Tuesday 03/04/07

Nice bright morning, so we decide on an afternoon out. My Iolaire project still requires me to visit a number of graveyards, and I decide on Bragar. With some rolls and a flask of tea, we take the 1.50pm bus to the West Side. The early April sun makes it very warm, particularly on board the bus behind glass. As per usual, it clouds over the moment we leave town. A man flagged down the bus in the middle of the moor. He would have been at work on his peatbank. The bus goes down Loch Street, Barvas, then heads west to Brue, Arnol and finally our destination, Bragar. It’s a walk of a mile to the seashore. The grass is still very brown/yellow. Sheep graze the machair behind the loch. We have the rolls and tea in the enclosed picnic area after which we go into the cemetery. I locate 14 graves of Iolaire victims, but lichen has made the lettering difficult to decipher on some of them. I notice that the stile outside the cemetery, which was broken in 2005, has been fixed. Within the graveyard stands the ruin of a temple, Teampuill nan Eoin, Temple of the Winds. Mrs B discovers gravestones for several people she used to know. The victims of the crash outside Barvas, Boxing Day 2005, lie buried there. We slowly amble back up the hill, discovering giant rhubarb flowers. An old friend of mrs B’s gave us a low-speed lift back to the crossroads, only a quarter mile away. We walk down the road to Labost, to discover lambs, cats, and chickens along the way. The wind is cold, and was chilly right the way through our visit this afternoon. The bus arrives at 5.10 to return us to town.