NaBloPoMo 2026 - #12

Yesterday was Armistice Day, the day in 1918 when the guns fell silent on the Western Front, the day when hostilities ceased for the Great War. It was a ceasefire, one which was converted into full peace in June 1919. 

The losses in the island of Lewis were great. Of the approximately 30,000 people who called the island home in 1911, some 6,000 joined up for war service. One out of every five did not survive the conflict. 

Of those, 201 were lost on 1 January 1919 when the ship that was taking them home from the war sank just two miles south of Stornoway. The Iolaire collided with the reef known as the Beasts of Holm at 2 am on New Year's Day, in gale force conditions. Of the 275 souls on board, 74 survived. The bodies of 65 out of the 201 lost were never recovered from the sea. The efforts of one man, John F. Macleod, who brought a hawser (a rope) ashore is credited with saving the lives of 30 or 40. The Iolaire sank a mere 50 yards from shore, yet the severe conditions meant that trying to swim ashore often did not end well. 

When morning came, at 9 am, one man was found clinging to the mast, protruding from the water. The remains of many others washed up on nearby shores. Houses were waiting for men that never returned home. A teapot was waiting on a fireplace, but it was never used after that. A hundred years later, it was still sitting in the same place, untouched. 

New Year is a muted affair in Stornoway. We do not let off fireworks at midnight, contrary to other places. It took a full century for the authorities to acknowledge the losses, the sacrifice. Prince Charles (now King Charles III) laid a wreath on 1 January 2019, on behalf of the nation. 

Yet, Lewis still mourns.   

NaBloPoMo 2026 - #11

November skies, as we head into colder weather - for a few days. Darkness falling not long after 4pm now. Local news focusing on avian influenza, which is spreading across the UK. Those keeping chickens, geese and the like need to take bio-security precautions. Of course, there is a contingent of virus-deniers about, but that's nothing new. 

The search is continuing for the fishing boat Kilda, which has been missing for 4 weeks now. Local efforts are hampered by strong tidal currents and swell conditions. We do not have high winds just now, but looking for the Kilda remains difficult. People guess it is located under 70 feet (20 metres) of water between the headland of Dùn Èisdean, northwest of Port of Ness, and the little inlet of Port Stoth, not far from the Butt of Lewis. 

The land of water - North Uist (2013)

NaBloPoMo 2026 - #10

 
I start this post with a view of the township of Lochmaddy in North Uist, where my Outer Hebridean stint commenced, this day in 2004. Before arriving here, I had spent about a fortnight around Fort William, a busy tourist town adjacent to Ben Nevis. Lots of traffic, lots of people. 
That morning, I joined the Citylink coach to Uig, Skye. Four hours later, I boarded the ferry to Lochmaddy. The crossing takes an hour and 45 minutes. Darkness was beginning to fall when I disembarked from the Hebrides. Although I was preoccupied with locating my digs, one thing struck me. It was so quiet. No traffic roaring around the streets, people quietly going about their business at the close of day, and no fuss. Just the sound of the wind, rustling in the yellowing grass along the roadside and the easy 'plop' of a wave, falling ashore. 

I spent five nights in Lochmaddy that November, before winding my way north to Berneray, Harris and Lewis - and I have effectively never left the latter island for 22 years. 

I returned to Lochmaddy in later years, but the friends I met there (or was in the company of, as the case may be) have all since passed away. I have memories of that little place, tinged with sadness. 

NaBloPoMo 2026 - #09

 It is 88 years ago since the Night of Broken Glass [Kristallnacht]. That night, an organised mob of Nazi forces and sympathisers went on the rampage in towns and cities across Germany, smashing and destroying Jewish-owned property and businesses. It was a foretaste of what was to come during World War II. The extermination of anyone deemed sub-human by the warped mind of Adolf Hitler and his henchmen. Jews topped their league of the unfit, closely followed by gypsies, the mentally ill and many many others. The Reichskristallnacht was a night of infamy, and not just to Germany. Hitler had already been allowed to get away with murder for several years beforehand. In 1936, he occupied the Rhineland which had been ceded to France at the end of the First World War. The League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations, cried wolf but had no bite. On 12 March 1938, Nazi forces marched into Austria to join that country to Germany, an event referred to as the Anschluss. Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich to meet with Adolf Hitler on 30 September 1938, returning with the infamous phrase: "Peace for our time". Six weeks later, the Reichskristallnacht took place. Only a few months later, Germany invaded the Sudetenland area of Czecho-Slovakia, and again, nobody moved a finger to stop. In September 1939, Hitler thought he could get away with the invasion of Poland. But this time, it prompted a declaration of war, signalling the outbreak of the Second World War. The lights have gone out in Europe, it was said at the time. The lights in Europe had already been extinguished in 1914, and had not been relit, not even at the end of the First World War. The Versailles Peace Treaty of June 1919 contained all the ingredients for another war, which duly materialised. After the unspeakable atrocities of the Second World War, Germany was divided into four by the victorious allies. The British, French and American sectors became West Germany, whilst the Soviet sector was turned into East Germany, a communist state. Berlin was similarly divided. Until 1961, people from the East fled to the West in droves. A barrier was erected across Berlin in August 1961, later replaced by a high, concrete wall. Similar barriers were put up along the borders between East and West Germany. Anyone trying to flee from East to West was shot on sight, no questions asked. The advent of Mikhail Gorbatchov as leader of the USSR in the 1980s heralded a start of change. And when this wind of change blew across eastern Europe, it blew away all the communist regimes within the space of a few months in 1989.

The Berlin Wall was torn down on 9 November 1989, and you can see the dilemma. Do we remember the Kristallnacht, and not celebrate the reunification of Germany? Do we celebrate the reunification, and ignore the Night of Broken Glass? Maybe the two can be reconciled. The Berliners remember the Kristallnacht in a very low-key but poignant manner. Every year, in the evening of November 9th, candles are left on the doorsteps of houses that were ransacked that night.

The flame, burning at the top of this post, is my candle of remembrance for Kristallnacht.

NaBloPoMo 2026 - #08

 This afternoon, I took a walk of nearly 13 km to Arnish Point (and back). The weather was glorious, hardly any wind and broad if low sunshine. 

NaBloPoMo 2026 - #07

 
This week has been mostly flat calm, and perfect for reflective images...