Downsizing - Stornoway to Tarbert 26 May 2024

 

Stornoway still has a number of active fishing vessels.  This one arrived yesterday evening and left very early this morning.

The fishing boats attract wildlife that consider them fast food outlets.  We saw this Grey Heron on a couple of different boats, and the Grey Seal was expecting something but was disappointed while we were watching.  Herring Gulls searched through nets on board, and a Hooded Crow looked for pickings.

In the morning we walked round the harbour, across a footbridge and into the grounds of Lews Castle - literally just across the river from Stornoway.  A magnificent pile built by the Matheson family (building started in 1847) using loot gained from the far east opium trade.  It is now in public ownership via the Lews Castle Trust.  After extensive and high quality renovations it opened it’s doors to the public in 2016.  It operates as a function venue and has extensive grounds all open to the public, and an excellent cafe. This is the best thing about Stornoway.

Lews Castle

We are of course on the island of Lewis, which is where the Lewis Chess pieces were found. 93 gaming pieces were found in total, including from at least four chess sets, as well as from other games.  The chess pieces were made of walrus ivory in the late 12th or early 13th century in Norway and brought to Lewis by the Vikings. The story is that they were found in 1831 by Malcolm MacLeod, a local man, who stumbled upon them while trying to retrieve an errant cow that had wandered onto the beach at Uig Bay.

Depictions of three of the Lewis Chess pieces.  Left is a Berserker, gnawing his shield in fear before he goes into battle. The middle one is a Queen, with a thoughtful pose, and on the right is a Bishop - not sure what the two fingers are up to - perhaps his is blessing the others.
The actual pieces are between 2 and 4 inches tall.
The eejit is taller than that.

At 12.30 we left our berth and made the 3 hour journey south from Stornoway to Tarbert.  If the Minke Whales were still outside Stornoway harbour (as we had been told they would be) we didn’t see them.  There was a brisk breeze from the NNE which made it both difficult to spot cetaceans, and the journey a little lumpy.

However, it calmed as we got further south, and we went under our second bridge of the trip - the Scalpay Bridge - as we took the northern and most direct entrance to Tarbert Bay.

Scalpay Bridge

Tarbert is on the island of Harris, actually the same island as Lewis.  They are one island unit but referred to as separate islands. Tarbert is the main settlement on Harris and is where the ferry comes in, but it’s tiny (thus the downsizing). A lovely spot.

The west end of Tarbert where it meets the Atlantic on the west side of the Outer Hebrides.  Apparently Tarbert means an isthmus between two seas - that’s why there are several Tarberts.

The boat bird list is 27 species, with the best species being a Cuckoo heard in Tarbert, along with Siskin.  A little treat.

Our route:




























































































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