Remembrance

Yesterday I was fortunate and privileged to be invited to go along when the Stornoway Rowing Club  went out from the Inner Harbour to the Beasts of Holm (the rocks on which HMY Iolaire foundered). I was not rowing of course but got a ride on the safety rib. Some yachts accompanied the skiffs as well. We were fortunate in that the Minch was calm with little more than a breeze but it was cold with a temperature not much above freezing.

When the skiffs arrived at the site of the disaster 201 paper boats were floated, the crews sang a hymn and saluted those who lost their lives. It was both poignant and moving.

Gathering on the marina pontoons

The 'Lewis Diver' rib I was fortunate to go out on.

Rowing across the harbour

Rowing around the Beasts of Holm

Floating the paper boats and singing a hymn

SY233 'Jubilee' the last original ‘sgoth Niseach’. Ideally suited to fishing in Scottish coastal waters, the clinker-built, lug-rigged ‘sgoth Niseach’ took their skippers and crews into the unpredictable waters of the North Atlantic

The Iolaire lies between the marker on the rocks and the shore.

The Salute

A Walk in the Woods

The Islands are not known for their deciduous trees but the magnificent 270 hectare Stornoway woods were created in the 1850’s by Sir James Matheson and have been in community ownership since 1923.  Being adjacent to the town centre they are very popular with walkers, cyclist and a dog lovers. Anna and I went for a reasonably brisk 2¼ mile walk on Monday afternoon ending up, of course, at The Woodlands for coffee. So this is a little bit of Stornoway for you.

Stornoway's Marina and Cromwell Street

Ness Sgoths

The Lews Castle

Stornoway Harbour

There are lots of donated seats throughout the grounds

The mouth of the River Creed

A walk up The Creed

Smiths Shoe Shop - a legend in Stornoway - donated this rest place.

The walk continues

A place of rest at the far reach of the walk

Safari Day 3: Morning

It's been a very busy time recently. The weather has been better than any we've had on Lewis since April and I've been doing some outside maintenance and also been doing some labouring for our son, Gaz, who is having a house built on the Island. So my visits to Blogland (and Facebook) have been fewer than I would usually make.

On Day 3 of our Safari before we went off to the West Side I took Pauline for coffee at my favourite watering hole in Stornoway: the Woodlands Centre. It stands on the edge of Stornoway harbour which was unusually swathed in mist that morning.

Bayble Harbour

It's small.  It's not got perfect access at all tides.  I was one of the ones who was not convinced that it would be used.  Yesterday I went to see for myself and discovered that it's being well used at the moment anyway.

The Lews Castle Grounds

Yesterday morning on my way into town I could see smoke rising over Stornoway. It emanated from smouldering areas in the Lews Castle Grounds.   No one seemed to be taking much notice.  Parts of it were still smoking this morning.  Oh well.  I'm sure that someone's keeping an eye on it.

Last weekend was the Hebridean Celtic Festival with it's colourful array of marquees:

Just below which is the jetty from which youngsters were getting sailing tuition:

All in all Stornoway is really buzzing at the moment.

Anstruther - Why Would You?

A few days ago I posted about a trip that David and I made to some of the little towns on the Fife Coast.  I purposely omitted to mention the last and most northerly of the towns: Anstruther.  Several people have commented, however, how much they loved Anstruther.  Unfortunately neither David (who lives on that stretch of the coast) nor I found anything in Anstruther to take us back (apart from the possibility for me of a visit to the Fishing Museum).  

Why?  Firstly the town frontage is just one long eatery and drinkery.  So if that's what you want then the choice is large - boasting at least three of the 'best chippie in the world' type signs.  However there is an air of neglect:

The ice cream may have been mad but the shop window was an estate agent.

A missing sign and a tatty frontage was typical

Go behind the front and we both felt that the air of neglect was even greater.

The harbour is now mostly a leisure craft harbour:

The northerly end of the harbour and town frontage.

So I'm very sorry Anstruther but I think that in the attractiveness race you are living on past glory.  However you have lots of car and coach visitors during the summer at least which takes the pressure off the more attractive towns.

Heron

In a comment on my recent post about the goldfish I've introduced to the pond CJ mentioned that a heron was their most likely predator.  Oddly herons are not a bird I can recall seeing very often in the vicinity of Eagleton and I suspect that the pond is so close to the house that it might deter any passing heron.   Certainly if a heron set it's mind on devouring them they would have little chance.  I once saw a heron in Stoke-on-Trent on an island in the middle of a lake.  In full view it grabbed a rat, took it into the lake and drowned it and then proceeded to swallow it whole.  It was one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed in nature.  The goldfish would hardly even be hors d'oeuvres.

Oddly as I was walking with David and Molly a heron was down on the shore.  I was fortunate to get a shot of it when it took off.  

A Brief Walk in Stornoway

I had to take the car into the garage first thing to have a minor matter attended to.  I had an hour or so early in the morning before the main coffee shops opened (in Napier many are open by 0700 but it's 1000 before they open in Stornoway) so I took a walk around even though it was a very dull morning.

The local boat yard had its slips full

Contemplating the morning

The auxilliary power station which is no longer in general use following the Islands being linked to the mainland for their electricity.  So why were all the turbines up and running I wondered. 

'Monaco' seemed a little inappropriate for this Glasgow registered boat which I have a feeling might become a major problem for the harbour authority - if it isn't one already.

Our wonderful lifeboat

Who thought that name up and what's behind it I wonder.

A few of the boats in the marina

Stornoway Harbour

On Friday Marcel and I went into Stornoway to get some odds and ends and a couple of new front tyres put onto the car.  Whilst that was being done we strolled down to the Harbour.  Harbours are invariably interesting places but right opposite where we were standing (but unfortunately from a photographic point of view with the sun in our faces)  was the boat repair yard.

 Taken from the air some years ago

 

 

Beyond baling?

Herring Girl

Years ago the herring ladies were not just a common sight in Stornoway but in many Scottish fishing towns and villages where the herring were landed and gutted and salted in barrels. Somewhere I have pictures which I took of Number 2 Pier in Stornoway covered in barrels of herring many years ago. Now the only 'herring girls' to be seen are in bronze round the harbour in the Town. When CJ was here I'm sure he did a posting on them but I was walking past this one on the Inner Harbour on Tuesday and decided that the light was so perfect that I had to take a photo.