Scottish Islands Blog

Stornoway is the main town of the Isle of Lewis which has a population of around 8,000 and is the largest town in the Outer Hebrides. Stornoway is home to many historical elements, one of which include Gearrannan Black House Village which are old thatch cottages located in Lewis that have been transformed into self-catering houses for visitors/tourists. The cottages have also been changed into a museum, a visiting centre and a café. These cottages were built in the 1800's with the purpose of separating citizens to their animals/livestock and were originally known as white houses and had residents in them until 1970. This is in an ideal location for tourists as its close to the Callanish Stones. The Callanish Stones are a number of standing stones on the Isle of Lewis that have existed for 4,000 years located on the North West coast of Lewis. It has been suggested that some of the oldest stones have been around since 2000BC however, it wasn't until the 1990

In my third blog I will be talking about the archipelago of St Kilda, which is the remotest British Isle and a national heritage site (one of only few in the world). St. Kilda is made up of 4 islands Hirta (which is the main island), Soay, Boreray and Dun. There are no residents on the island as the last residents were evacuated from the island in 1930's and were moved onto the mainland and Uist. Although there are no residents living on the island people do go over to the island to work (including my dad). There are boat trips over to St Kilda from the Uists and the Isle of Harris, which take around 4 hours and can be choppy. The weather can be unpredictable with winds that can go up to 200mph. Below is an image taken from Storm Callum.   On the isle of St Kilda there is a pub called The Puff Inn and a cafeteria area where meals are cooked for the workers. For tourists who go over to St. Kilda  the National Trust will organise tours to and around the island, some of

Below the Isle of Uist is the even smaller Isle of Barra which has a population of around 1,300 and is a total of 8 miles long which is only around a 40 minute ferry journey from Eriskay in South Uist. The Isle of Barra was once owned property of the Churches before being taken over by the MacNeil's. Similar to Uist, Barra has a lot of traditions, some of which include the Gaelic language and ceilidh music. The popular ceilidh band Vatersay Boys are originally from Vatersay in Barra. The Isle of Barra is also home to the only airport in the world that has planes land on a beach runway - which has made Barra very unique.         When deciding where to stay when visiting the Isle of Barra there is quite a limitation of options. One of the main hotels in Barra is the Castlebay Hotel which provides room views of Kimisul Castle which was built around 1030 located just off the island of Castlebay. Castlebay Hotel also has entertainment during evenings including local musicia

In this blog I am going to take a look at the different Scottish Islands, particularly the Western Isles which happens to be where I am from. I will be talking about the Isle of Uist in my first blog as I am from there and have moved to Glasgow to continue my University studies. Since coming to Glasgow people often pick up that my accent is slightly different to a standard Glasgow accent and ask where I am from, with the typical response being 'where?' or just a strange confused look (any fellow Islanders who have moved to the mainland will understand). Uist is made up of North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist which are all connected through causeways. With around 5,000 people on the island it is fair to say we are a close community where near enough everyone knows everyone, to the extent most people will give you a wave when driving past! Uist isn't one of the easiest places to get to with your forms of transport either being a ferry journey from Uig or Mallaig taking a cou