Stornoway
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- This article is about the town in Scotland: for other uses, see Stornoway (disambiguation)
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About the Town
Stornoway (Steòrnabhagh in Scottish Gaelic) is a burgh on Lewis (Lèodhas), in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, with a population of approximately 5,600 people in the town itself, out of a total population of 26,370 for the whole of the Western Isles. It is the major town and administrative centre of the Outer Hebrides and is home to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (the Western Isles Council). Stornoway is currently twinned with the much smaller Pendleton, South Carolina, United States of America. The civil parish of Stornoway includes the villages/suburbs of (among others) Sandwick, Plasterfield, Steinish, Laxdale, Newvalley, Newmarket and Marybank and has a population of approximately 12,000 [link].The town grew around three villages by the well-sheltered natural harbour which was key to the devlopment of the town. Today the harbour hosts a fishing fleet (and associated shoreside services) somewhat reduced from its heydey, a small marina and moorings for pleasure craft, a small shipyard and slipway, 3 larger piers for commercial traffic and Stornoway Lifeboat Station, run by the RNLI and home to a Severn class lifeboat, Tom Sanderson. Her Majesty's Coastguard operates a Maritime Rescue Sub Centre from a building near the harbour.
Ferries sail from the harbour to Ullapool on the Scottish mainland, taking 2 hours 40 minutes. Stornoway is also the public transport hub of Lewis, and bus services provides links to Point, Ness, Back and Tolsta, Uig, the West Side, Lochs and Tarbert, Harris. These services are provided by the Comhairle and several private operators as well as some community-run organisations.
The town of Stornoway also has an airport (Stornoway Airport), 2 miles away from the town itself, and it is located next to the village of Melbost. From here, you can fly to Aberdeen, Benbecula, Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow, with flights from bmi, British Airways, Eastern Airways and Highland Airways. The airport is also the station to the HM Coastguard Search & Rescue Sikorsky S-61, and was previously home to RAF Stornoway.
Notable buildings in Stornoway include Stornoway Town Hall and the neo-gothic Lews Castle. It is also home to new art gallery and art house (an Lanntair). Other attractions include a museum and the Lewis Loom Centre. The town is also home to a studio of stv and a small campus of the University of Stirling, teaching nursing. There is also a further education college, Lews Castle College, which is part of the UHI Millennium Institute. The Lews Castle Grounds is the home of Stornoway Golf Club (the only 18-hole golf course in the Outer Hebrides) and hosts the Hebridean Celtic Festival. The 3-day Festival attracts over 10,000 visitors during July of each year.
On 31 December 1918, the Iolaire sank at the entrance of Stornoway Harbour, one of the worst maritime disasters in Scottish or UK waters, with a death toll of 200 men.
The radio station, Isles FM, is based in Stornoway and broadcasts on 103FM, featuring a mixture of Gaelic and English programming. It is also home to a studio operated by BBC Radio nan Gàidheal.
Famous people
Born in Stornoway
- Angus Graham, (Aonghas Greum), another famously strong man who moved a boulder weighing over a tonne.
- Astrid (band), band from the Western Isles
- Calum Kennedy
- Calum MacDonald, politician
- Alexander MacKenzie, explorer, after whom the Mackenzie River in Canada is named
- Alyth McCormack, Gaelic singer
- Donald Stewart, politician
- Hans Matheson, plays the title role in Granada's £8.5m serialisation of Boris Pasternak's novel, Doctor Zhivago.
Links to Stornoway
- Angus MacAskill, the strongest man to have ever lived - born in Bernaray and brought up in Stornoway before emigrating to Canada
- John Wayne, film star (real name Marion Morrison) - father, Clyde Leonard Morrison, had ties with Stornoway
- Stuart Braithwaite, lead singer of Glasgow based band Mogwai - mother was born in Stornoway
- Donald Trump, American billionaire - mother came from Stornoway
Stornoway in Popular Media
Stornoway became immortalised in the song ‘Lovely Stornoway’ by Calum Kennedy and Bob Halfin.Stornoway’s own Charlie Barley and his Black Pudding recipe is famous throughout the world for its exceptional flavour and its undisclosed recipe.
Stornoway Sabbath
Stornoway is known throughout Scotland for the relaxed Sabbath day. While some believe this to be simply a lack of amenities and facilities for locals and tourists, others believe it to be a vital aspect of island life, a link to tradition and an alternative to the more active lifestyle prevalent on the mainland.There is only one filling station which opens on a Sunday (along with Stornoway Airport). There has been a traditional refusal to trade and travel by ferry on or off the Island on the Sabbath. This had been put down to the influence of the various local churches and the conservatism of the town's tradespeople and the local council. In terms of Scottish and British tradition, this particular example of Sunday Observance only survives in the Western Isles, where the Sabbath continues to be considered a day of rest.
A recent Poll by the Hebridean newspaper suggested that 89% of Stornoway residents would use facilities on a Sunday if they were available. There would, therefore, appear to be a market for any business willing to take advantage of these demands for Sunday trade.
Recent Sunday ferry sailings from North Uist to Harris and the opening of Stornoway Airport on Sundays are a step towards a more cosmopolitan approach to living the Sabbath. While some argue that it is only a matter of time before the majority of viable businesses are trading on a Sunday, many believe that to do so will lose a significant element of the island identity.
External links
- [Stornoway Harbour]
- [Stornoway Historical Society]
- [Hebridean Celtic Festival]
- [The Nicolson Institute] (Secondary School)
- [Lews Castle College]
- [Isles fm]
- [Caledonian McBrayne - Hebridean and Clyde Ferries]
- * Satellite image from [WikiMapia] or [Google Local]
- * Street map from [Multimap] or [GlobalGuide]
- * Aerial image from [TerraServer]
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