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adaezeAfter a lifetime of being rather vague about the name of that great big island sort of on the north-west edge, I finally realise that that's because it doesn't actually have a name. We stayed on Harris (the southern, mostly mountainous part), and day-tripped occasionally up to Lewis (the flat peat-boggy half).
The guest house where we were staying was run by a very fine dog (border collie; he kept us well rounded up), and we could watch seals from our bedroom window.
Rodel church, on the southern tip of Harris, had some very fine carvings,
and was next door to some very fine sheep.
Half the reason we went to the Hebrides was because we wanted to see Calanais / Callanish. Very fine stones, quite unlike any other arrangement of neolithic stones I've ever seen. Unlike most stone circles, it actually has a visitor centre to shelter from the worst of the showers in - cleverly placed, it's tucked away just below the outcrop on which the main stones are placed, so completely invisible from the stones, but near enough to dash to when the rain arrives (we stayed up, thus getting the stones almost to ourselves for a few minutes. Worth a bit of damp for!)
Callanish: view down the long avenue towards the circle. There are a couple more circles and assorted monoliths in the area, so it must have been quite an important place once.
Remember how Stonehenge was made with a mix of white/gold and dark blue rocks? The rocks at Callanish are pink. Very pink. Still very pink.
Harris is a very peculiar place. When it isn't being mountainous, it's either salt-marsh
or...
frankly I'm not at all sure what to call this. Not when it's at sea-level, and on the lee side of the island.
Whoever terraformed this planet did a rather peculiar job of this particular corner of it. I blame the whisky.
The guest house where we were staying was run by a very fine dog (border collie; he kept us well rounded up), and we could watch seals from our bedroom window.
Rodel church, on the southern tip of Harris, had some very fine carvings,
and was next door to some very fine sheep.
Half the reason we went to the Hebrides was because we wanted to see Calanais / Callanish. Very fine stones, quite unlike any other arrangement of neolithic stones I've ever seen. Unlike most stone circles, it actually has a visitor centre to shelter from the worst of the showers in - cleverly placed, it's tucked away just below the outcrop on which the main stones are placed, so completely invisible from the stones, but near enough to dash to when the rain arrives (we stayed up, thus getting the stones almost to ourselves for a few minutes. Worth a bit of damp for!)
Callanish: view down the long avenue towards the circle. There are a couple more circles and assorted monoliths in the area, so it must have been quite an important place once.
Remember how Stonehenge was made with a mix of white/gold and dark blue rocks? The rocks at Callanish are pink. Very pink. Still very pink.
Harris is a very peculiar place. When it isn't being mountainous, it's either salt-marsh
or...
frankly I'm not at all sure what to call this. Not when it's at sea-level, and on the lee side of the island.
Whoever terraformed this planet did a rather peculiar job of this particular corner of it. I blame the whisky.
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Date: 2015-06-06 08:06 am (UTC)But overall, yes, the landforms do seem strange, and no wonder they attracted stone-circle-makers. i.e. I'm wondering about the circles as maybe being less to connect with power than to pin down or contain it. (Just a passing thought, engendered by the unexpectedness of the land. :) )
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Date: 2015-06-07 10:38 am (UTC)Oh, I do like that idea.