Hebrides3

To Galson in north Lewis next by ferry from Uig on Skye to Tarbert. For a visiting photographer the most obviously compelling places to visit are on the western coastline, with huge beaches, cataclysmic Atlantic surf, infinite skies, intense light and space.

I spent some time alone, exploring the coastline, camping discreetly on the machair, photographing the sun going down and then coming back up, watching Orcas, and generally contemplating infinite things.

The Lewis poet Derick Thomson (Ruaraidh MacThomais) expressed the feeling:

Probably there’s no other sky in the world
that makes it so easy for people
to look in on eternity;
you don’t need philosophy
where you can make do with binoculars.

Deciding that I had spent more time than was strictly necessary beholding the infinite, I took to the road...

...which didn't really help. And this wasn't even the longest or straightest section. East of the road was miles of peatland.

Intriguing to me were the large numbers of shielings, or peat-cutters' huts, which are still used here, unlike other parts of Scotland. Galson, which was described to me as the 'most densely populated rural area in Europe', is community owned and managed by the Galson Estate Trust. 

I like this description of the place - "The Galson area's way of life is about the intricate interaction between a crofting lifestyle, a panoramic landscape and a diverse natural environment. The area boasts fantastic coastal scenery and white sands; large Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas; a variety of flora and fauna including golden eagles, fulmars and gannets; excellent sea and fresh water fishing; and, most importantly, a kindly, 'down-to-earth' community that works together to bring about a better future for themselves and future generations."

Something of the community's values can be discerned in the appointment of a wildlife ranger, Julie Sievewright and a 'power-down' officer, Kirsty McLennan as employees.

Kirsty did Business Studies at Stornoway and then Paisley on the mainland, living in Glasgow, before returning to Callanish, a decision that surprised some of her friends. One of the major problems of such communities is the loss of young people because of the lack of work. So encouraging people to return, and encouraging people who are able to fit into the crofting lifestyle and bring fresh ideas must be a priority.

I assume that's where the llamas come in.

One of the visually striking things (apart from alpacas), is the way the population is sandwiched between the Atlantic seaboard and the peat moor, crofting settlements straggling along the road. Attention seems not to be fixed on the sea views, as it might be elsewhere, but on the crofting strips that run in long regular rows. I increasingly think of a landscape as something to be read, or to be interpreted; and some landscapes have an almost ready-made language that we have become accustomed to. Being new to this particular place, I am not familiar with the language of its land and really the way to access it is through the people who have a link with it.

Julie, the ranger, had mentioned that historically people had no especial affinity with the sea, but had been moved to the coasts and away from the more productive land as part of the process of the Clearances. Much of the land however, including the peat moors and the shielings, is populated with stories, a heritage that is taken seriously here. So perhaps it could be described as a landscape of imagination or memory.

Carolla Bell, who came to Lewis 30 odd years ago, is able now to observe changes in land use.

"The changes are slow and go largely unnoticed - fewer people cutting peats, fewer people growing their own food - until new people come in and notice it."

One of the projects of the Galson Trust is to encourage people to 'get growing' and to create a market for the produce.

"Community ownership may not change that much - the previous owner wasn't obstructive. The change may be imaginary - but no less powerful for all that. It can change the mental landscape, as people start to think - it is ours, what will we do...?"