Ten days on Zuza - 12th June - a late afternoon ashore

 

It was late afternoon by the time we had got back on shore in Village Bay, St Kilda. We walked up past the rusty gun and the Feather House to the village.



The Feather House is just what it says, used to store feathers for payment of rent to the factor. It had been blown up by a German boat during the First World War as it contained signalling equipment. After that incident the gun was installed, although never used, and the feather house was rebuilt.
The fog was coming and going but we were determined to climb up beyond the Village to the cleatean and walled enclosures beyond. It was a strange place to be with our vision coming and going, amongst the ruined stones.





The Soay sheep were scattered across the hillside.





By the time we got beyond the Village wall the mist was really coming down and we could no longer see the tops of the hills.



Calum Mòr's house. A cleat which was reputedly built by a strong man and completed within a day. 

The cleatean were used for storage, but why there were so many is unknown. The leaflet given to us warns against going inside them, as the sheep tend to use them for shelter when they are dying. Indeed many contained piles of animal bones.




All too soon it was time to go back down for the tender to take us back on board for a late supper. It was sad to leave knowing it would be unlikely that we would get back to St Kilda again.



















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