The Butt of Lewis, Stornoway and Triagh Mhor

Up and behind the wheel again, we made our way North on the road to Ness. Having picked up a flyer on Hebridean arts and crafts, we stopped in a couple of places on the way to the lighthouse at the Butt of Lewis. The best place we went was Borgh Pottery – http://www.borghpottery.com – from the outside, a cute home surrounded by blooming gardens and a few characterful touches. From the inside it is a clean, light and bright space full of beautiful handcrafted pottery and other bits and pieces by local makers and creators. A window through to the workshop ‘guarded’ by a big sleepy dog showed a helpful and happy owner busy at work.

Back in the Land Rover it was time for some adventure. Arriving at the lighthouse we had a little look around the most north-westerly part of the island – wind whipping at our clothes and faces, the sea broiled beneath us as we stood atop the cliffs. A seal bobbed about the water in a more sheltered cove and the birds flew past as they were caught in the frequent gusts. We made our way back down the road a very short way as we’d seen a steep slipway down to a protected, sandy bay – time to take the Land Rover to the beach. Nose to the sea, she did it perfectly, allowing us to enjoy a hot chocolate looking out to sea.

Crossing from west to east, the landscape served to act as a strong reminder of how remote the islands are. The desolate heathland stretched as far as you could see, like being on a boat in a vast ocean, and conjured fearful visions of being lost and alone in the dull and darkening weather. Glad of the engine under the bonnet speeding us on, we arrived in Stornoway ready for the sites of the city.

I use the term ‘city’ very loosely – although a greater settlement of houses and amenities than we had seen anywhere else (two supermarkets no less!), the town took no more than 10 minutes to drive into and we were expecting a little more in the way of cafes and eateries considering the prowess of the Hebridean black puddings, cheeses and condiments. Having said that, we did find the Stornoway arts centre, An Lanntair – a great cultural, creative place with a small shop, cafe, gallery and exhibition spaces. We also managed to find some good old fashioned fish and chips and a traditional sweet shop then headed for the impressive looking Lews Castle. Unfortunately it was being refurbished so we couldn’t get inside but the surrounding park was lovely and we enjoyed the walk around outside. Now it was time to get out of the town and find a quiet spot to park up for the night.

On the road directly north of Stornoway, we drove as far as we could go to find Triagh Mhor. It was the perfect spot where it was time for a walk on the beach before dinner and hitting the hay.

Butt of Lewis

 

Butt of Lewis

 

Butt of Lewis

 

Lews Castle, Stornoway, Lewis

 

Triagh Mhor, Lewis

 

Inside Looking Out, Triagh Mhor, Lewis

The Tourist Trail

Leaving Harris behind, and the glorious weather with it, the ‘must sees’ of the Isle of Lewis were awaiting our arrival. The Callanish Stones were first on the list and after a reasonably lengthy drive, we arrived to find a busy car park in front of a nice, low-lying, stone building, housing the visitor centre and cafe. We started with the history of the area and the settlers that had inhabited the island since 3000 BC. The stones themselves were erected some time between 2900 and 2600 BC but their original function or meaning can only be speculated at as little fact is documented from that time. They were certainly impressive wedges of rock, towering towards the grey and wild sky. Unfortunately the site was busy with people, somewhat taking away from the ethereal mystery of the Stones that would have been captivating were they standing alone in their natural landscape.

Moving on, we found Carloway Broch – an Iron Age defensive tower with thick, double skinned walls and impeccably built. Managing to dodge the bus tours, we got the site pretty much to ourselves for a couple of pictures and a quick explore and climb. Further up the road are the Arnol Blackhouses – a collection of restored crofts showing traditional ways of living, in particular the history of looms and the weaving process. There was a working loom being operated by a weaver of the island, the mechanism and process were fascinating and time consuming respectively.

Tired after the sightseeing and driving, we stopped at a camp site to get a proper shower and indoor cooking facilities – the creature comforts of home.

Strategic Photography at the Callanish Stones, Lewis

Carloway Broch, Lewis

Blackhouse Village, Lewis

Berneray to Leverburgh and Beyond

Back on the CalMac, navigating the island dotted Sound of Harris, we left the Uists and made it to Leverburgh setting off East to Rodel. There we saw a Church that had survived many phases of changing times on the island. From Rodel we headed all the way West to Northton where the sun was getting warmer and the sea bluer. Setting out on a trek up the Ceapabhal, relatively short, but very steep ascent, to look out over another brilliant view of beaches, coastline and azure waters.

After picking our way through the bolder strewn descent we past a ruined temple, which had been the site of various strongholds and religious monuments since prehistoric times. Walking back into Northton we rewarded our mornings activities with a delicious lunch in The Temple Cafe, a hobbit like structure looking out over the sandy bay.

Back in the Land Rover and continuing up the coast there were so many beaches and interesting houses. We stopped at MacLeod’s Stone and had to stop for some pictures of the glorious Luskentyre beach. Feeling pretty tired, Tarbert was the next port of call for a refreshing shower and some pub food. Then all that was needed was to find a place to park up for the night.

From the main road North through Harris is a road that leads to Huisnis, peeling off to a Western tip of the island’s many headlands. A beautiful road that twists and turns, revealing unexpected views over a now orange sea as the sun was starting to set. There was a brief hold up as a herd of cows refused to move from our path, in particular one stubborn one, where no amount of tooting of the horn or driving right up to it would move it. Only when the car door opened and some verbal encouragement was given did she amble off the road.

Towards the end of the road, we found the perfect spot and enjoyed the view.

St Clement’s Church, Rodel

Ceapabhal, Northton, Harris

Looking down on Northton

From the Top of the Ceapabhal

Teampall, Northton

Luskentyre Beach, Seilebost, Harris

Huisnis, Harris

Inside Looking Out – Huisnis, Harris

North Uist

The most incredible beaches I have ever been on, North Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. A 3.5 hour walk around a headland with white beaches on all sides, bright sunshine and brilliant blue waters, all prompted a quick dip, many photos and a return visit to see the sun low on the water…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dalabrog, Howmore and up the Ruabhal

The first night of wild camping in a converted Land Rover Defender 110 was a success – waking up to beautiful sunshine over the sand dunes and long white beaches at Dalabrog, South Uist couldn’t have been a better way to start the day. Then it was off to Howmore by weaving our way down the farm roads and through the sheep and lambs, where some traditional croft buildings and another huge beach were waiting to be explored.

Once back on the road again, we travelled up to Benbecula – the section of land that divides North and South Uist – and climbed the Ruabhal (Rueval), the highest point on Benbecula. Although only reaching 127m above sea level, the panorama from the top is spectacular, boasting a view of the mountains of North and South Uist, in the distance Harris and Skye, and much closer, down below, a watery world of fresh and salt water lochs.

Dalabrog

Howmore

Half way up the Rueval

Oban to South Uist and Eriskay

After 8 months of planning, budgeting, designing, building, waitressing and many dinners with friends, the conversion is finished and the trip can begin! Oban to Lochboisdale on the CalMac ferry, the sun came out and the beaches of Eriskay and South Uist were calling…

What’s At the Back of Your Kitchen Cupboard?

Potato peelers, chopping boards, strawberry hullers, apple slicers and so much more – any kitchen product that you can possibly imagine seems to be out there already.  From the useful and time saving to the down right ridiculous, they fill the shelves of department stores and boutiques alike, ready for us to snap up, convincing ourselves that we need them in our lives.

In the mid Eighties, Michael Graves’ kettle with the little whistling bird was selling 100,000 units a year, and still it sells at a meagre 50,000 units a year.  How can there even be that many people needing new kettles?  Yet we lap it up.  I could talk about the environmental impact of all these hundreds of products cluttering our kitchens but honestly, I don’t really care.  I love these kinds of products!  When food is so easy to be lazy about – ready meals and food on the go, these products are created to make homemade easier.  They encourage creativity and enjoyment in the kitchen, which is what food is all about.  We’re lucky enough to be able to buy anything we want in a supermarket, and it’s all so fresh, whether frozen, or transported within a few days, we can take it home and add it to other ingredients and come up with something to be passionate about.

Could the Whistling Pineapple catch on?

The most important thing about food, for me, is that it can be shared.  It’s something we all have in common – we all need food – so what better way to spend time with people than over food?  You can be so creative in the kitchen and all these products that you can spend hours in Lakelands looking at, and hundred of pounds in Lakelands buying, will help you do it.  It’s so easy to do it right, so why not try?

Instead of spending 2 minutes tonight in your local supermarket grabbing your favourite ready meal, why don’t you take some time to look at a recipe, if you need it, buy some fresh food, get those knives, peelers, smoothie makers and whatever else you’ve got in the back of your cupboard, and make something? Homemade and delicious.  Share it with your family and friends and enjoy doing it.  Go, and be creative!

What IS the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread?

As a little girl when we used to take trips to see my Grandparents in Shropshire, at some point during that journey, somewhere near Manchester, there is a huge bakery.  It was the best part of the journey.  I used to wait for it with great anticipation, all just to get a few seconds view.  What was I looking for?  Well, the section of the bakery where the bread is cooled once coming out of the ovens  is displayed through a gigantic window – a towering, spiraling machine with so many loaves I didn’t know what to take in first.  It was captivating.

The machinery and equipment that goes into the production of bread is astounding, and everything is timed to perfection.  Every loaf is soft and squishy and perfectly brown on top.  A machine will package 65 loaves every minute – that’s more than 1 a second – and the whole process from mixing the dough, to the loaf being ‘toasty warm’, snuggled up in it’s packaging, takes just 5.5 hours.

I could go on about it more but this video shows the process perfectly; after all, pictures tell more than words.

An Agricultural Advancement

Technology in agriculture has been developing since man first needed food – from hand axes to sickles, horse drawn ploughs to mechanical planting machines and now heavy, mass production machinery such as the combine harvester and efficient irrigation systems.  As the global population rises and the accesses to food (whether that be livestock or crops), our culture and attitude towards food has changed from needing the tools to hunt or gather, to making as much as we possibly can.

Now however, a new way of thinking is slowly coming to light – instead of taking over more land to feed all these new people that are demanding it, we should be looking into ways in which we can decrease the amount of food deemed unfit to reach the supermarket shelves.

Imagine, if you will, yourself in a supermarket.  You would like some potatoes for tonight’s meal so you find them amongst the other vegetables and start picking up the nice big ones and putting them into your basket.  If you pick up a potato that feels a bit squishy or one that’s got a bruise on it you’ll put it back, naturally.  If you don’t notice though and take a bad one home, you wouldn’t be happy.  It is essentially this that farmers are now trying to avoid – bruise mitigation.

Of course, it’s not just about trying to make consumers happier, it is also, and mainly, about increased percentage of good produce because it makes more money.  In the same way that putting your bananas next to the rest of your fruit makes it ripen quicker, if there is a bruised item in amongst the other good ones, it will start turning them rotten quicker and can lay to waste large amounts of produce just because of one bruise.

So how do you mitigate bruises?  Well some clever thinkers have come up with something called an Electronic Potato.

An Electronic Potato

It is essentially a ball of rubber which houses accelerometers, which measure impact.  If this device is put into every stage of the processing chain and the impact at every point measured, an understanding of the damage the produce might undergo can be obtained.

For example, when potatoes are dug up from the ground by a machine and transferred into a trailer they may drop 2 meters or so, the impact of which may damage those potatoes.  The damage can be lessened by running the machinery at a different speed.  So, the process is done faster and measurements taken, and compared to the process at a slower speed, and the outcome with the lowest impact readings can be implemented.

This technology can be applied to other lines of production such as pears or eggs, but of course, if you had a potato shape running through a pear production line, the readings wouldn’t be very accurate – they won’t fall or impact in the same way.  Similar with different types of produce – some potatoes, like baking potatoes, are large, whilst others, like New potatoes are very small.  The nature of the rubber material means it lends well to production moulding methods but if every device needs to be like the produce it will be analysing, every mould would need to be different, which increases the price.

Electronic Pineapple Perhaps?

But this technology isn’t needed as much in Britain.  Where it would be beneficial however, is in countries where production and storage systems are not as advanced, where large quantities of produce can go to waste due to rotting.

Whilst the Electronic Potato is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t really provide a change in farming methods that are necessary to a change in lifestyle that might make us a more self sufficient and sustainable race.

Which Came First…

The chicken or the egg?  Well, neither.  First there had to be food for the survival of the chicken, or the chicken that eventually came out the egg, otherwise there wouldn’t be more chickens and more eggs.

So, what does a chicken eat?  If a chicken were in the wild, if any chicken that we think of as an egg layer or our next meal has even been ‘wild’, it would scratch at the ground for bugs and worms, and eat grain, fruit and seeds from various shrubs.  Now however, it has become a multi-million pound industry.  In order to get the hens to produce the best eggs, they need a healthy diet.  In order for the chickens to get big and juicy, they need a healthy diet.  In order for the chickens to produce better, bigger chicks to become better, bigger hens to make better, bigger eggs, they need a healthy diet.

So, as mentioned in the last post, 40% of Britain’s wheat production gets turned into animal feed.  This is partly due to the quality of the grain – although our reared animals need good quality feed, let us not forget we are the truly important ones, of course.  The grain grown in Britain is not as good quality as that from warmer climates such as the South of Germany, USA and areas of India so much of our flour for bread and baking is imported, leaving our millions of tons to become biscuits or, animal feed.

However, in a growing trend pushed by the public – we’re more likely to buy organic – the feed going into our produce must also be organic.  This causes problems with British farmers because of availability and cost.  Wheat grain is mixed with Soya and various other nutrients to get the right amino acid balance to optimise egg production and healthy growth, but in a call for organic (i.e. not Genetically Modified), ingredients had to be sourced overseas, increasing the price.

The enforcement of using organic grain has now been stopped and British farmers can again use British feed that has been engineered to give us, the demanding customer, the biggest eggs and slabs of meat.

Finding out how much is spent on GM research in the UK is difficult.  There are many who don’t agree with GM so information given to the public is often a very political answer.  One area that everyone is very proud of is the amount of money spent on disease control.  As they should be, it’s incredibly expensive if it goes wrong – according to DEFRA, the total cost to the tax payer to control the outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease was £8 billion.

So prevention is better than the cure, or the clean up.  The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have an annual government funded budget of £445 million to create new and improved antibiotics and immunisations for farmed animals.  This type of research can do amazing things…

Philip, our friendly farmer, has 16,000 egg-laying chickens.  If one of Philip’s chickens contracts a disease, that chicken can be isolated, a sample of the disease taken from it, and an immunisation of the chicken’s specific strain created so that if one of his other chickens contracted the same thing, he can cure it.

This is all made possible through the genius people that understand complex biology, and the expensive kit and technology they use.  The single piece of technology used most often by these researchers is the computer.

Now used by virtually all of us, it was originally born in secret, in Bletchley Park, in WWII as a means to crack German coded messages, and eventually win the war.  It started off the size of a room and gradually scaled itself down to the likes of the MacBook Air.  One of the amazing things about them is their processing speed.  Calculations, complex engineering problems and biological and chemical compositions can be solved in seconds.  They have allowed us a greater understanding of so many curiosities natural to the human race and extraordinary developments that can help us cure diseases.

But is our toying with genes and diseases aiding, or preventing natural evolution?  Is our need for plump chickens harming their natural robustness and strength?  Will our technologically obsessed selves, by forcing immediate immunity of our farmyard animals, stop a natural resilience that may have otherwise occurred?  I suppose only time will tell.