Day 17 - Badcall Bay to Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebredes

It seems the good weather from the south is making its way up to the north of Scotland. There has hardly been a cloud in the sky all day.

I did a final 2 mile run before leaving and saw 2 cuckoos in a tree and stopped to watch them for a while. It was very warm and sunny so I took a few more photos of the area.

View from pod

View taken on my run

I think this is a Linnet

We had a lovely drive to Ullapool with full sun and very little traffic.

Mountain scenery

Castle ruins on Lake Assynt

Mountain with halo.

Mountain Scenery

We had time to look around Ullapool again. It was much quieter than last week when the Bank Holiday event was on.

Our ferry arriving

Ullapool Harbour

Ullapool from the harbour

The Boots frontage needs a makeover

Ullapool Harbour

Paul at Ullapool Harbour

The ferry left on time for the 3hr 10 min sailing to Stornoway. The sea was like a mill pond. The first hour was following the mainland out of Loch Broom, past the Summer Islands and along the north coast of a headland before going out into the open sea.

We had a very good breakfast on board. Full Scottish, toast and coffee for a very reasonable price. We also found this on the North Link ferries to Orkney and Shetland. Their prices were very reasonable as well. It was lovely and quiet on board until midday when the ferry started serving lunch. Passengers placed an order and were given one of those devices which buzzed when the food was ready for collection. These buzzing things started going off regularly and were quite loud. Someone must have left one on a table and gone off as it kept buzzing and vibrating on the table. This was the end of our peace and quiet so I went to the outside deck to watch the approach to Stornoway. I was just in time to see a pod of dolphins near to the boat but there were many others trying to photograph them. I was getting quite a good video until a lady waved her hand in front of my camera.

Dolphin pod from ferry

We arrived into Stornoway a little ahead of schedule at 1:00 so did our first bit of sightseeing. This was a drive up to the Eye peninsula to the east of the town. At the end is Tiumpan Head Lighthouse. Although the lighthouse is still in use and operated directly from Edinburgh, the rest of the building is privately owned and is a cattery and kennels. We had a little walk around the cliffs and came back to the car for a coffee. It was very peaceful until a dog started barking which set others off so time to leave.

Tiumpan Head

Tiumpan Head Lighthouse

Just down the road was a hamlet called Portvoller which has a ruin of an ancient building with just one wall remaining. It was the wall with a fireplace. In the bay were 2 seals who kept surfacing and then diving.

Seal at Portvoller Bay

Portvoller Bay

Ruins of a building at Portvoller

Our final stop was on a natural causeway between the Eye Peninsula and Stornoway. We parked up and walked up to the Aiginis Farm Raiders Monument. The crofters of Lewis were suffering real hardship as a result of the clearances where they were forced from their homes and land to make way for more cattle and sheep farming. In 1888 many of them seized control of Aignish farm but were quickly dealt with by the Government and 13 received prison sentences. However this drew attention to their cause and public opinion favoured the crofters. In 1905 the government divided Aiginis Farm into crofts for those people that had raided it. Apparently there are 2 other such moments to farm raiders on Lewis so we will look out for them.

Paul trying to climb the monument

Aiginis Farm Raiders Monument

Nearby was St Colomba's church. Although in ruins, a wooden roof has been constructed and there is a small exhibition inside. Outside the church are 2 large tombs which are the burial grounds for the MacLeod Clan. Behind the church, on the other side of the causeway was a fabulous beach.

St Colomba's Church

Reconstruction inside church

St Colomba's Church

Beach behind the church

We arrived at our accommodation which is in Stornoway, so no lovely views tonight. After unpacking we went into the town and had a look around before having a drink at the outside tables of a pub and then going to a pizza restaurant.