Photos and the City

Slow travel & photography

 

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

After visiting the big stone circle at Callanish I decided to walk to two smaller ones – Callanish II and Callanish III. It is a quick and fun little walk, starting from the parking at the visitor centre.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

Passing one of the typical bus shelters in Lewis I already could see the first stone circle, Callanish II, Cnoc Ceann a’ Gharraidh.

 

Callanish II

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

Callanish II has 7 stones set in an ellipse, five stones are standing, and two are fallen. The stone circle surrounds a cairn in the middle.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

Callanish III

The path to the next one was a bit boggy but I made it to Callanish III, Cnoc Fhillibhir Bheag. This stone circle is pretty impressive, it has twenty stones in a double circle, and might be a welcome retreat from the crowds at Callanish I on a busy day.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

The outer ellipse contains 13 stones, of which eight are still standing and five have fallen. The inner one has only 4 remaining stones. There is no visible sign of a mould or cairn in the middle of the rings.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

Walking to the two small stone circles Callanish II and III.

 

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

Another highlight on the Isle of Lewis – the Standing Stones at Callanish, Calanais – there are actually a few circles close together and it is a lovely little walk to go from the biggest one to a few of the smaller circles.

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

View while walking towards Callanish No I – the big one. The visitor centre was closed on that day, so I walked right towards the standing stones.

The Calanais Standing Stones (or Callanish in its anglicised form) is a cruciform shaped stone circle, erected 5000 years and standing the elemental weather of the Outer Hebrides, there is much mystery surrounding their inception. (Visit Scotland)

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

The Callanish standing stones are a cross-shaped stone setting about 5000 years old, older than England’s Stonehenge monument. It was used at least for 2000 years for ritual activity, even though we don´t know the exact kind of activity.

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

It might have been a kind of astronomical observatory. Erected between 2900 and 2600 BC – then used for around 2000 years until the area inside the circle was levelled and the site gradually became covered with peat between 1000 and 500 BC.

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

Peat cutting around the site in 1857 revealed the true height of the stones. It’s possible that there’s plenty more archaeology sealed beneath the peat that covers much of the Western Isles.(Historic Enviroment)

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

The Callanish stones have some very unique features. A 4,8m tall monolith stands at the heart of the monument, lines of smaller stones lead out to the east, west and south, an 83m long avenue runs to the north and there is a small chambered tomb within the stone circle.

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

The stones are set in a prominent place, clearly visible from land and sea. They are surrounded by at least 11 smaller stone circles, some of them much younger than the nig one. The complex was used over many centuries.

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

The Western Isles would have been a lot warmer 5,000 years ago, and food and wildlife were plentiful. The extensive ritual landscape around of which Calanais is a part, speaks of a thriving and sophisticated society. (Historic Enviroment)

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

The form of the site and the artefacts found during excavation also show that this community was part of a wider culture which involved the construction of earthen enclosures known as henges and impressive circles of timber or stone. (Historic Enviroment)

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

Visiting the standing stones at Callanish, Isle of Lewis

 

 

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

The Gearrannan Blackhouse village was definitely high on my must-visit list and after seeing the blackhouses in Arnol, I wanted more and spent the rest of the day at the Gearrannan village near Carloway.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

This settlement of blackhouses facing the Atlantic gives us an impression of how life was in Lewis. “Modern life” is compared to the Iron Age settlement at the nearby Dun Carloway. Gearrannan dates back to the 17th century—the houses we see today date back to the late 1800s.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Life was hard, people had to go far away to make ends meet. While men travelled up to Virginia for the whaling season, the women…

In May 1920, as part of an annual cycle, seven teams of three women from the village left for Stornoway to process fish. They then followed the herring to the east coast of Scotland then down to eastern England, only returning home at the end of the season. (Undiscovered Scotland)

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Life in the village only changed slowly. Inside the museum blackhouse, we see a bedroom and a lounge dating from the mid-1900s.

In Gearrannan, oil lamps were replaced by electricity from 1952, and in the 1960s piped water arrived in the village, though it still had to be fetched from outside taps. This brought to an end the tradition of communal washing of heavier laundry in the loch, with water heated over open fires on the shore. And from 1965 a daily milk delivery started, ending the need to keep a cow and grow the crops to feed it. (Undiscovered Scotland)

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

We find a loom at the end of the house, including some weaving demonstration.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

By the 1970s most had left for easier accommodations nearby, and only five residents had remained in Gearrannan. But the very last resident then left in 1974 and Gearrannan became a ghost village of the past!

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Lucky for us the Urras nan Gearrannan (the Garenin Trust) has been restoring the derelict blackhouses and surrounding areas since 1989 to recreate an authentic settlement with modern facilities.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

There is a shop and café for visitors and villagers and you could even stay in the village. Some of the blackhouses are available as holiday lets sleeping between 2 to 16 people and there is also a hostel.

It must be lovely to be awakened by the waves and enjoy the village before the day visitors arrive and after they leave.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

After a lovely lunch provided by the café, I continued exploring the village. Walked down to the beach and up the hill. The view from the hill over the village was probably my favourite one.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Peeking into one of the guesthouses.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.