Isles of Harris & Lewis: The Outer Hebrides, Part One

The Isles of Harris and Lewis

     Two of the main islands in Scotland's Outer Hebrides are the Isles of Harris and Lewis, which in reality are/is but one island that is just called two.  I know it is a bit confusing, but there are some geological  and cultural differences between the south part of the island (the Harris part) and the north (the Lewis part).
     Anne and I spent four nights on the island(s)--one on Harris in the main town of Tarbert and then three on Lewis thirty-seven miles away in the largest town of Stornaway.  On both sides of the island there are fantastic sights to see (which I'll save for Part Two), but first I want to detail some of the small interesting things we found on Harris and Lewis.  Again, I'll let the photos do the talking:

The sabbatarian rule still has a strong affect on Harris and Lewis.  In fact, up until about five years ago the ferries from the mainland didn't run to Harris and Lewis on a Sunday--no way on or off the island.  And while there is still no fishing on Sunday, they do provide very interesting church services at the "New Wine Church."

And then around the corner came a missed opportunity.  I was getting ready to take a picture of a local pub, but before I could get the camera out of my pocket a priest came out of the pub with his collar askew and staggered down the street. Anyway, the pub is interesting.

While wandering though the town of Stornaway one evening I was taking pictures of old rundown buildings when a local asked me about my picture taking.  When I explained that I liked the looks of abandoned structures, he said, "Follow me."  He then led us to an abandoned girls' school which he described as the "town's eye sore."  He and I saw a different building--he saw the large ruin and I saw lovely detail.

It was not just in town that I found interesting ruins.  This old croft on Lewis has a magnificent view but there is nobody to enjoy it.

To get to the various sites we visited we had to travel some of the smallest single track roads we've driven in Scotland.  The picture below is of a road wide enough for a small car.  Now imagine this road with hairpin turns every hundred feet or so and blind summits on every other hill.  This is called "The Golden Road" on Lewis.  I couldn't get an actual picture of the scariest part of the road because I was too busy clutching the steering wheel with every ounce of strength I had.

Now, put sheep in the middle of the road every quarter of a mile or so and you have an idea of what driving on Harris and Lewis is like.

 When you reach the end of the road you arrive at the "Bridge to No Where."  It is a real bridge built on a road on the east side of Lewis from Stornaway north.  After the bridge the road just stops!  There's enough room to turn around, but the bridge simply goes no where.

 Here's Anne....going no where.

We really did go somewhere while on Harris.  I played the lovely 9-hole Isle of Harris Golf Course, a links course set along the sea.

The clubhouse is dug into the side of a hill so it's mostly out of the continuous wind.  The course plays over and around the links hills.

Here (photo below) I am chipping onto the green at one hole--the flag is down on the green, as were eight of the nine flags, because in the 25-30 mile an hour breeze (the locals don't call it a wind until it reaches 60 mph) blows them out of the holes.

The view from the course is a major hazard--distractingly gorgeous!

The locals we met, aside from one jerk driver, were all friendly, although I didn't get too friendly with the local Hairy Coos.

The people in the North Harbour Bistro & Tearoom on Scalpay Island, Harris, were quite friendly.  The exterior might not look like much, but past the small grocery section was a lovely, quaint tearoom that served up one of the best seafood chowders we've had anywhere.

In another pub in Stornoway another night we stayed after our dinner to listen to a session of local amateur and professional musicians playing celtic folk songs.  One girl sang in Gaelic, a form of music called "mouth music."

 Finally, we saw this couple on the highway or wee road (we'd call it about the size of a driveway at home).  They were making a point, though.  A sign to the side said, "Vote for Us."  UK politics are so much more entertaining than ours.

These examples may all be small, but they all represented the joys we found on the Isles of Harris and Lewis, whether called one island or two.  The next post will soon follow and it will detail some of the big, and I do mean BIG, sites we saw on our trip north.