Blown away… by the scenery
Friday 12 October
We were sad to leave Stornaway, particularly as the night had been filled with the sounds of the storm. It transpired that the Isles got off rather lightly compared with some places further south, and as we drove we heard the doleful news on BBC2 of cancelled trains and closed bridges. As we left the beautiful Solas House, Karen told us that her great-grandfather had just missed being on the Iolaire when it sank near Port Nevis on New Year’s Night, 1919, and most of his mates had died that night. The lost generation is still a powerful memory on Lewis.
In spite of the storm, the countryside was colourful and dramatic. Even though we couldn’t get out of the car and do the walks we passed – very sad not to have been able to hike to the eagle observatory – we were still able to make the drive to Tarbet interesting.
We crept up tiny lanes masquerading as main roads to find the villages at the end of the many inlets. Fishing boats narrowly shaded B and Bs!
Only about 1500 people live on Harris, which is the southern part of Lewis and Harris. It is wild and inhospitable and the population is a mix of weaving and crafting and tourism.
The find of the day was Talla na Mara, a community centre looking over to Luskentyre, with a nice cafe and some artists’ studios. We couldn’t walk the white sands of Luskentyre – supposedly the best beach in the UK – but we enjoyed browsing and buying.
A very happy addition to Tarbert is the distillery, which has been around for about four years. They are still (no pun) six years from their first scotch, which will be the first distilled on the island in centuries, but the gin is a ripper, flavoured in part with a sweet seaweed. Paula will be looking for it in the duty free at Heathrow!
We managed to get some walking around the village – haunted by Peter May’s crime fiction, before arriving at Ceol na Mara for the night. Our hosts were both ex-head teachers and had made a roaring success of their first year running a B and B. We are very comfortable and I’m looking forward to whisky porridge in the morning!
