Elections

Scottish Parliament elections will be held on May 5th. The race in the Western Isles is comical.

• One party’s candidate has been emasculated as that party wants to end RET.
• One party’s candidate has been emasculated as that party is heading for oblivion on a national level
• One party’s candidate has been emasculated as that party is at loggerheads with its candidate’s pledges
• One party’s candidate wants to be canvassed by the voters.
• One party’s candidate serves as a vote divider between the two main parties in contention

I leave it to you, my esteemed readers, to work out which is which.

End of year

I am posting this off island, until my return in the New Year. Keeping abreast with developments from afar by virtue of this medium, the Internet.

I was concerned to read of the larger than normal number of chimney fires in the Hebrides. The advice was to sweep the chimney at least twice a year if you're burning coal, and more frequently if you use peats or wood. The latter cause a lot of soot to accumulate in the chimney, which in turn can catch fire if you decide to fire up well.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar have posted a video which shows what the refurbished Town Hall will look like if the proposed work goes ahead. You need the Quick Time program to view it, which can be downloaded free from the linked webpage.

You may remember the 14-year old army cadet who drowned in Loch Carnan, South Uist, in August 2007. Kaylee Macintosh was pinned under an overturned craft by her buoyancy aid. Her parents are planning to sue the Ministry of Defence for £525,000 compensation.

Finally, the news that the Pairc Windfarm has hit yet another stumbling block. Scottish and Southern Energy, the developers of the project, have moved £25 million to another project, putting back the construction of the South Lochs windfarm back a number of years. If it gets planning permission in the first place.

To all readers, in the Hebrides or elsewhere, best wishes for a good, healthy and prosperous 2010.

Which islands do we live in?

What's in a name? After I posted on the health service in these islands, a discussion blew up on the comment thread about the formal name for the island chain, stretching from Lewis to Barra Head. I quote IB head honcho Les:

The islands are referred to as The Outer Hebrides by the Ordnance Survey (and you would be right in thinking that’s where you live)

As a UK Parliamentary constituency it is referred to as Na h-Eileanan an Iar - however as a Scottish Parliamentary constituency it is The Western Isles - however for Local Government purposes it is referred to as Na h-Eileanan Siar.

This I find ridiculous. Why, in the name of the wee man, can't this muddle be brought into line. Gaelic, English, and even in the Gaelic there is disagreement. So, I am going to be bold here by asking our MP, MSP and Council Leader to join forces and push for a change in the law that will give our beautiful islands one name for all occasions. Which one, I don't care.

Concerned

Is probably an understatement to describe my state of mind upon hearing more and more information on the hazards of the LPG plant in the Newton area of Stornoway. A former emergency planning officer at the Comhairle has written a letter to Hebrides News, outlining the actual hazards and risks that the plant poses for its immediate environment, should the worst happen. It doesn't make for nice reading. Do nip over, and see what you think. If you like, leave a reaction here, or wherever you feel appropriate.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Gas holder as seen from Sandwick Road filling station"][/caption]

Carnage in Stornoway

This afternoon, a long-fingered resident of Stornoway found himself at the receiving end of a case of "from the frying pan into the fire". After being forcibly removed from his home on the seafront, he ended up losing his life on the mean streets of the town. The pink resident had been extricated by parties unknown, reported to be wearing white or grey, using a long, yellow implement to gain access to his home. This had been done without prior warning, just as the unfortunate was enjoying mussels for lunch. Struggling madly, he managed to gain freedom from the grasp of his captors, but fell whilst crossing a street near his home. Unable to get out of the way of traffic, he was run over and killed instantly.

The day after the night before

That was some storm last night - the Eoropie weather station recorded winds up to 103 mph. The noise was very loud, had to turn up the sound on the TV to hear it. But there appears to have been little damage in Stornoway. On an amble round town at lunchtime, all I saw was a collection of dustbins gathered round the Edinburgh Woollen Mill shop in Francis Street, a roan pipe that appears to have fallen on someone's car in Inaclete Road (smashed numberplate was the only evidence left, car had gone). Preparations for a possible power failure were not required after all.

The streetlights on the Goat Island Causeway went out early in the evening, so I was denied a good view of the masses of seaspray that came flying in from the Minch. The storm peaked between 11 and 12, but at the moment, there is only a force 4 to 5 going with snowshowers.

Hold on to your hats

This is the formal severe weather warning out for the Western Isles for Saturday night. Looks like a near-repeat of the hurricane we endured four years ago, almost to the day. Please take care if you're in the islands.

• Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Northern Constabulary are monitoring weather conditions in the Outer Hebrides as high winds are expected tomorrow night through to Sunday morning.
  


• Drivers are urged to exercise caution.
  


• Mainly Southerly winds of up to 80-90mph are predicted during the overnight period and particularly around midnight.


• High tide will also occur around midnight.


• If the weather becomes severe, people are advised to stay indoors and not travel. Loose objects lying around in gardens etc. should be put away or secured.
  


• Neighbours and friends may wish to check that elderly people are okay.


• Bus services could be subject to alterations on Saturday night.


• The Comhairle and the Police will continue to monitor the situation and further information will be issued as appropriate through the media.

Keeping an eye open

Although currently off island, I could not help glance through the Western Isles news website just now. A young man of 21 from South Uist went missing in the early hours of Christmas morning, after alighting from a minibus at Iochdar. This village was the scene of a tragedy 4 years ago, when 5 members of the same family were washed away during the hurricane of January 2005. Conditions in South Uist were described as cold but calm at the time. Hundreds of islanders have scoured the shores of the island, as well as its northern neighbour Benbecula, offshore sandbanks and nearby lochs for the Merchant Navy seaman. His disappearance is a total mistery.

Woolworths in Stornoway closed its doors this afternoon, one of the first of the chain's shops in the UK to close down. Its employees have been made redundant. Although Woolies was described as the shop where you could get everything somewhere else, this did not apply to Stornoway. It's only a small town, population about 7,500, and not all that many shops. What other shops there be are usually a good deal dearer, and I'll be very sad to see it shut upon my return in the New Year.

The Arnish Fabrication Yard is once more changing hands. Its operator, Altissimo, has done the exact reverse that its name implies, and gone down rather than up. Now yet another crowd, Bi Fab, will take over operations there. I'm getting very, very tired of this sorry saga of empty promises and money being poured down bottomless pits.

Final post

Arnish Lighthouse has reached its third anniversary on BBC Island Blogging, and that's where it will end - that is to say, on the BBC website.

I think Island Blogging was a wonderful idea, linking people from all the Scottish islands together, and I've had a whale of a time. Apparently, I'm the most prodigious of bloggers in the Western Isles (510 posts), which bears out my enthusiasm. Looking back, I enjoyed putting up my many pictures (current collection has grown to nearly 18,000).

I seem to have become drawn into to controversial subjects like the proposed windfarms, the health board and the fabrication yard behind my alter ego, the lighthouse at Arnish. Things did get a wee bit nasty at times, when I believe I rattled a few cages that those inside did not appreciate. Nonetheless, I hope I made a contribution of sorts. Even if some of my comments were a bit off the wall. And of course I should not forget the fun at the Dell Fank.

As the rain clatters down on a dark December night, I'm drawing the curtains over Arnish Lighthouse, BBC style. Arnish Lighthouse will continue on an external site, as do quite a few other blogs. Come and have a look.

To all my readers and commenters since December 2005, many thanks. ]]>

Double Summer Time

There have been noises that some people want to put the clocks forward an hour all year round, to put the UK on a par with mainland Europe. One local paper has taken it upon itself to spearhead this move.

Personally, I think that is a daft move. The reasons for that are related to our extremely short days in December. Although I am not denying that there will be longer hours of daylight in the afternoon, I don't want to think of a sunrise at 10.15 am, thank you.

Don't forget children go to school between 8 and 9 in the morning, which would be in total darkness. When they go home in the afternoon at present, at around 3.30pm, there is at least some measure of daylight.

Anyone got any thoughts on this issue?

First Minister

Jack McConnell paid a visit to Lewis on Monday, as I reported in my last post. He experienced the airtraffic control problems at first hand, suffering a half hour (or so) delay, as the one controller had to take a break.

Mr McConnell also brought a drugs dog to Lewis, which will be used to sniff illicit substances on people and in goods coming to the island. Roxy will be deployed at the airport and in the ferry terminals. A handler, a local police constable, has also been trained.

Drugs are not a major problem in the island, but they have not left it unaffected. Cocaine, cannabis and heroin have all been detected in small quantities. I hope the presence of Roxy and her handler will act as a deterrant - illicit drugs is something that everybody, the world over, can do without.

Lunar eclipse 3 March 2007

Last Saturday's lunar eclipse was eminently visible from Stornoway, so here are a few snaps I took between 9.30pm and 12.30am.


9.35pm


10.05pm


10.40pm


11.50pm


12.24am

Missing feline and other local news

Local radio station Isles FM this morning announced that a black-and-white cat had gone missing from Seaview Terrace, in the Newton area of Stornoway. The cat was of fluffy appearance and possibly wearing a red collar.
They also mentioned that a cat had been found in Bells Road (two streets away, AL), black-and-white with a red collar.

If it hasn't already been passed on, can somebody tell those folks in Seaview Terrace that their cat is now with the SSPCA?

The press coverage of last week's council decision to approve the North Lewis windfarm is interesting. The Stornoway Gazette mentions that the public gallery was packed by people from North Lewis, who noisily approved councillors who spoke out against the project. The West Highland Free Press said that the public gallery was packed by anti-windfarm protesters. This paper failed to mention that it was actually residents from the area who were protesting. The Free Press has a motto - The Land, The Culture, The People, and in its 35 year history has built up a great reputation for fighting the small man's fight. Raasay's Dr No in the 70s, Eigg's Keith Schellenberg in the 90s as well as the proposed Lingerabay Quarry in Harris. I am therefore disgusted with the way they stand up for a deeply unpopular project, in the face of public opposition.