10 Things to do on the Isle of Lewis

ok so you know where to stay on Lewis or at least have a starting point but now you want to get an idea of whats here. You can use this blog as a starting point:

1. Stornoway is the Capital of Lewis and the only town in the Western Isles. It is host to An Lanntair exhibition gallery, the Hebridean Celtic Festival and the beautiful grounds of Lews castle. It is a working harbour and port which services the Ullapool to Stornoway ferry service.

2.Tiumpan Head is to the East of Stronoway on Point. It is host to a Lighthouse and is one of the best areas to watch for marine life including the wales and dolphins.

3.Tolsta beach is a beautiful stretch of sand on the eastern coast of lewis.

4.Gearrannan black house village.

5.The Butt of Lewis is the northern most point of the islands with nothing beyond it but Iceland and the Arctic and no major landfall West of it until Canada.

6.Callanish Standing Stones

7. Take a boat trip to see the local wildlife and spectacular coast.

8. Visit Uig the most mountainous region of Lewis and home to some of the most spectacular beaches on the island.

9. Lewis Highland Games.

10. Go Salmon and Trout fishing Lewis has some of the best fly fishing in Britain with thousands of lochs, teeming with specimen catches.

This week I have been extremely busy putting my work together to exhibit at Hebrides Art in Seilebost.

The whole plan came together very quickly and at quite short notice. Now I like flying by the seat of my pants as much as the next person but this really did apply the pressure at some stages.

The thing with living in the Outer Hebrides is that there is a lack of choice when it comes to sourcing materials and stock to put together framed prints, quite expectedly living in a remote community. I therefore rely on the internet to source my supplies and the subsequent postal services to deliver the items in time.

The paper I use is not stocked at many suppliers and my usual supplier Park Cameras had no stock and then sent me the wrong type, but it came in time eventually as they were very good and rushed the order out to me.
I managed to get frames, mounts, tools to put it all together and more delivered with plenty of time to spare.
However a critical component, archival mounting corners didn’t turn up after a week of placing my order on the internet. I rang the supplier and they informed me a problem with their site meant the order hadn’t completed correctly. They took the order again by phone and assured me the goods would be here the following week. That week came and went and I rang them again only to be told that the order was still in their warehouse.
This was on Thursday, I needed the prints to be at the gallery no later than Tuesday. This is when I started to feel seriously worried for the first time. Of all the pieces to hold me up it was some tiny little mounting corners. The images were all printed out and looking great, the frames and glass were sat waiting to house them and yet everything was held up by the incompetence of one company.
Thankfully and to my surprise the company who I wont name but also wont be using again who deal in preservation equipment did manage to get the order out to me by Friday and so I have now, im pleased to say framed and delivered my prints to Hebrides Art.

I now have stock of all the items I need to replace the prints as soon as they sell and will ensure I always have stock so that I dont have to rely on other companies to get my products to sale. If your on a time limit it is I suppose inevitable that something will slow things up at some point and so it is important to have a solid contigency plan in place. Something thats probably easier to do on the mainland than here but you have been warned

Now I’m off to mount some more prints for the gallery…..

The Isle of Harris has quite a tradition of producing arts and crafts and this tradition is developing into an art route which takes in a number of artists studios and galleries as well as tweed weavers and craft shops.

The route goes down the east coast of Harris in the Bays area and takes in Skoon Art Cafe and the Finsbay gallery as well as some traditional Harris tweed weavers giving displays and offering a range of wares.

Why not stop in at the always welcoming Skoon cafe for freshly baked treats and a coffee while admiring the work of resident artist Andrew Craig. A more friendly and welcoming place you would be hard pressed to find.  With a relaxed atmosphere, traditional music and a selection of art works on display it is a “must visit” on your trip.

The Finsbay Gallery is the original Isle of Harris art gallery, opened a number of years ago by owner Val Ruffles and displaying some of the finest Isle of Harris art. This small but perfectly formed gallery space is in keeping with the island and it’s traditions.

Here you can see a selection of art works including framed and mounted work by myself which is displayed to exceptional standards.

On the return leg up the beautiful west coast of Harris you can take in the stunning beaches scattered all along the coastline. Scarista, Traigh Mhor and the beaches of Niasabost amongst many others.

The wealth of artistic talent on display throughout the Isle of Harris is fantastic and reflects the inspiring natural landscape here.

I hope you pay us a visit soon to see for yourself both the inspiring scenery and the inspired artists of Harris.

Isle of Lewis Accommodation

This list of Isle of Lewis accommodation follows up from the list of places to stay on the Isle of Harris . Again it is meant as a starting point for your search and so I shall include a variety of different types of accommodation to try and cater for all tastes and budgets.

Hotels and guest houses

1.The Caldah Inn

2.Loch Roag Guest House

3. Clearview B & B

4. Loch Beag Bed & Breakfast

5. Leumadair Guest House

Self catering

6. TIGH A BHEANNAICH
Oceanview

7. LOCH ROAG COTTAGES

8. Abhainn Cottage

9.Whitefalls Spa Lodges.

Camping

10. Laxdale Holiday Park