Temporary Nomad

A few magical days on Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides at the end of August. Magical in part due to the sunshine. A highlight was the blackhouse village at Gearrannan (Garenin) which was only finally vacated in 1974.

Black refers to the colour on the inside – they used peat fires but without chimneys, letting the smoke escape through gaps in the thatch roof with the expected sooty results. The smell of burning peat is a lot sweeter than you’d think, certainly compared with coal. We’d hoped to stay in the hostel in one of the restored houses but missed out to people who’d claimed their bunks with plastic bags and dirty tracksuit pants.

The Butt of Lewis (Rhuba Robhanais) was a surprise with a great sense of being on the edge of the world.

Plus Lewis boasts standing stones,

unexpectedly sandy beaches (where the Lewis chessmen were found)

and an Iron Age broch (fortification).

For more pictures see www.flickr.com/photos/nomadical with tag Hebrides.