Monday 28 October 2024

Day 6 on Lewis

 A quieter day today..while one friend had a physio appointment I walked up a hill with the other...






The circle of stones has the list of those killed in the first world war..the last four or five are those from the second..after the clearances and emigration then the first world war there weren't so many left to die in the second.....

Brunch in the Hub Café - bike shop then out to see St. Columba's church just past the end of the airport runway on the way to Point.




First the memorial to the crofters here who battled to keep their land

















And a greeting in passing from a Cookies and Cream coloured cat!

A little way back towards Stornoway and to the coast...where a returning troopship foundered on a rock just yards from home..

The Iolaire ("eagle" in Gàidhlig)...

A row of wind turbines to power the local water treatment works 









The nearest object stands on the rock..the farther is a buoy


And as we watched the ferry sailed in.

So close..yet so far.

The men drowned are not on the war memorials. They are rarely spoken of. 

This memorial was only added on the centennial in 2019.

Sunday 27 October 2024

Day 5 on Lewis

 A day out today further south in Harris with a picnic on the quay at Bhaltos (Valtos), a couple of short wanders , the machair at Reef, the stones at Callanish...


























A memorial at Reef to those who battled to keep the crofting way of life






Then we looked at a different art gallery 











Before a detour to Callanish when the weather closed in an we headed for home