Friday 3^rd August

 Lewis

We had a lovely healthy breakfast of grapefruit, porridge, avocado and scrambled eggs for me and salmon for Bob before driving to Lewis. It does feel different to Harris but the distinction is more like a county- it not being separated by water. We headed out on the A 858 to Callanish Standing Stones and I probably drove for an hour to get there. The car certainly made it possible for us to see more of  Hebridean culture.

 We arrived at a sign saying Callanish 111 and I felt disappointed- surely these stones weren’t IT?  We parked on the road and walked through fields and then lovely wrought iron gates, depicting stick people erecting the stones with sun and moon symbols for decoration. Here are 2 stone circles.

Further down nearer the loch we could see more stones like pointing fingers. We walked down to these on a muddy but tended path. This is Callanish 11.

 Looking out across the loch on a hill we could see the largest set of stones, Callanish 1. They looked much more impressive. For this we had to walk back to the road though we didn’t need to retrace our steps as there is another path through farmland. There is a visitor centre, café and car park where we re-parked the car. Although a coach had just arrived it wasn’t too busy-yet. After a quick drink we walked round the 5,000 year old monument- older than Stonehenge or the pryramids. In an oblique cross pattern with a central circle within which remains of a cremation were set in a cairn, the tallest stone stands 15 feet high. The alignment of the stones is said to relate to the moon rather than the sun.

11 miles away just N of the village of Carloway is Gearrannan, the last remaining street of black houses on Lewis. They cluster above a pebbled beach in a sheltered cove. Inhabitants left only in 1975 ( for council housing)  and some of it is now a museum while other is used as holiday rental or hostellery after some restoration work. It is a beautiful site of thatched crofts. We were surprised how much the floor slanted towards the door- a testament to how damp the properties were as this was to drain the water. The walls were very thick. It was laid out as a Victorian family would have had it with box beds and a peat fire was burning. In the outhouse an elderly gentleman stood weaving Harris tweed. He told us that 2 people go out all day, when required, to dig out peat pieces. It’s long but not hard, he said. It’s also free except in terms of labour. On our drive we had passed several places where peat was ready, put in plastic bags in small heaps. The weaving was being done to order and the pattern of the weave was stamped in holes in card making me think of old style computers.

We walked down to the beach. The pebbles were large and very difficult to walk on. There was a short strip of granular white sand and the sea felt warm. Bob built a pebble cairn. Despite the charm of this village you could see that life here must have been very hard.

We drove on to Stornaway, parking by the shops for an hour while we looked for a quick lunch. Eventually we found a hotel doing cauliflower cheese soup with a garlicky pesto on top. Despite the stale roll the soup was delicious!

We could see Lews Castle across from the harbour where a fun-fair emitted shrieks from ride- goers. Stornaway is a well populated town of around 8,000 and it has always been a good area for fishing, particularly herring. The castle is set in grounds with many varieties of trees. The landscape so far has had few reaching any height and it is nice to see them having flourished here. Planted mostly in the 1860s by Lady Matheson whose husband’s company was in the Far East, as they die they are gradually being replaced with new saplings. There is a golf course. The gothic looking castle is used as a venue for civil weddings and we walked around the ground floor. We liked the vaulted ceiling decorated with stars. There is a café and the museum is well worth a visit. I wanted to see the Lewis Chessman of Viking origin around 12thcentury and made of whale and walrus bone. There are only 6 here (they might even be replicas), loaned by the British Museum who have 83 of the 93 known pieces. Discovered in Uig in the 1830s surely some at least should remain here. They are intricately carved and well displayed each displaying different characteristics. The fierce Beserkers are biting their shields and the queens all have a hand to the face in a gesture not yet understood. I love the details.

Bob was worried about the time as we had to get the car back to Tarbert ferry car park by 6. It was well after 3 and we needed petrol. We visited what we thought was a cairn but it was a modern memorial to crofters in 1887 who killed 200 deer as a protest to the land owner who treated her tenants poorly. They were desperate for the land. The tenants were exonerated and hailed as heros as the memorial testifies. We had a good view from the top and the weather seems to be improving.

We had to leave the keys for the car, which we enjoyed driving surprisingly, at the hotel reception and the tandem was built ready to ride back to the B and B after a tasty duck supper. Lemon drizzle cake in our room but no sign of any other occupants.