Calanais

It has been nearly 30 years since we were on the Outer Hebrides and much has changed, mostly for the good. Last time we cycled from Barra to Stornoway and the roads were mainly single track with only small sections of 2 way, but now the major roads are 2 way and it must be better to be a cyclist. Today we went to Stornoway to get fuel, (only a couple of pence more expensive than Edinburgh), before heading over to the west side of Lewis to see Calanais, Dùn Chàrlabhaigh and the Arnoil taigh-dubh (black house). The weather was windier than yesterday and threatened rain, but nothing like the torrential downpours at home. Calanais has a new visitor centre, run by the community, that is very good. The stones are much more popular than the last time but they are still magnificent and it’s possible to hide the people behind the stones, as the blip shows. The collage is a view of the Harris hills from the Pentland Road (it was a dirt road before, so we hadn’t been there), a fishing bothy by the road up to Stornoway and a memorial in the shape of a teardrop to Bonnie Prince Charlie, who travelled in the islands when on the run from the government.

Yesterday’s blip.