Blackhouses

Todays boat trip was cancelled due to the weather forecast. However the weather was OK when we woke not the heavy rain that had been forecast. It was never going to be a blue sea day but we decided to go for a walk. We set out from Borghastan to walk the coastline around the head to the Blackhouses at Gearrannan. It was a nice walk following the rugged, rocky cliff edges. We stopped for lunch as the breeze got stronger and as we started walking again the rain started, only showers not too bad but we now understood why the boatman called off. We arrived at the Blackhouse Village , in main shot and made use of the cafe.
The walk was quite a journey in history, the coast was scattered with evidence of past dwellings victims of the Clearances, when sheep were valued more than people by the landowners, and the subsequent sheep farms. Although totally uninhabited today sections of the coastline was heavily cultivated at one time and there are often cultivation ridges, lazy beds and sheep dips. As we approached the Blackhouses it was reminiscent of what a scene from the Iron Age must have looked like. Amazingly the last house in this village was inhabited until 1974. Today they are used as a museum and holiday homes (I prefer our modern eco house)
Traditional weaving of Harris tweed was demonstrated in one of the houses, in extras.