Lewis (2) Callanish, Uig Sands, Norse mill and kiln, Stornaway, Tolsta

Saturday 12th September

A busy two days.

Yesterday we turned south and first of  all visited the Callanish Standing Stones, which predate Stonehenge. Our new guidebook tells us that they are thought to have been erected by people of Mediterranean origin, the climate here being very different,  drier and warmer then.......5,000 years ago!

The visitor centre was closed, the café and shop didn't open until 11am and it was just after10.30 when we got there. You will see that closures are going to become a theme of this trip!

Callanish stones.  A cross formation with a circular burial chamber in the centre.

Uig Sands were the next destination on the list; on the way we drove through an amazing gorge and up and down through a mixture of  craggy hills, moorland, freshwater lochs and sea lochs, with small settlements in between.

Uig Sands are spectacular and were made even more so by the strong wind blowing the grass tussocks horizontal and sand in our eyes! We parked at Ardroil which has a lovely little campsite which is .....you guessed it.....closed!  We had a short good walk then retreated to the van and made our lunch.

On our return we visited the Norse Mill and Kiln which is signposted a short distance from where we are staying at North Shawbost. A well made path from  the parking area took us to these beautifully restored buildings. The first restoration was in the 1960s  this one dates from 1995. The kiln was for drying 

grain and the mill for grinding it. A long leat which leads from the stream turned the wooden paddles under the mill stones with the water being released back into the stream. Mr P seems to think that the Vikings left here 1200.

It was a surprise to see these lovely buildings. The kiln is in front of the mill





Then we were home again in time for tea! 78mile round trip.

Weather very very windy with showers which we managed to avoid on  our walks.

Today, after a less disturbed night ( the wind and rain was very noisy on  Thursday night!) we set off to Stornaway. We had arranged to have a bag of washing laundered which turned out to be more complicated than first thought. The  FB map link for the Wee Steamie Laundry service sent us to the centre of Stornaway when it is actually located in a village 7 miles way! The lady was very kind and came to collect it and we picked up our clean clothes later in the afternoon.

As we walked in search of a coffee we found a bookshop, much to Mr P's delight, and we are now in possession of the Bradt guide to the Outer Hebrides; for some reason we hadn't thought to buy a guidebook before we left which is very usual for us! The internet is all very well, but an actual guidebook is much better! We walked up and down several streets before we found a coffee shop open. We looked in one but it was far too crowded, no Covid spacing in there! The harbour area is very picturesque. Lewis Loom was one place I wanted to visit, but......it was closed! I popped into another crafty shop which was selling beautiful Harris Tweed jackets and if we come back this way I will persuade Michael in there.  As it is the Sabbath tomorrow we did a fairly big shop in Tesco then drove off to visit the Castle and  Museum. The car park was very sheltered in trees and the sun was shining so we sat having our lunch with the side door open, for the first time. After lunch we walked to the Museum......which is closed! Such a shame.

We put the second part of the plan into operation and drove north of Stornaway , through Back to collect the washing, and out to Tolsta beach at the end of the road. We were surprised at the number of dwellings and villages in the area, but it is definitely the 'softer' more sheltered side of the island.  Tolsta was another lovely beach....these are going to be a theme of the holiday too! A walk down the steep hill and across the dunes took us down to the beach where there were two windsurfers and a couple with a child. 

On the way home we called to look at the Arnol Blackhouse which is nearby. Arnol is an ancient village which had a vast number of black houses, some of  which were occupied until the 1960s, however, you've guessed it......it was closed, but I got a pic! 

We saw many ruins of black houses  as we drove out of the village.

70miles round trip today.

Tomorrow we will drive to Leverburgh on Harris and cross to N Uist in the afternoon.