Outer Hebrides Archives • Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

February 9, 2025February 9, 2025

Outer Hebrides of Scotland

WithThe outer Hebrides of Scotland like the Shetland and Orkney Islands you can be amazed at the remnants of ancient people’s activities in thisvery cold and windy environment. Another interesting thing I found is that the driving is in very rural areas and sometimes very isolated. This seems a little unusual for such a small series of islands. One problem they have here is the decreasing population. It’s a difficult place to live and to make a life. But for visiting I highly recommend it. It’s just so different from the Scottish mainland. So enjoy the photos by Bill Smale Adventures.

Ancient stone circle — of course there are quite a few ancient stone circles. If you’ve watched the TV series “outlander” you will recognize the significance in ancient times of placing stones in some configuration.

A recent memorial — This is just a recent memorial

Rural homes — You can see how rural a lot of the land is

Beautiful small beaches — There are many beautiful small beaches around. This would be a great place to come in the summer. And the water is so clean.

A lighthouse and the outer Hebrides — of course you need lighthouses around the islands

Ancient houses in Scotland — Replicas of 6000 year-old houses

Outer Hebrides fire pit — I can’t remember what this is but I think it was a fire pit

An ancient mill — And of course you need a mill

Soggy terrain on the way to an ancient circle — it was raining off and on so the terrain was pretty soggy. I decided that since I didn’t have waterproof boots it was best to take photos from the distance. Thank Buddha for my Zoom lens

Ancient circle explanation — an explanation of this ancient circle

North pointing stone — This was a standing stone alone by itself pointing exactly north

Replica of an ancient structure — I’m sure this was a replica or rebuilt

World War II memorial — a World War I memorial

February 5, 2025February 5, 2025

Sailing to theOuter Hebrides Scotland

Sailing to the outer Hebrides in Scotland you’re going to find some very interesting things besides just sheep. The roads are narrow, the wind is strong, the weather can be tough but you can find a lot of tranquility as well. Located here is the famous Harris Tweed and some other things you would not expect. The towns are small but you can enjoy the big hearted hospitality of the people here.

Foggy day sailing — Foggy day on the boat

Ferry boat seating — Luxury seats on the ferry, very comfortable

A recruitment sign for the Hebrides — People are leaving the islands so now they want to recruit people to come and live there so the areas do not just die out. You will find quite a few abandoned homes which is not a good sign but don’t let that spoil the beauty of the Hebrides.

House building advertising on the ferry — How to build a new home

Learning Gaelic while sailing — Good idea to learn some Gaelic

Gaelic signage comes first — Boat information priority is in Gaelic

Land in the distance — Beautiful view of land in the distance

The mainland view — Behind us is the mainland

Harris tweed advertising — The famous brand of the islands. There are hundreds of people, companies and private individuals, creating tweets for resale and shipment all over the world. A lot of the material is used to produce something in another country and then shipped for export. There is very strict certification processes for Harris Tweed so when you get Some with the label you know it’s original

Ancient house — Thousand year-old housing style

GPS governing — You can see the same GPS governance provided the captain of the ship as you walk towards the restaurant

Surfing Scotland and the Hebrides — Now you know surfing is quite a sport here but I’m not sure I recommend it in the winter, it’s pretty cold.

November 22, 2024November 22, 2024

sailing to the outer Hebrides – Scotland

the journey to the outer Hebrides is a short ferry ride depending upon where you board. You have to make sure the weather is OK, coming back the trip was canceled due to very high winds so I had to take the ship the next day. Finding accommodations can be a little tricky since they are limited and if you’re going at the peak tourist season Things could get pretty booked up.

There is a display of the navigation chart in the public area so you can see exactly what’s around, all the details including the depth and how the captain is steering the vessel. Off to the right you will see a blue spot with lettering above it. It says “NATO submarine” and the purple writing above explains that it is a submarine exercise area.

Meeting People

click “continue reading” to see the rest of the discussion

It was getting into the winter type weather so the occasional rain would produce rainbows and some of them seem to be right at my feet. It was quite an experience.

November 7, 2024November 7, 2024

Harris and Lewis – the outer Hebrides

one of the famous products from the island of Harris which is actually a continuation of Lewis, is Harris Tweed. I bought a Harris Tweed jacket in 1985 and I thought “Harris” was the name of the company produced the jacket. But it refers to handwoven wool tweed produced on the island of Harris and no other place in the world. Many products will import the tweed from Harris, create a product and ship all over the world and even back to Scotland. But the tweed needs to be certified by the association of Harris Tweed producers and therefore gets the standardized label “Harris Tweed”. Asking around I found there are probably over 200 people dedicated to weaving this product by hand.

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