happy after 2 years in Lewis - the wind never stops. The kiln and the mill are housed in separate buildings, neatly restored. The bus back to town leaves at 5.05, after mrs B digs out a few plants she would like to have in her garden. She then notices a second cousin coming on the bus in one of the villages, so a pleasant ceilidh is had there and then. The run between Barvas and Newmarket is done at a slow pace, we "only" take 10 minutes 15 seconds. Previous record was 8 minutes 58 seconds over 9 miles. Average speed 60 mph. We return to the bus station at 5.45 - strange to see the ferry docked at this time of the day. On return to Newton, Mrs B takes in two men to take the place of the ladies who cancelled. A fishing boat is reported having hit rocks 15 miles outside Carloway. The coastguard is marshalling resources, helicopter, rescue teams, private vessels, to come to the boat's aid. The search for the missing fishermen north of Skye has been abandoned, although they were not found. Their fate is unknown.

Tuesday 06/06/06 afternoon & evening

During the afternoon, the Hebridean Princess (luxury cruiseliner) and the ocean going tug & supply vessel Normand Master come into port. The HP had come across from Ullapool to allow passengers to go ashore for tours of Lewis. 8-day cruises on this ship, an old Calmac ferry, cost up to £7,600. Yep. That much. The Normand Master is a brandnew ship, only 3 years old, built to the latest specs. She is 82 m long, 20 wide and has a draft of 7.5 m, which is very deep for a ship her size (4,400 tonnes). The tug creeps into port, with a pilot on board. She finally berths at number 3 pier, on the ferry berth. By 8pm she'll have to shift to give way to the ferry. Another vessel, whose name I cannot make out, spends a few hours working on the light beacon off Arnish Point. A short sharp shower passes at 3pm, with another one by 5. I have sent an email to the Mexican weather agency, asking them to confirm the rainfall totals for Acapulco this weekend. Methinks the NOAA (US weather agency) got their units in a twist. I just cannot believe that 1,000 mm of rain would fall in 3 or 6 hours, without washing the place into the sea. The tugboat retreats into Glumag Harbour (which is 42 ft deep) while the ferry berths for the night. Fog comes down after 9. As soon as the worst of the fog lifts, by 9.45, the Hebridean Princess departs for St Kilda. The tug goes alongside no 3 pier. The Princess will be carrying the Queen later this summer, when she comes to Stornoway for her 80th birthday celebrations.

06/06/06

Today is also the 62nd anniversary of the D-day landings in Normandy, France. On the 6th of June, 1944, a huge invasion force landed on beaches in northern France, an effort that heralded the beginning of the end of World War Two. After three months of steady progress, the march north towards Germany was halted after the abortive crossing of the River Rhine at Arnhem, Holland. It was another five months before a fortuitous crossing of the river was made at Remagen, south of Cologne. Combined with an onslaught of Soviet forces from the east, this finally brought on the demise of Nazi Germany on May 8th, 1945.

Those that lay down their lives in this campaign are remembered on Armistice Day, November 11th. It is important to include in those commemorations the millions of people who were exterminated as part of a premeditated act of mass murder in dozens of camps across occupied Europe. The name Auschwitz is synonymous with cruelty beyond imagination. The remains of the camp are still there, but I am not likely to visit it. Way too evocative.

This entry is to those that brought down Nazi Germany. And to those who fell to its evil. There are still those who seek to deny or negate what happened.

Lest we forget.

Temperature warnings

40 degrees- Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in Scotland sunbathe.

35 degrees- Italian cars won't start. People in Scotland drive with the windows down.

20 degrees- Floridians wear coats, gloves, and wool hats. People in Scotland throw on a T-shirt.

15 degrees- Californians begin to evacuate the state. People in Scotland go swimming.

Zero degrees- New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in Scotland have the last bbq before it gets cold.

20 degrees below zero- Californians fly away to Mexico. People in Scotland think about a light jacket.

80 degrees below zero- Polar bears begin to evacuate the Arctic Scottish Boy Scouts postpone "Winter Survival" classes until it gets cold enough.

100 degrees below zero- Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. People in Scotland throw on their Big jumpers.

173 degrees below zero- Ethyl alcohol freezes.. People in Scotland get frustrated when they can't thaw their kegs.

460 degrees below zero- ALL atomic motion stops. People in Scotland start saying "chilly, you cald an aw?"

500 degrees below zero- Hell freezes over. Scottish people think about supporting England in World Cup!!!!

Tuesday 06/06/06 - morning

Mrs B received one more guest, and he didn't come until after midnight. She was not best pleased, and when she's not pleased, you'd better hide. The poor chap apologised his way in the door, and out of the door again at 6.40. I am awake myself at that hour, and cannot sleep, so I join mrs B downstairs for a bacon roll. It's a brilliantly sunny morning, and at this early hour, the sun shines through the back window until 7 o'clock. The ferry departs for the mainland at 7.25, with the workers in the fish factory slowly ambling up the causeway. High cloud moves across the sky during the morning, obscuring the sun by 11 o'clock. A starling chick had left the nest, but it can't fly properly. A dirty big seagull alights on top of the caravan, slavers and swoops down to carry the hapless creature away for his elevenses. Two hoodie crows quickly speed to the scene of carnage on a nearby rooftop. This totally silences the excited chattering in the clematis, where the starlings were nesting. Mrs B is distraught, I'm kicking myself for not chasing the gull away.

6 6 6

Today is 06/06/06, which comes very close to 666, the Number of the Beast, more concisely: the Devil. I tagged above image from a feature on a leading website (ahem), which explained all about other unlucky numbers such as 13. Anyway, I'm supposed not to be superstitious, so I'll touch wood, cross fingers, avoid walking under ladders, do not go near houses that have black cats in them (had one myself for 15 years, poor old Tom) and throw salt over the requisite shoulder if I spill some.

Missing fishermen

Police divers searching the wreck of FV Brothers have found no trace of either crewman in it. Local info in Stornoway suggests the boat was damaged, and the escape hatches were open. The strong tidal currents in the Minch account for the liferings to be 35 miles away from the wreck, and may well have carried both men away as well. Hope has all but been abandoned to find them alive.

Monday 05/06/06

Although it's only 8pm, I thought I'd take the opportunity to write today's diary.

At 4 am this morning there was thick fog. So thick in fact, that it was not possible to see much beyond the seawall on the other side of the street. By 5.30 a.m., the causeway was just distinguishable through the fog. At 7.30, Goat Island and the Coastguard Station were clear, and the Arnish Lighthouse was just about visible. The ferry left, blowing her foghorn every minute. Heard later that the Uist to Harris ferry had to go to anchor half way through its crossing, because the fog made it impossible to navigate. The Sound of Harris is too treacherous to sail by radar alone. By late morning, the fog had lifted and the low cloud quickly burned away. The wreck of the fishing boat "Brothers" that I mentioned over the weekend will be surveyed by police divers today. She lies 40 miles to the south of here, just off the northern tip of Skye. A big cruiseliner, Astor, lies anchored off Sandwick. Her passengers are ferried ashore with tenders, and buses are on standby to take them round Lewis. Two French fishing boats leave port, having effected a crew change. Tropical depression 2E has now moved east along the Mexican west coast and is at the point of dissipating. As I go into town at 2.20, the last of the low cloud vanishes and it turns into a gloriously sunny if cool afternoon in the breeze. Have tea outside with mrs B, but it's a wee bit chilly. The starlings are making a racket. Yesterday, they all had a panick attack, just because a cat walked past. It looked in with a look on its face as if to say "I'm only walking past, what's the fuss?" The Astor departs at 7.15. Tomorrow, the Hebridean Princess will take her place. The HP is a lot smaller, and she'll dock at no 1 pier. More info on quite a few cruiseliners can be found at www.cruisecal.com, which includes itineraries and webcam links.

If I have anything else to report, I shall do so in a separate entry.

VisitHebrides

One of the things that keep me occupied during the day, apart from looking out of the window at either the weather or passing ships, is going on the messageboard on the above website, www.visithebrides.com. The messageboard is there to help those that wish to visit the Outer Hebrides. I think I know the place well enough to help prospective visitors out with queries about camping, accommodation, sights to see and routes to travel. One person sent me an email today (Monday 5th) to thank me for my efforts.

Hi there,
Just wanted to thank you for the useful info&insights you gave via your weblog and the VisitHebrides site about Stornoway and The Islands.

I have been checking in for quite a few months since I first decided to go out there on my bike, which was when via the Hebs site you sent the link to your weblog. I persuaded a pal to join me on the strength of what I knew - which is what I knew from you mostly - and we had a great cycling holiday, going from Vatesay - our fave place as it turned out (or was that Berneray?), up to Lewis between 21-30 May.

We found your info to be reliable and it helped shape a very memorable trip.We arrived in Stornoway knackered on Sunday last week after cycling 45 miles over the dreaded Clisham from Luskentyre. Encountered hail and snow up on top of there as we huddled together and ate noodles from our stove,in a bus stop in the mountains above Harris listening to Radio 4! Its the most inspiring and funniest holiday we ever had - either of us. Stayed in The Royal Hotel in Stornoway on Sunday night last week as the Stornoway hostels in the Rough Guide we had seemed shut down.Needed night under bricks,not canvas! Cost more than the the rest of trips' accommodation put together, but fantastic to have a shower and be in a real bed with real TV and lights! In all, including the Inverness-Ullapool stretch we did 265 miles. Amazing for 2 amateurs who just cycle to work&back in Liverpool.Made me laugh to think you were somewhere nearby as we sat in an icy wind on the quay,waiting to get on the ferry to Ullapoollast Tuesday morn by Somerfield..!

Many, many thanks and here's to you fullfilling your own goals as you have helped us fullfil ours on our trip to the Outer Hebs which will hopefully be the first of many.

Regards

Ach, makes it all worthwhile, doesn't it :-)

Photo scavenger hunt #78

I have recently started to contribute to the Photo Scavenger Hunt, as organised by Krissy and her sister Val. This week's theme is Black and White. This past winter saw some light conditions, which leeched all colour out of the scenery. I have pulled some of those images together in the above gallery. Enjoy!

Sunday 04/06/06

Am woken by a very bright sunrise at 4.45 am. A powercut occurs at 5.26 am, which we find out about later, when all the electrical clocks turn out to be on the blink. The search for the missing fishermen has been scaled down after the wreck of their boat was located to the north of Skye. The liferings of the boat were found 35 miles away, in Loch Broom, northwest of Ullapool. The weather is grey and misty, with a force 3 wind. At 4.30 pm, the lighthouse boat comes into port. It carries a helicopter on deck. The sailing yacht Scorpio comes in under windpower at the same time. Four guests come to stay: a German girl with her mum and a Swedish couple. Everybody is very disappointed that everything is shut on Sunday. Heard that before, didn't I. Dinner was tatties [potato mash] and mince, with green cabbage. Rhubarb crumble with custard as a sweet. At 8pm, the MCS Lenie comes into port; she is a small tug. The evening here remains very peaceful and calm, with reflections in the water.

Rainfall

If anyone is thinking of going to southwestern Mexico at the moment, I wouldn't recommend it. They have had two tropical depressions on their doorstep, and over the past 24 hours, the rainfall totals have gone off the scale. Since midnight GMT today, Acapulco has had 76 inches of rainfall, which is roughly equivalent to 1,900 mm. The average rainfall in London in a year is 800 mm. Totals are until 14.45 GMT - more is expected as tropical depression TWO-E continues to slowly drift inland. She is expected to dissipate by late Monday.

Saturday 03/06/06

The Canadians are leaving for the mainland on the lunchtime ferry. We say farewell at 11 o'clock, after which they head into town. Their hirecar is losing oil; it's a 06-reg (i.e. less than 3 months old) vehicle. The house seems empty all of a sudden. It's dry this morning, but quite grey. At 2.30, I nip into the arts centre An Lanntair [The Lantern] to view two exhibitions by two local artists. Angus Morrison (1870-1942) lived at Ness, north Lewis. His paintings are strongly maritime, with images of the ships he sailed on. He also showed an image that is familiar to me, the Doune Chapel at Filiscleitir. The second artist is Joanne Breen, a lady of Irish extraction who made Lewis her second home. She died in 2002. Her work, tapestries, are made with discarded threads and cuttings from Harris Tweed looms, and strongly influenced by the colours and shapes of the Lewis moor. The search for the missing fishermen yields a partial success: the boat is found sunk just off Eilean Trodday, a mile or so north of Skye. Two of its liferings were found nearby. The crewmen were not in the vessel, and the search for them goes on. Very low cloud drifts below the tops of the Arnish hills. A fine drizzle falls in the middle of the afternoon, but it brightens up very slowly through the evening. The sun comes out at 9.25. The second tropical depression in the Eastern Pacific does not pack much of a punch in terms of winds (below gale force), just dumps 471 mm of rain on Acapulco.

Missing fishermen

The search for the missing fishermen was resumed early this morning (Saturday). At 5pm this afternoon, it was announced that the wreck of their boat, FV The Brothers, had been located in the water near Eilean Trodday, just north of Skye. Unfortunately, there has been no sign of the two crewmen. One of them was due to attend his grandmother's funeral yesterday.

Lingering light

The accompanying pictures, taken at 1 a.m., show the light that lingers in the north at the depth of the night up here. Sunset: 10.20 pm, sunrise: 04.25 am. Darkest time of the night: 01.20 am. The solstice is 18 days away. Stornoway is at 58° N (London is at 51°N, Vancouver (Canada) at 49). We are 8° south of the Arctic circle, hence the lingering dusk. At Lerwick, on the 60th parallel, it remains formally light all night, although the sun does set for a few hours. It's magical.

Missing at sea (2)

The search for the fishing vessel The Brothers was called off at 6pm tonight (June 2nd), when the weather closed in. Realistically speaking, there is no chance for the men to be found alive, unless they managed to gain the shoreline. Will update tomorrow, Saturday. View this report on BBC Online

Friday 02/06/06

A dreich start to the day, windy as well. A fishing boat is reported missing out of Gairloch, on the west coast, and the whole of the Minch is being scoured for it. Not just by the Coastguard, but also 3 lifeboats and about 5 fishermen. Oil and debris were found off Gairloch, but their connection to the incident is uncertain. By 6pm, the search was called off due to deteriorating visibility. A large Norwegian boat, the Ronja Pioneer, comes into port at lunchtime. A fishery protection vessel, the German boat Seeadler [Sea Eagle] comes in as well. Go into town at 4pm on a mission, to find a copy of Metagama. This is a book about the boat of the same name on which hundreds of Lewismen emigrated to Canada in the 1920s. The book is out of print and unavailable. I'm also having quite a job finding today's Glasgow Herald. This contains job adverts, and is much sought after. The Canadians are having a meal in house tonight, after driving round the West Side. The weather closed in, and they went no furthern than Barvas. A nice time was had by all on this, their last evening in Stornoway. Tomorrow, they're off to Inverness.

Missing at sea

Reports came in this morning that the fishing vessel The Brothers, registered at Banff (eastcoast), but operating out of Gairloch, was overdue. She had left the westcoast harbour of Gairloch at 2 am on Thursday to fish for prawns. Her return had been anticipated for late Thursday evening, but the alarm was raised when The Brothers did not return. Coastguard, five fishing vessels and a lifeboat are scouring a huge area of sea between Kyle of Lochalsh and Cape Wrath in the east and the Western Isles and Skye to the west. An oil slick and wreckage were found at Gairloch, but are not though to be related to the incident.

Unfortunately, the fishing industry is the least safe industry to work in. In the 18 months that I've been in Lewis, several fishermen have gone overboard, and were never recovered from the sea. They usually wear oilskins, which will quickly weigh you down. The seawater temperature of the Atlantic varies between 9 and 14C (48 and 57 F), which gives you a survival span of 45 minutes. Other men have suffered injury and have had to be airlifted off their boats, up to 200 miles west of Lewis.

Thursday 01/06/06

Breakfast at 10 am, on a grey and windy day. As I'm a little the worse for wear, I'm not up to much. It's supposed to be 15 C outside, but doesn't feel like it. News comes through that the Duke of Rothesay, Prince Charles, is visiting the Isle of Rum. The Phoenix Trust, which the Prince patronises, is having a look round Kinloch Castle on Rum to see how they can assist in the £6m restoration of the building. The Kinloch Castle Friends Association gives more information, as does a separate entry in this journal. I direct the Canadians to the Iolaire Monument, after which they go on to meet more long-lost cousins. I get the regional papers in. The Gazette is full of the non-compost mentis fracas on the Lochs Road last Saturday. A senior member of the Health Board could be summarily dismissed for breach of confidentiality. Three patients died of cancer, after follow-up investigations and treatment recommendations did not reach their GP following their admission to hospital in Stornoway and a subsequent diagnosis of cancer. In one instance, the discharge letter took a mere 8 weeks to reach the GP. Normal is 1 week maximum. Total breakdown of communication, total meltdown of the organisation. I go for an amble up the Goat Island causeway, looking round the boats on the island. A minibus full of workers (from Poland, Byelorus and the Baltic states) for hares past and pulls up outside the fish processing plant. Mrs B's granddaughter comes to collect the clothes her granny ordered for her. The young lady will be 11 in August. The Canadians don't come back until after midnight, but we still lay on a ceilidh until 1.30 a.m.

Isle of Rum and Kinloch Castle

Kinloch Castle is what's known as a folly. It was built in 1897 by George Bullough, an industrialist from Accrington, Lancashire (England). He had money to burn, and no expenses were spared in the construction of this red sandstone pile. It's not just the grand scale of the castle, it's the interior that take your breath away. It was designed to so in George Bullough's day, and still does. The bathroom had 14 different showers and douches, the bedrooms were laid out in the best finery money could buy. The ballroom has a grandpiano from 1902, which I played myself in October 2004. The piano stands on a tiger skin. It is surrounded by a gruesome sculpture of a monkey eagle, Japanese vases standing 8 feet tall. An orchestrion, which can play a number of musical instruments mechanically, is installed. It's one of 6 remaining in the world, and the only one that'll still play. Until World War 1, there was a heated conservatory which housed an alligator, seaturtles and tropical birds. A hydroelectric plant (still in use) provided the power required. After the Great War, the conservatories fell into decay. The alligator was shot, the turtles released into the sea and the wee birds died of cold. The last descendant of the Bulloughs, Lady Monica, died in 1957, aged 97. She followed her husband the 8 miles to the family mausoleum at Harris, on the southwestern face of Rum. Over the shoulder of Fionchra, past Salisbury's disastrous dam. It's a rough track, which takes 3 hours to walk and 3 hours to drive. Efforts to improve the road fail, precisely because of its calamitous state. These days, the castle is plagued by damp and rot. The former servants quarters are in use as a hostel or hotel. As I indicated, I visited Rum in October 2004 (see the relevant entry in the Northern Trip - The Start journal).  I'm sad when I think of Rum. None of its indigenous residents remain, they were all forcibly removed in 1826, and Rum has since been the domain of red deer. After 1957, SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage) took over, and Kilmory Glen (on the northern side of the island) became the focus for behavioural studies of the deer. Thirty people, all SNHor castle employees, live on the island. Plans are afoot to boost this number to 80, unrelated to SNH.

Rowan Trees

The rowan is said to have magical properties. In these islands, when a new house was built, a rowan was planted beside it to ward off evil spirits. The rowan was said to be wise, and was privy to everything that happened in the house. It celebrated the births and the marriages that took place, and mourned those that passed away in the house.

In the 19th century, thousands of people were evicted from their land. Others left of their own volition, seeing no future in the West of Scotland. The house would remain, and slowly fall into ruin. The rowan tree would remain, and mourn the disappearance of its inhabitants. It would recount the happiness and the sadness. And forever sigh in the wind, hoping for the people to return.

Robert Burns wrote a poem about the Rowan Tree:

The Rowan Tree.

Oh! Rowan Tree Oh! Rowan Tree!
Thou'lt aye be dear to me,
Entwined thou art wi mony ties,
O' hame and infancy.
Thy leaves were aye the first o' spring,
Thy flow'rs the simmer's pride;
There was nae sic a bonny tree
In a' the countrieside
Oh! Rowan tree!
How fair wert thou in simmer time,

Wi' a' thy clusters white
How rich and gay thy autumn dress,
Wi' berries red and bright.
On thy fair stem were many names,
Which now nae mair I see,
But they're engraven on my heart.
Forgot they ne'er can be!
Oh! Rowan tree!
We sat aneath thy spreading shade,

The bairnies round thee ran,
They pu'd thy bonny berries red,
And necklaces they strang.
My Mother! Oh, I see her still,
She smil'd oor sports to see,
Wi' little Jeanie on her lap,
And Jamie at her knee!
Oh! Rowan tree!
Oh! there arose my Father's pray'r,

In holy evening's calm,
How sweet was then my Mither's voice,
In the Martyr's psalm;
Now a' are gane! we meet nae mair
Aneath the Rowan Tree;
But hallowed thoughts around thee twine
O' hame and infancy.
Oh! Rowan tree!

Dusk

The above picture was taken at 10.38 pm tonight. Want to see more for yourself at any time? Check out the webcam.

Logging in - or not

Had one heck of a job getting logged on for emails tonight. I went through AOL France, Germany, Canada, UK and USA. And they all reported a fault in the Screen Name Service. Persistence paid off, finally managed to get through at 10 pm (BST).

By the way, beware of virus alerts from anyone that is NOT your anti-virus software. A very dangerous scam is in operation, which can hold your files to ransom ("Ransomware"). A 30-digit password can be purchased by buying from a Russia-based on-line pharmacy. One person had to pay $75 to get her stuff back.

Advice: if you haven't already got them - install a firewall and anti-virus software, and use a spyware catcher like Ad-Aware. Some people are definitely out to spoil your on-line experience, it would seem. Yuk.

Wednesday 31/05/06

Nice morning, fairly sunny, but with a veil of high cloud moving across. Rain is expected for later today. The Swiss guests go off on the early ferry. The Dutch ones are heading out to Callanish for the morning, before leaving on the lunchtime boat. The gentleman used to work for the same shipping company that mrs B's late husband used to work on in the 1950s. At 11 a.m., a group of 4 Canadians come in, who have come to seek out long-lost relatives in North Tolsta. As in, go to the Post Office and ask around. Directed them towards the right roads and generally a nice chat was had by all. As the Dutch folks had left their luggage in the bus station, they are not coming back to Newton, so I meet them as they come off the Callanish bus at 12.15. It's windy and cold outside. The sun slowly disappears behind the veil of cloud, which presages the arrival of a weatherfront from the Atlantic. Rain is expected before 6pm. I go out to post a delayed letter at the Sandwick Road postal depot. Rain arrives at 4.30. Read that the ferry on the Armadale - Mallaig route is out of action. As a result, the Small Isles ferry has to take over, before and after its scheduled runs to Eigg, Rum, Muck and Canna. She cannot carry coaches. The Canadians return at 10.30 pm, having traced their relatives in Tolsta and Stornoway. In order to celebrate, some Canadian whisky is brought out. A good time was had by all, until after midnight.

Excitement

For those of you who think nothing really ever happens in Stornoway (not true), I'd like to refer you to my separate journal, devoted to a storm which took place on 11 November 2005. This is the nameday of St Martin, hence the journal's name: St Martin's Storm. You need to start at the last entry in the journal; don't worry, it's not very long.