Lochs revisited
Posted: Tuesday, 10 April 2007 |
Went down to Crossbost on Thursday of last week, for more business related to the Iolaire Disaster. After locating the gravestones for 14 victims in no time at all (look in the lower cemetery, closest to the shore), I went for an amble through Crossbost and Ranish, the next village, for an hour or so. Can't say I was raving about the weather, but then it's April. Just want to share a few pics.
North Lochs War Memorial, Iolaire section
Sheep on croft, Crossbost
Road to Ranish - muirburn has blackened the hill on the left
Boats on the shore of Loch Grimshader
Loch Grimshader from Ranish
Ranish Temple - not signposted from the road
Comments
I love the Western Isles. Nae doubt it`ll sound daft tae other folks, but there are big differences atween the Western and Northern Isles. I always think o` the landscape o` the Western Isles as `softer` and a peedie bit kinder than that o` Orkney. Wanders off still waffling.........
Hermit from Sanday
Your blogs are always interesting, Arnish, and these are great photos. Also I have found your links really good - the Stornoway webcam! with gulls flying and people walking past! amazing. Also the AIS site link from your website is fascinating. You can see the Ullapool ferry making its way to and fro. Some of the other pages (e.g. the Solent or Liverpool) are just hoaching with ships.
Jill from EK
The landscape might be 'softer' but they don't chain up the swings in the playparks on a Saturday night here...
Flying Cat from not ever moving oot west
FC, The chains disappeared from the playparks in 1995. If you did come oot west, you'd know...
Arnish Lighthouse from Stornoway
You're kidding, FC! They don't really chain up swings in playparks on Saturday nights because of the next day being the (Christian) Sabbath? Do they??!
mjc from NM,USA
Well according to Mr Lighthouse, they don't! How can I nurse my predjuces to keep them warm if you insist on blowing them out of the water, AL?
Flying Cat from a hard stare
AL was not "oot west" in 1995. (where is his dig.pic. of the chains coming out?!). Come on, Arnish, when were YOU last at Tam's bookery in Stromness? or dancing around Brodgar in the buff at equinox?
mjc from NM,USA
AL you must be a very slow walker, if it took you an hour to walk from Crosbost to Ranish.
Tws from Sunny Lewis
AL, I was just looking more closely at the memorial and noticed that there are very few surnames represented. I wonder if there was a lot of inbreeding at one time in the more isolated communities? I know that all people called (for example) Macleod are not necessarily close relatives, but was this the case in the more distant past?
Jill from EK
Hmmmmm.... what d'you mean 'at one time', Jill?
Flying Cat from a knowing look
No comment to MJC's reply. TWS, I walked to Ranish AND back within that hour, and still had to wait for 10 minutes in the rain for the bus to materialise. Jill, there are relatively few different surnames and first names in the islands. People usually have a nickname or byname; in days gone by, their name would be a list of their ancestry (e.g. Angus son of Calum son of John etc.). Inbreeding? I don't think so, not to the extent that the War Memorial seems to suggest in your eyes. Please be careful in making that assertion.
Arnish Lighthouse from Stornoway
Are you trying to curtail other bloggers' freedom of speech AL?????
Flying Cat from in a fluff
I wasn't asserting anything, AL, just wondering. Inbreeding wasn't uncommon in isolated communities in the past in all countries, and I wondered if the same applied on the islands, especially the smaller ones where the gene pool must have been quite restricted. In St Kilda, even at its peak, for instance, everyone was related in some way to everyone else, although there were maybe enough people there at that time to prevent it from becoming a problem. What happened as the population declined I have no idea.
Jill from EK
The chains might have come off the swings but they've been replaced by signs saying 'Open Monday to Saturday' or 'Please respect the Sabbath'!
BoB from Lewis
So, if you do take your children to the playpark on a Sunday, BoB, you can feel a real big weight of Presbyterian guilt descending on your shoulders. (You'll pay for it, you'll pay for it, you'll pay for it...) Excellent. And Inversneckie has just had its first orange march. Sometimes, I'd just like to give up.
Flying Cat from an aetheistic attitude
Cut dead by Arnish. I may not survive. I maintain s/he was not there in 1995 to see the chains come down. All the fluff about not knowing because one has not been to "oot west" is just that. This said, it is obvious AL knows a lot about the islands.
mjc from NM,USA
Some...not a lot...
Flying Cat from The Sunroom of Eternity
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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