Maduinn mhath/good morning from Molinginish
Posted: Monday, 18 September 2006 |
The summer seems to go on longer than we might hope. Some mornings the air is cold and autumnal, then in the afternoon a warm breeze with the smells of summer returns. The heather is now turning, the purple fading, after one of the finest displays we have seen for many years. The gannets and cormorants, the porpoises and the seals are all about still. But the days are rapidly shortening. Last night it was dark before nine, then the air cooled and cleared and the stars came out in brilliance. Without street lights, indeed without an electric light this side of the loch, you can see by the light of the Milky Way, which last night pulsated with energy as if alive - and maybe it is. This morning the sunrise was unsurpassable, then it rained for a short time. We are stocking up for winter - coal, paraffin, meths, tilley lamp mantles, flour, oatmeal, etc etc.Soon the boat will have to come out of the water before the real gales start.
Comments
Does anyone else apart from blogger live in Molinginish? Looks very nice. Tried to locate it on Harris but could not: it is somewhere in the west Harris, is it not?
mjc from NM,USA
MJC, Molinginish is not permanently inhabited. You need a large scale (1:25000) map. It is situated on the shores of Loch Trollamaraig, 4 miles east of Tarbert and 1 mile southwest of Rhenigeadal. Grid reference NB220009.
Arnish Lighthouse from Stornoway
Molinginish certainly is permanently inhabited. Some of the time in body, the rest in soul!
Murchadhmor from Molinginish
Please excuse me Arnish Lighthouse, i never realised you knew so much about Molinginish?! Does it not belong to the Stornoway solicitor Simon Fraser? I should think he is most capable to answer any questions. Sorry, i'm just saying
mi-fhein from an aiteigin
cant get over this picture. will u email it to me.im getting withdrawl simptoms.
gregor from greenock
Oh well, pardon me for treading on long toes... Commenting is not restricted to the blog owner, surely?
Arnish Lighthouse from Stornoway
Got any more info on the other deserted villages in Eishken, Molinginish? Arnish Lighthouse blog had an item saying there were 27 of them, and you featured one or two of them in previous postings
interested in deserted villages from Stornoway
Cool it Mr Lighthouse! Now who's got long toes? Blog owner is not responsible for comments of others. Don't much care anyway..........
murchadhmor from molinginish
Hello from Orkney. Molinginish is a very beautiful place. If you are living there, repairing the path etc, then you have my full support and best wishes. I have delighted in browsing your blog and would dearly like to know more about living in such a location. The description of the milky way made me long to be there, if only as a passing guest, or fellow traveller. Here, the light pollution from the streets and ferry terminal makes star gazing a rare thing - sadly. My best wishes to you.
ferryfarmboy from Mainland Orkney
I understand that there is a bus between Stornoway and Tarbert (1 hour +) but the description of the track to Molinginish is rather forbidding. Would it be indicated to have at least two persons (in good shape, properly attired) do the trek together ( I assume cell phones would not be working there). How about buses to Rhenigeadal? In so far as Molinginish is private property, is prior permission (apart from informing the owner out of natural courtesy) needed. Would overnight (no or little footprint) camping (as part of a hike) be allowed? What say you Murchadhmor? What would be a recommended two/three days hike in that area comprise (direction/stops/state and difficulty of the trail)? Distance/ hours? Water?
mjc from NM,USA
Hi ferryfarmboy. As you will have gathered Molinginish is not permanently inhabited, though it is a lot of the time. We would certainly wish to be there most if not all of the time and I hope to get to that point some time. Life is good in Molinginish - challenges are weather, weather and midges! Everythuing has to come in by boat but the boat has to come ashore for the winter. There is peat available - but a few hundred feet up a steep hill, so we tend as many did in the past to take in coal. There is no electricity so we use tilley lamps for lighting and gas for cooking and for the fridge. Mobile phones dont work but who cares. We walk over the hill - about 3 miles to the nearest road by an old track which we are gradually reinstating. The track climbs to near 1000 feet at the top, but the walk is good for you. Fortunately the mountains around cut out all light pollution - not a street light or even a hpose light in sight - just the lights of passing ships. The stars are often quite stunning in the winter when the sky clears, and on a moonless clear winter night you can walk over the hill in the starlight - once your eyes get used to it.
Murchadhmor from Molinginish
Molinginish sounds/looks very nice indeed. In an isolated area and on difficult terrain/trails, and perhaps uncertain/rapidly changing weather, I was thinking that, absent mobile phone reception, two persons walking together might be a cautious thing to do (particularly if one is getting on in age).
mjc from NM,USA
Hi mjc. There is a good bus service from Stornoway to Tarbert. There are two walking routes to Molinginish. The by far better and much safer route leaves the road near Urgha, about a mile or two east of Tarbert. There is a bus service from Tarbert to Scalpay, which connects with the Stornoway bus (all the transport services here are integrated and connect with each other) and this bus will take you to the foot of the track which leads to Reinigeadal. The track to Molinginish leaves that track about two miles in, just after the summit and runs pretty much downhill from there to Molinginish for another mile. The track is good - better after leaving the main track. Anyone in reasonably good shape can do it easily. Take bad weather gear as the weather even at 1000 feet can sometimes be quite challenging as well as changeable. The other route is round the loch from Reinigeadal, which is fine to the head of Loch Trollamarig, but from there to Molinginish the route is very rough, unbuilt and passes across the top of a waterfall and up a few cliffs - not for the unexperienced nor fainthearted! Still, the children at one time walked that way to and from school in Reinigeadal. Campers are welcome - and in Scotland there is a legal right to roam pretty much anywhere. There are good walks in the area and many use the wee Gatliff Trust hostel in Reinigeadal (see their website which also has some information on walks) as a base for exploring the whole area and climbing the nearby mountains. There is a feeder bus service from Tarbert to Reinigeadal. See you sometime.
Murchadhmor from Molinginish
Re deserted villages in Eisken I dont have any other good photos of villages - some are quite difficult to get to. There is one called Bagh Ciaraich just to the west of Reimseabhagh with a bit of history to it. Many years ago a boat from Uig in the west of Lewis was returning from the mainland with a cargo of timber. They got caught out in very bad weather and ran the boat ashore at Bagh Ciaraich. The people there found the crew exhausted and asleep on the shore - and coveting the timber, killed every one of the Uig men, by hitting them on their heads with a sock containing a stone. I suppose that rumours soon got about, but the murder finally came to light when a woman from Uig, who was in Stornoway at the annual fair, saw one of the men from Bagh Ciaraich wearing a jersey which she had knitted for her man and the Bagh Ciaiaich people were challenged about the affair. I dont know what happened to the murderers. A famous Gaelic song - Oran na Bagh Ciaraich - was composed by one of the bereaved and the song is still sung.
Murchadhmor from Molinginish
Thanks.
mjc from NM,USA
I was hunting around for the date of the introduction of electric light in Aberfoyle...and Google being *somewhat ambiguous* found my way here. Lovely photo. Stay warm. Watch your footing.
Skip Church from Lawrenceville, NJ USA
Good to hear from you Skip Church. Hope you found what you were looking for.
Murchadhmor from Molinginish
Great to have found this side after all the years. And beautyful to hear and see pictures of Molinginish. A lot of these comments reminds me respectfully how Simon started to take care of this patch of land. I am happy to hear that it is still habited sometimes - and even when it's inhabited it's alive. A very energetic and powerful place.
Piet from Germany
The nearest place to Molinginish to stay is the settlement at Rhenigidale where the first of the Gatliff hostels was founded in 1962. Full details are available at www.gatliff.org.uk First find the site and then discover a village that almost went the same way as its near, abandoned neighbour.
Gatliff from Isle of Lewis
Piet - just came across your comment. Great to hear from you! Time you came over for a visit again. Alasdair and I will have the whisk ready.
Murchadhmor from Molinginish
In researching my family history, I've found my grandfather Kenneth Norman Campbell was born and came from what my mother spelled as Mollingish, Harris. I'm becoming convinced that it is Molinginish. My grandfather came to Canada in the early 1900's. His father was Norman John Campbell, died 1912 at age 73, married to Hannah McLeod, and his father before him was Roderick Campbell, married to Cathrine McInnes. Family legend has it that Roderick's son Norman had a twin sister Marjory that perished by falling from a cliff to the sea in the Molinginish area. It would be extremely interesting to find out more family history - perhaps someone reading these blogs may have some leads. The picrues of the area are beautiful. thanks to all who contributed to this site.
knc from MB Canada
What a stunning photo from the other side of the hill. Not than I could reach this far.....For your family tree get in touch with Bill Lawson, he would be able to point you in the right direction,
Over the Bridge from Caolas Scalpaigh, Eilean Na Hearadh
To knc from MB Canada. Please get in touch with islandblogging and ask them to pass on your email address to me. You are indeed descended from Norman Campbell and Hannah MacLeod of Molinginish. I can tell you quite a bit and confirm some of your family's traditions.
murchadhmor from molinginish
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