15 October 2014

A Year In Scotland

15 October 2014

September

October

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				25	26	27
28	29	30	1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27

Monday 15 October 2001--I hate these departure days. There is always the sense of leaving something undone, especially when leaving a place that figures to be a one-time-only trip.

Thursday 15 October 2009--Left Castleton at about 8:45, in fog and variable drizzle. Managed not to get lost in the maze of roundabouts leading to Manchester's airport. As expected, the "forty-minute drive" was closer to an hour and a half. Had the iPod on shuffle, as it has been for the past three weeks. About halfway to the airport, the Unthanks sang "Fareweel Regality", and I shut it off after that. What could be more fitting?

* * * * * * * * *

Wednesday 15 October 2014--This is my fourth visit to Lewis, and Ron's second. Our inspiration for this trip was reading Peter May's Lewis Trilogy, a series of crime novels set on the island. Lewis would be known as the murder capital of the world, if as many killings as happen in the books happened in real life. No matter, they're an entertaining read, and they made me aware of parts of Lewis I hadn't seen. The Bridge to Nowhere is one, and the southwest corner, including the Uig sands, is another. We're heading down that way today.

But first, we stop to see the broch at Carloway, and then the standing stones at Callanish. You can't visit Lewis and not see those, no matter how many times you've been here. And you can't help but take several dozen more photos, and hope that a few are different from all the ones you've taken before. We have a wonderfully clear morning for it.

Then we're off to Uig, not to be confused with the ferry port of the same name on Skye, which we passed through a few days ago. From Callanish, the road loops around Loch Roag, which takes a large bite out of the west coast of Lewis. (It's largely taken up with the island of Great Bernera, which we'd like to explore, but there won't be time today.) At the far side of the loch, the road turns into the surprisingly steep-sided two-mile scar of Glen Valtos. At the far end, the broad, flat expanse of Tràigh Uuige, the Uig Sands, fills its nearly closed-in bay. Beyond, the southwestern corner of Lewis looks to be more of a piece with northern Harris, from which it is separated by the narrow Loch Resort. We stop and walk for a bit on the beach. It has a reputation as one of Scotland's most beautiful, but to be honest, I am not so beguiled. It's nice enough, but suffers, I guess, in comparison to the spectacular Harris beaches.

Tràigh Uuige is famous for the discovery of the Lewis chessmen, 93 pieces carved from walrus ivory and whales' teeth, in the early nineteenth century--exactly when (and where) is lost to history. Believed to have been made in Trondheim, Norway, they are now displayed in the British Museum in London, and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. There are several large carved wooden replicas about-- these play a significant role in May's The Chessmen, the third novel in the trilogy--including a bishop inside the Abhainn Dearg Distillery, which sits just off the road back of the beach. This little DIY-style plant started distilling in 2008, the first legal distillery in the Outer Hebrides in more than a century and a half. Visiting such a remote distillery is a decidedly casual affair--you show up, and if someone happens to be there and isn't too busy, he'll show you around. So it is today. The stills are Abhainn Dearg's most distinctive feature, very odd compared to the usual pots made by Forsyth's of Rothes, and we've heard that the product is a bit peculiar. The sample we are given is indeed rather odd, but nice enough, and Ron buys a bottle for the road. [Its contents turn out to be a bit odder even than the samples we had...we'll give them points for being different.]

We drive on out to the end of the road, just to do it. It would be nice to go for a walk somewhere in this scenic corner of Lewis, but we don't have time. We enjoy the sights and the weather and the passing herd of heilan' coos. As a bonus, we get a glimpse of distant St Kilda in the haze.

Back we go, past Uig, through Glen Valtos, and around Loch Roag. Stop again at Callanish to photograph it in late afternoon light. A scattering of puffy clouds adds interest. We are back in Cross at sundown, and retire to the Cross Inn for pints and dinner. Another magnificent day...wish we could have a few more like this. But we are leaving the Western Isles tomorrow.

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