Sunday
Posted: Thursday, 26 January 2006 |
In Lewis, the Sunday is still very much the way it used to be: nothing moves. After 10 a.m., those going to church move around the town, and after lunch people go for a walk in the Castle Grounds. Until about 10 years ago, the swings and roundabouts in the playpark at Bayhead were chained on Saturday night, to be unlocked on Monday morning.
It is not possible to leave the island by any other means but by plane. Ferries do not go on Sunday. Not to Ullapool nor to Uig in Skye (from Tarbert, Harris) or to Berneray, North Uist. Strangely enough, it is possible to sail from Lochmaddy (North Uist) to Skye on a Sunday. Other islands off the West Coast also have a Sunday service from Caledonian MacBrayne. Notices abound requesting people to respect the Sabbath, which is fair enough. The issue of transport is likely to see some changes coming in fairly shortly, I would imagine. One of the local councillors is going to work to have some Sunday ferry services going, if only to give islanders the opportunity to move about any day of the week.
In the 1980s, when CalMac wanted to start a Sunday service from Tarbert to Uig, the local fishermen threatened to blockade the Harris port. But I think that now that there are flights from Stornoway Airport, and ferry services from North Uist to Skye (i.e. the mainland, by virtue of the toll-free bridge), the advent of Sunday ferry services is not far off.
Whilst fully respecting local sentiments to keep Sunday quiet, it is no longer possible to completely ignore developments elsewhere. There is already one small shop open in Stornoway on Sunday, doing a brisk trade by all accounts. I can foresee one of the supermarkets opening on Sunday in the near future. Are there also going to be Sunday bus services - if only during the summer?
Comments
I have a friend who may move to Lewis/Stornoway from the Lancashire midlands. What do the locals do on weekends for fun/sport? Does the town have gyms/fitness centers, movie theatres, and live theatre/performances? Do most homes have internet access? What do you like best about relocation to Lewis? What do you miss most?
Elaine from U.S.A.
It's a slippery slope! Does anyone hang their washing out on a Sunday yet? It's not about keeping Sunday quiet, it's about observing Sunday as the day of rest when no work can be done. If people are running ferrys and driving buses they are working, breaking the Sabath. Arran is known as a reletively tolerant island and we've had Sunday Sailings for as long as I can remember although the first boat to come in from the mainland arrives at 1.30 so no Sunday papers till the afternoon. But some of the shops do open. It's one thing if a shopkeeper decides he's happy to work on a Sunday but if the likes of the supermarket opens and the ferrys run it means that people who work there will not have the choice and will have to work breaking very deeply held beliefs. It depends if people still feel as strongly.
Sunny from Arran
Down here in Cheshire, Sunday has become just another day in the working week - most shops are open & very busy as many people do their weekly shop at the supermarket on a Sunday, Consequently, the roads are crowded with cars & Sunday is no longer a quiet, peaceful day. Don't rush to make changes just because the rest of the UK has done so. I think that many people here would be happy to have Sundays as a day of rest. PS My idea of hell is a visit to the Trafford Centre!!
Isabella from Cheshire
Elaine, in the USA, tell your midland friends to make a body swerve round Lewis and head directly for Orkney. No presbyterian solemness here, thankfully, and people can do what they like on Sundays. One of the joys of Orkney is that it's a Viking island and full of joie de vivre, whatever that is in Old Norse. Lots to do, a thriving music and arts culture, incredibly friendly and vital.
Andrea from Orkney
We have only visited Lewis once, many years ago, and one of the lasting memories is of being asked not hang out the washing on a Sunday - but really someone else's ways of living should not be imposed on others. I do not not recall who said it, but someone said the difference between Orkney and the Western Isles could be summed up this way: in Orkney there are five working days and two Saturdays, whereas in the Western Isles there are five working days, a Saturday and a Sunday.
hrossey from Mainland Orkney
It's been more than half my lifetime since I lived in a society that came to a halt on Sunday. I don't know that I could get used to it again. The idea of not being able to travel is probably the thing that would be the most difficult.
Andy from Santa Clara, California
Elaine, USA: on Sunday, no leisure facilities of any description are open, apart from some pubs and restaurants after 4pm. Nothing else. Your other questions I'll address in a future entry. Sunny, Arran: you're quite right in your last two sentences. Just one thing: "... observing Sunday as a day of rest when no work SHOULD be done...", is the way I would look at it. Sorry, being quite pedantic there.
Arnish Lighthouse from Stornoway
Are the hospitals closed on a Sunday? If you have an accident on a Sunday is it fair to expect to be treated or would you have to wait till Monday and hope you survive?
Jane from Cheshire
Arnish, I was giving the view of the church who's beliefs set the rules regarding religeous observance and therefor what Sunday observance means, not my own opinion. There are still a lot of people living on Lewis who hold an unequivicable belief that working on a Sunday is a direct afront to God, that there MUST be no work on a Sunday, life threatening emergencies aside. As I say this isn't how I think but I understand how strongly many people do feel and how deeply offended they are by the Sabbath being broken. Personally I do think that as long as the majority want Sunday observance it should stand. This isn't a personal attack Arnish but I do think a lot of people move to Islands without really understanding that each island has it's own foiables and turning up and trying to change the way of life really anoys the locals. People come to Arran then expect the same services as a city. If that's what they want they can go and live in London. This is where the them and us attitude comes from. Many people move to the islands and assimilate happily, it's just a few who cause the problems. I'm not saying that that's you, I'm sure it's not, I'm just trying to explain why Sunday's are like that. It's not so long ago that the hotels had very restricted opening on Sundays too. Arran used to be very much the same and as I say there is still a code of conduct followed by many people. I think the large number of mainlanders who have moved here and the decline of the Free Church has had a lot to do with the more tolerant attitude of the locals. On a practicle note, I'm a shop keeper. I tried opening on Sundays for the first Summer but we didn't take enough to cover the overheads if we took anything at all. People just didn't think of shopping on a Sunday. I really enjoy my Sundays off and I know that some of my customers were offended when we did Sunday opening because they told me so and thanked me when it stopped. We all complain about the little inconveniances but there's a lot we can do without. Especially people having to work when everyone else is off. Did you know that a lot of your neighbours prepare all the food for Sunday on Saturday, all the wood will have been chopped and the fire set on Saturday night. No cooking or cleaning or laundering on a Sunday. That's why you won't see washing out, because you shouldn't have washed it in the first place. No television on a Sunday, if they have one at all. I could go on for pages. Jane from Cheshire, yes of course the hospital is open, but most people wouldn't dream of bothering the doctor on any day unless something has actually dropped off and even then... let alone bothering the Doctor on a Sunday! What on earth are you thinking?
Sunny from Arran
Simple guide to Free Church thinking, especially Free Church Continuing: No Sining, no Dancing, no having fun. If you think you might be enjoying yourself in any way then stop what ever you are doing imediately and stop anyone who looks happy from doing what ever they are doing imediately too then go and pray for your soul and everyone elses as enjoyment is the work of the devil. These rules must be observed all the times but with extra dowerness on a Sunday.
Sunny Gone a bit Funny from The Annals of Free Kirk Contiuing to Schism
Hospitals stay open on Sundays but people die in alphabetical order in the Stornoway Gazette. Move to Lewis to maintain the way of life rather than to change it is what I would urge. The balance is now about right - you can travel about the island without raising eyebrows but would be struggling to get a cup of coffee anywhere. And from a social point of view, no one will switch to Gaelic when you enter a room unlike other Celtic countries. Education is fantastic - there are excellent cyber facilities. The only sadness is that your children may well have to move to find work but will want to return when they get older. The place gets into your bones.
calumannabel from Dell Office of Tourism Ness
Hi, I'm the said lady who has just got a job offer from the Western Isles Council. Everyone seems very friendly - quite a lot of the crofters waved at me from their tractors as I passed by in my car. My only needs on sunday will be a Harris hill to roam or beach to explore - and I don't need any encuragement not to do my washing or any other form of housework on a sunday - or any other day for that matter. I feel drawn to Ness area for living but worry about the proposed wind farm and the effect on tourism and property prices - also there is very little property on offer at the moment - so I may be living in a bus shelter I think. I hope I find a community spirit - something which has vritually died out to a great extent in the urban sprawl - could calumannabel and Arnish offer any words of encouragement to calm my nerves or words of wisdom on where to locate. Thanks for thinking about me Elaine!!
Coley from Lancashire
So if you have a heart attack on a Sunday, are there no nurses at work to take care of you? Are they all at home resting too?
Jane from Cheshire
Coley, there were about 15 plots of land on offer for building a house on in last week's Gazette (see my entry on Housing). Community spirit is very big in Lewis, one of its many redeeming features. The windfarm is in the hands of the gods (Scottish Executive), I'm opposed. You need to visit an estate agent in person, they have more on their books than they advertise in papers.
Arnish Lighthouse from Stornoway
A Bus Shelter! When I were a lad we would've dreamed of living in a bus shelter! We lived in the nuclear refuse dump, got up a century before we were born to go to work in the "I Cant Believe It's Not Guga!" factory and paid factory owner with our own spinal fluid for the pleasure before going home to be stuffed and mounted by our Pa, without so much as a dead seal flipper to suck on. And you complain about living in a bus shelter? Young people today, don't know their born, Aye!
Mr M Palin from Where ever the 成人快手 will pay for my hols
So Jane from Cheshire has nothing better to do than to contact Arnish Lighthouse with 2 nonsense remarks about Sunday on the Island? Why are mainlanders so uptight about what islanders do or not do on the Sunday? What does it have to do with Jane and others in England, or further afield, how the island is on Sunday and whether the shops are open or not? Surely that should be a matter for concern to the ones who live here. If I was to visit anywhere I would expect to see it as it is and not change to what my idea of the place should be.
Snowman from Snowy Stornoway
Does Jane from Cheshire seriously think the hospital closes on Sundays?!! Yeah, they close all the wards, send everyone home and then reopen them first thing on Monday!!! I find it hilarious reading the opinons of people that really do not have a clue!!
Is She Serious??!!! from Stornoway
I have been in Lewis since late 2004 and am observing life on this fascinating island from an outsider's perspective. I look out at the lighthouse every day - as it looks out over the island and the sea. 
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