Calanais 2025

Please see yesterday for a back blip.

There was still no Wi-Fi or phone signal this morning. It was raining and windy. My plan to photograph wild flowers went out of the window.

I became absorbed in As the Women Lay Dreaming, a novel by Donald S Murray. It is set in Lewis and includes the wreck of the Iolaire. I can recommend it.

Hazel, Tim and I met at the Community Café for lunch. It is always good and always busy.

Then I drove us to the Calanais stones for an afternoon outdoor talk on Calanais II and III. We were early and followed the instructions on where to meet. It turned out that they were ambiguous and we were at the incorrect turning in the road. We found out in time. (What3words would have been good!)

Cole Henley was our leader. He used to be an archaeologist and did his PhD on the prehistory of the islands. He is now an illustrator. Today’s events were part of Calanais 2025 when big changes are happening in the area. A new visitor centre is being built. A condition of funding was to have community involvement.

All good, except our leader had not had time to bone up on his facts. He had written material to help him, but required frequent prompts from another archaeologist in the group. She was excellent.

I have included a photograph of him with his pinhole camera. I liked the idea that he would photograph the group in front of the stones, because archaeologists tend to photograph the stones with no sign of life.

I did suggest later that he might consider buying a new cap! He wondered if it was a bit insensitive?!

I must confess that I had heard nothing about the stone circles apart from the main site. There are over 20 sites known in the area; not all are circles. It is incredible, especially since we know hardly anything about their construction or meaning.

We repaired to Baile na Cille for coffee, then said our farewells. I move into Tim and Hazel’s accommodation tomorrow and I have recommendations for activities the rest of the week.