15/05: Leaving the Outer Hebrides and Returning to the Mainland
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
Today we head back to the mainland. The ferry doesn't leave till 2 pm so we have time to do a little geocaching. This time we drive north from Stornoway on the east side of Lewis. It's much flatter here and the sheep are mostly in neat fenced in fields. Very different from our drive on the each side of Harris yesterday.
There also some beautiful sandy beaches along this coast.
This is one of 3 memorials commemorating the land raiders. This memorial stands on a low hill surrounded by earthworks in the form of trenches and waves, a reminder of the First World War and the promises made to those who survived the conflict. After having fought and faced the horrors of the First World War, crofters returned to Lewis to make good the promise of land and homes made to them by the government. Unfortunately the new landowner Lord Leverhulme had other plans for the land and denied crofting land to the ex-servicemen. The ex-servicemen raided the farms over the next couple of years and eventually in 1922 the Board of Agriculture took over the farms and divided them into 100 new crofts.
Lord Leverhulme had established the very successful soap manufacturing company, Lever Brothers and bought the Isle of Lewis in 1918. He lived in the Lews Castle and later bought Harris. His intention was to revolutionise the lives of the population of these islands. His plans included industrialisation of the island resources including fish, seaweed, peat, and unproductive land. Lewis would grow to become an island of up to 200,000 people and major infrastructure was to be built to support the industry which included a railway. (borrowed from Visit Outer Hebrides website). Sorry for information overload I just thought it was a really interesting story)
Another beautiful beach.
and another beautiful beach. At least this time there's actually people using the beach, very brave people I think. It was a little warmer today --- I think most of the time I was only wearing my down sweater. :)
The Bridge to Nowhere or Garry Bridge was build by Lord Leverhulme in the process of continuing the road north along the coast. The building of road was abandoned when the raiders won their fight for crofts. Lewis and Harris would very different if the raiders hadn't won.
A view of Stornoway.
Leaving Stornoway. Yes, that's a tender in the water. There was a cruise ship anchored just outside of the harbour.
A lighthouse in the harbour.
Arriving at Ullapool.
I know you're asking yourself "what is this a picture of?". It's what you see when you are the front care on the mezzanine on a ferry. I was not thrilled when I realized that we were actually parked on the ramp. This section of the mezzanine was lowered and became the ramp. Ed had me recording us being lowered so it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.
Ullapool harbour.
There also some beautiful sandy beaches along this coast.
This is one of 3 memorials commemorating the land raiders. This memorial stands on a low hill surrounded by earthworks in the form of trenches and waves, a reminder of the First World War and the promises made to those who survived the conflict. After having fought and faced the horrors of the First World War, crofters returned to Lewis to make good the promise of land and homes made to them by the government. Unfortunately the new landowner Lord Leverhulme had other plans for the land and denied crofting land to the ex-servicemen. The ex-servicemen raided the farms over the next couple of years and eventually in 1922 the Board of Agriculture took over the farms and divided them into 100 new crofts.
Lord Leverhulme had established the very successful soap manufacturing company, Lever Brothers and bought the Isle of Lewis in 1918. He lived in the Lews Castle and later bought Harris. His intention was to revolutionise the lives of the population of these islands. His plans included industrialisation of the island resources including fish, seaweed, peat, and unproductive land. Lewis would grow to become an island of up to 200,000 people and major infrastructure was to be built to support the industry which included a railway. (borrowed from Visit Outer Hebrides website). Sorry for information overload I just thought it was a really interesting story)
Another beautiful beach.
and another beautiful beach. At least this time there's actually people using the beach, very brave people I think. It was a little warmer today --- I think most of the time I was only wearing my down sweater. :)
The Bridge to Nowhere or Garry Bridge was build by Lord Leverhulme in the process of continuing the road north along the coast. The building of road was abandoned when the raiders won their fight for crofts. Lewis and Harris would very different if the raiders hadn't won.
A view of Stornoway.
Leaving Stornoway. Yes, that's a tender in the water. There was a cruise ship anchored just outside of the harbour.
A lighthouse in the harbour.
Arriving at Ullapool.
I know you're asking yourself "what is this a picture of?". It's what you see when you are the front care on the mezzanine on a ferry. I was not thrilled when I realized that we were actually parked on the ramp. This section of the mezzanine was lowered and became the ramp. Ed had me recording us being lowered so it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.
Ullapool harbour.