Wednesday 25 May 2011

The Unseasonable Storm

It’s official!

Yesterday (Monday May 23rd) pretty much the whole of Scotland took a severe battering from furious wind and rain.  Apparently so unlike this time of year!

  • roads were closed due to fallen trees and unsafe buildings
  • rail journeys were disrupted
  • major road bridges were closed
  • ferries ceased to operate
  • thousands of homes were without electricity
  • flood alerts were issued

And ………….. as if this wasn’t enough, flights were cancelled due to a cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland going over Scotland!

We felt like giving up/giving in and heading back South.  BUT ….. they wouldn’t let us go!  The bridge was closed to high-sided vehicles and there were no ferries running!

Just as well because today (Tuesday) has been mostly dry.  We followed the footpath up to the base of a column of rock called The Old Man of Stor.  It’s 165 feet high and a recognised challenge for climbers.  There you go, Nicole, something to do in August!

Trotternish 044    Trotternish 043    Trotternish 048   Trotternish 053

There are other geological phenomenon on the Trotternish Peninsula. 

There’s Kilt Rock – tube-like basalt columns rising from the sea:-

Trotternish 021

Then, away from the coast, there are some mighty pinnacles known collectively as The Quiraing.  There’s the 120 foot Needle, The Prison and a sunken platform called The Table.  If we get a reasonable day we would like to do the climb/walk to see these close up:-

Trotternish 028

Wednesday 25th May – it was meant to be a better day weatherwise.   Not so at the moment!  We are way off the beaten track as I write this – a place called Glendale on North West Skye.  We wanted to go to Neist Point and see the lighthouse – maybe later!!  Ever hopeful!

1 comment:

  1. Fancy you being in the middle of such a drama!!
    Hope you are all OK
    xxxxx

    ReplyDelete