Framedlight

After a good night on the quay in Castlebay we had some time in the morning to explore. Grosia was delighted that there was a supermarket available as she had not been able to buy any provisions for a few days. We were delighted too that she could maintain the standard of her galley wizardry. We spotted this chip van which was obviously named after our daughter Mairi! The moorings in Castlebay. Zuza is parked at the back on the right with the tallest mast. Neil had planned a trip for us around the islands south of Barra. Vatersay is attached to Barra, just, and after Vatersay is a whole collection of differing sized islands and stacks called the Barra Isles. Our main destination was Mingulay on the far south of the chain. We were to travel down the east side of Barra and Vatersay to the south coat of Mingulay and then turn north and look at the more exciting western coast of Mingulay. Here there is an impressive array of tall sea cliffs, 213 metres high, once thought to be the tallest ...

  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 w...