Hebrides 32: Stornoway to Ullapool

Because of a 07:00 ferry sailing, we had packed up and left the house in Lemreway by 05:15: the start of a very long day.  The heatwave of the past few days had disappeared, and Stornoway was grey and overcast when we arrived.  It was clear that we'd be on an "industrial strength" ferry for this crossing, unlike the much more intimate vessels which had taken us between the islands.  No matter, it still served the famous CalMac "Full Scottish".

A view back to Lewis as we set out for the almost three hour crossing to Ullapool.  Another chance to hunt out some old sea dogs in order to pass the time...

Not very many canines on this crossing, unfortunately, so I had to make do with a few fellow passengers as well.

The weather brightened up as we approached the Scottish mainland, and the blue hills looked wonderful in the morning haze.

Ullapool is in the middle of a very large sea loch, with the surrounding hills and islands providing a large natural harbour.  The sea was like glass, and occasionally we spotted dolphins and minke whales surfacing.  Their location was almost impossible to predict, though, so the second picture below is probably the worst example of whale photography in the history of the universe (but at least it proves that we saw them).

Eventually we started to reach "civilisation" - initially a few scattered crofts, and then Ullapool itself.

It would have been lovely to spend some time there, as both the town and the surrounding countryside looked really attractive.  Sadly we had rather a long drive ahead of us...

Hebrides 20: St Columba's Chapel and Tiumpan Head

Having exhausted the delights of Stornoway on a Sunday, and lunched on crisps and bottled water from Engebret's filling station (the only place to buy food) we decided to visit a local attraction: St Columba's Chapel on the Eye peninsula, East of the town.  Well, at least it was open...

Part of the chapel had been covered over, and was now being used to store some of the more fragile mediaeval gravestones.  It was also a home for the local bird population, as can be seen from the guano on the floor.

Having exhausted St Columba's Chapel, and still feeling as though there must be something to do in Stornoway on a Sunday, we drove out to the lighthouse at Tiumpan Head to see if there were any interesting birds there.  Well, there were the usual suspects (mainly cormorants) but nothing particularly exciting.  Rather more worryingly, there was an unearthly - and rather disturbing - howling coming from the lighthouse out-buildings.  Then we spotted the van parked outside...

As a dog lover, Tiumpan Head confirmed everything I felt about commercial kennels.  The dogs had simply been left, presumably locked in their cages, and the only release available to them was to cry out in apparent distress.  This was not a happy place as far as I was concerned.

We stopped off to watch birds on a small loch before driving back through Stornoway and heading home.  On the way we called in at the Loch Erisort Inn which - astonishingly - was both open and serving food.  At 16:30 it wasn't clear whether we were eating lunch or dinner, but who cares?  It turned out that the publican hailed from Huddersfield, and was very talkative (a tautology, I suppose).  The food was good and the atmosphere friendly, so it was definitely a place to visit again later in the week.

Our final call of the day was to the Ravenspoint Hostel, our "local" shop.  Guess what?  It was closed.

Hebrides 19: Lemreway and Stornoway

Sunday dawned dry and cloudy, but very soon the sun started to break through in patches.  The following three pictures show the view looking South from the house in which we were staying.  The water is a sea loch which leads out into The Minch.

We decided to go to "The Big Smoke" (aka Stornoway, the only real town on Lewis) which was about 45 minutes away from Lemreway.  A few other tourists were in evidence, but otherwise the place was virtually deserted.

We had been warned about the "Wee Frees" and their attitude to working on the Sabbath, so were expecting many of the shops to be shut.  Rather naively we had expected the Tourist Information Office to be open, though, but were sadly disappointed.

Were we downhearted?  Not a bit of it!  Time to look around and see what other delights we could find.

It was a pity that the Butcher's shop wasn't open, given how momentous a year 2014 proved to be...

By this  time we were starting to spot a pattern.  I guess we should have listened to the warnings, but we had expected to find something which was wasn't closed for business.  At least the public conveniences were open...

Then we found the culprit, as it was kicking-out time at the local church after the morning service.

We'd read about a shop where it was possible to obtain Harris Tweed straight off the roll, but - again - it proved to be shut.  In fact, from the outside it looked as though it had been abandoned and left to rot, but we were determined to come back on another occasion and sample its delights.

It's always interesting to look in the windows of Estate Agents when visiting an unfamiliar location, and the advert below was typical of the kind of place on offer.  Granted, the croft in question was in need of  "internal modernisation", but £35,000 for the freehold?  It's well over 30 years since it was possible to buy a house in Cambridge for this sum!

The final picture shows the huge marquee in the grounds of Stornoway Castle which had recently been the home to the HebCelt Festival - a celebration of all things Gaelic, especially traditional music.

At lunchtime we went into a hotel only to find that it was fully booked.  We then tried a couple of bars which had opened, but they were strictly drinks-only (and looked rather seedy anyway).  Having found an advert for a cafe next door to the Tesco store we walked there.  Guess what?  Closed.

At this point we used the 3G signal (shock horror - our phones actually worked in Stornoway!) to check for an open filling station, and found one: Engebret's.  The only place for miles around, and it sold food (crisps) and alcohol (a very long queue) as well as petrol.  Incidentally, we discovered why many Hebridean weddings are held on Fridays, such as the one we'd witnessed on Vatersay.  It is to give the revellers plenty of opportunity to drink themselves stupid afterwards, yet still have time to sober up in time for the obligatory church service on Sunday.  Sneaky...

At the filling station we picked up a leaflet about a local mediaeval church; and - since there was nothing else to do in the vicinity - decided to visit it.  Watch out for the next (not very thrilling but, thankfully, not closed either) episode in this interminably long saga.