Some fabrics like cotton never really go in and out of fashion, and form the basis of most of the items in our wardrobe. Other fabrics like velvet or linen come and go with the seasons; you’d be hard pressed to find linen trousers in November or a velvet dress in June. Then there is the third category of fabrics which aren’t achingly trendy, but are an integral part of our style and way of life. One of the best known of these types of fabric is Harris Tweed. Harris Tweed Protected Name There are many different sorts of tweeds as the name just refers to the way in which the cloth is woven … [Read more...] about Harris Tweed from the Outer Hebrides
Outer Hebrides
Gearrannan Black House Village Isle of Lewis
Gearrannan is a black-house village on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. It's a great experience to visit this place and step back in time to see how life was in a typical crofting township of the last century. Nowadays the Black House village consists mainly of self catering cottages but there is a nice wee museum where you can usually find the friendly man below on his weaving machine making the famous Harris Tweed. He's also happy to start it up for you to give you a demonstration. The weaving and cloth making in the Outer Hebrides has a long and interesting history. You can find Gearrannan on … [Read more...] about Gearrannan Black House Village Isle of Lewis
St. Clements Church Isle of Harris
MacLeod clan chiefs of Dunvegan and Harris built the beautiful St Clement's church as their burial place in about 1520. Although many of their tombstones survive, the exact location of the MacLeod graves is uncertain. St. Clement's fell into ruin after the Protestant Reformation of 1560. It was rebuilt just over two centuries later by Captain Alexander MacLeod, but within three years substantial repairs were required after the church was damaged by fire. In 1873 the building was restored by the Countess of Dunmore. St Clements Church can be found in Rodel, at the southernmost tip of the … [Read more...] about St. Clements Church Isle of Harris
The Story of Emigration from Berneray, Harris
Peter Kerr, a historical researcher with a particular interest in the Isle of Harris has worked on the Berneray Historical Society’s most recent project, ‘A’ tilleadh ar n-eachdraidh dhachaigh’ (Bringing Our History Home) which has run for the last 18 months. Mr Kerr has written an account of the worldwide emigration of local people from the island, mainly in the mid-19th century. Berneray is a small island in the Sound of Harris, between Harris to the north and North Uist to the south of the Western Isles. The island is joined to North Uist by a man-made causeway built in 1999, and also … [Read more...] about The Story of Emigration from Berneray, Harris
