Isle of Lewis (2) - Lews Castle

When I stayed with Cousin Angus and his wife Annie on the Isle of Lewis in July 2017, they took me to Lews Castle in Stornoway. This castle was built by Sir James Matheson 1796-1878. ‘He made his money in the opium trade,’ Angus said. ‘Times have changed – today he’d be put in jail rather than knighted.’

The previous time I was in Stornoway, in 2012, the castle was in a bad state of repair and had been closed for twenty years. Then in 2013, £1.8 million from the European Regional Development Fund was granted to transform Lews Castle into a Museum for the Western Isles, and a great deal more has since been spent on restoring and converting the property.
These photos show the castle with the new aluminium-clad addition that houses the museum. (Inside, the windows along the corridor have beautiful Harris tweed cushions to sit on.)

Lews Castle and museum wing     Photo: Ann Barrie

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Lews Castle and museum wing             Photo: Ann Barrie

The Stornoway Council owns the castle and the museum. Most of the castle has been converted into luxurious self catering holiday destination with Natural Retreats. This photo shows the hall restored to how it used to be; the ceiling made me feel as if I was on the set of a Disney movie. The doorway at the far end opened onto a portico where ladies in their ballgowns and their escorts could dismount from their carriages and sweep into the ballroom.

This photo shows the restored ballroom ceiling:

The beautiful fresco effect on the walls was achieved by painting images onto damp plaster – once it dried it would last almost forever:

The museum has displays on many aspects of life in the Western Isles.  Language:

Fishing and the sea. Thousands of islanders used to work in the fishing industry but numbers have shrunk to a few hundred. Once upon a time they fished mostly for herrings, but now they fish for prawns – the posh name is 'langoustines' – and these are exported, with most going to Spain, France and Italy:

Before the First World War, Angus's grandmother, Lizzie, was a herring girl. These girls travelled round the coast of Scotland, and England as far as Yarmouth, dealing with the herring catch. Fisherman carried the herrings from the boats in large baskets and poured them into troughs, then the girls worked in teams of three: two to gut, and one to pack the herrings into barrels. It was worth their while to be quick, as this was piece work. The fastest workers could gut 90 herrings in a minute. A flick of the wrist and it was done.

The weather. Angus quipped that this must have been said by a new arrival, as those living on the Isles do not enjoy the wind:

And looking forward to an exciting future for the Western Isles:

This beautiful wedding gown, of Harris Tweed made from lambswool, was made for the singer Alyth McCormack:

Wedding gown of Alyth McCormack  Photo: Ann Barrie

This photo shows us lunching on brie and cranberry sandwiches and coffee at the Storehouse café:

The two Annies and Angus at Lews Castle cafe  Photo: Ann Barrie

Afterwards, we wandered along the many woodland paths that surround the castle. Angus and his brother lived just a short walk from the castle when they were growing up, they used it as their playground. They would gorge themselves on salmonberry. This plant has yellow fruit and is closely related to the blackberry; the flowers are a pale pink, similar to wild salmon, hence the name. Other plants they were familiar with included wild rhubarb:

Wild rhubarb at Lews Castle   Photo: Ann Barrie

From the grounds we looked down to Stornoway Harbour. Angus explained that the little blue crab boat, shown in the centre of my photo, will be making his way home after setting his creels (a wire framework covered in netting and baited with fish); in a day or two he will go back to pick them up. At the back of the photo you can just glimpse the tunnels of the ferry Loch Seaforth, named for the mailboat that served Stornoway from 1947-1960.

Stornoway Harbour viewed from Lews Castle   Photo: Ann Barrie

Blog by Ann Barrie. To be continued.