By Bernie Bell
Over the Hills and Far Away – plus Big Stones!
Thursday – a quiet day, needing to catch up with ourselves. While I slept, Mike went over the hills and far away on the croft-land belonging to the house where we were staying, finding little inlets and islands.
Interesting stones
and a very, very groovy skull
And then – we planned the next day………………….
This was our last day on Bernera, so we decided to go and say “Hello” to the truly magnificent standing stones by the Bernera Bridge. Five years ago, when we visited the exhibit in Margaret Curtis’ shed, (Our Trip to the Isle of Lewis: 3 – Calanais )Margaret told us of these stones, and how the site suffered when the road and bridge were built. People have to live, and it’s possible that Bernera might have become uninhabited if the bridge hadn’t been put in place. Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age etc. people, cheerfully re-arranged and even obliterated earlier sites, so, can we gripe about the road and the bridge being built across what must have been a very impressive site at the time, as it’s still a stunner today?
When it comes to describing these stone, words fail me, so I’ll chose a few of the most choice pics of the stones on the Bernera side of the bridge………….
Bernera Bridge stones
Magic Stones Having a Conversation
The Lion
Two old ladies admiring the view
Then we crossed the bridge to visit the single, very different kind of stone, on the other side.
The group of stones, are tall, slim, pointy and looking about them, the one on the other side of the bridge, is small and rounded and stumpy and looking determinedly across at the stones across the way.
It really is the case that you need to go and see them, to see how great they are. A bit of a Stenness vibe about them, a bit of a Calanais vibe about them – not surprisingly, as it’s only round the corner – but, at the same time, very much themselves, very individual. And what a spot to place them in, looking either way
Do, go there if you can.
All Photos Credit: B Bell & M Bell
If you like this you may like other articles in this series – us our search engine to find them.
Categories: Culture
Oops – Mike took the first three, on his ‘over the hills and far away’ walk – I forgot to say. He’ll say it doesn’t matter, but…credit where credit is due!