A Wee Trip

A week or so ago I decided that I would take a wee trip on Wednesday to Glasgow to see a friend for a few days. That involved an 0500 start. Why is it that for the previous two mornings I had been up well before 0600 but on the morning that I had to get up I didn't really want to? That's a rhetorical question (complete with ?) but it is always thus. Mind you the second I'm up I'm good and raring to go. I decided that I would go on deck for the leaving of the ferry, MV Loch Seaforth, from Stornoway's No 3 Pier. It was a cold but pleasant morning.

A few people have suggested that they would like to see more of the Island upon which I live so this summer I shall try and do more posts of the Islands. This is a start showing the town of Stornoway as we sail out of the harbour.

A few of the landmarks

MV Isle of Lewis berthed at No 1 Pier
We have three ferries here at the moment. I'l post about why on another occasion. 

Part of the South Beach Quay with the Lews Castle Grounds as a backdrop.
No 2 Pier is used for the fuel delivery ships and 40 years ago was covered, in season, with barrels being filled with salt herring.

The long-closed Caledonian Hotel where, back in the 70s, friends and I gathered on a Friday evening.
The first night I ever stayed on the Island was spent in the bedroom with the window second from the left on the top floor.

The old Harbour Master's Watchroom. The door behind the white van also led decades ago to the chair of John the Barber.

The Stornoway Town Hall. No longer used as a proper town hall but still a civic building.
The Stornoway Town Council met in the Council Chamber on the right of the building on the first floor.
It was in a committee room on the first floor to the right of the main entrance that I was offered the job that brought me to the Island.

MV Isle of Lewis with the recently renovated and restored Lews Castle. 

Lews Castle. At the top right of the picture can be seen the top of the Stornoway War Memorial

The Bridge House, Ambleside

On the way back from Exeter CJ and I stayed overnight in Ambleside (a fact I've already mentioned in relation to food!).  When I wasa youngster the family spent many holidays in the Lake District and one of the most memorable was in Ambleside!  One of Ambleside's most intriguing buildings is the Bridge House.  Bridge House was built over Stock Ghyll more than 300 years ago probably as a summer house and apple store for Ambleside Hall. The building was purchased by local people in 1926 and given to the National Trust. It is now used as an information centre for the National Trust.  Why was it built over the Ghyll?  Apparently to avoid land tax.

I looked out some photos I took back in the 1960s:

Here are some I took last week:

So far as the house is concerned it is no surprise, as it is owned by the National Trust, that it appears not to have altered in the last 50 or so years except that the doors are now green and not white.  Actually I think I preferred the white.

Culross Palace

A friend and I recently visited Culross Palace, a late 16th - early 17th century merchant's house in Culross, in Fife.   The palace (which was never a royal residence) or "Great Lodging" was constructed between 1597 and 1611.  The palace is now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland who have restored a model 17th century garden, complete with raised beds, a covered walkway and crushed shell paths.  The herbs, vegetables and fruit trees planted in the garden are those that would have been found in the early 17th century.

I was very saddened by the fact that the NTFS have a policy forbidding photography in their properties.   Their stated grounds are conservation (flash is said to be able to damage things!) but the NT in England has largely abandoned that policy except in special circumstances.  Presumably if flash is the problem flash photography could be forbidden.  With modern digital cameras it is largely unnecessary anyway.  

Lady in Window

Little Moreton Hall

Last Friday CJ and I ventured forth into the wilds of Cheshire to visit a National Trust property Little Moreton Hall.  Built in the 1500s almost entirely of wood (the chimneys were Tudor brick!) it has been the subject of extensive care to keep it open to the public.