Saturday 29/07/06

All guests leave for their next destinations before 10 o'clock in the morning. Weather is overcast but not cold. Just before midday, the schooner Thor Heyerdahl leaves port. She makes quite a spectacle as she disappears to the east. Half an hour later, the Hebridean Princess appears, carrying the Royal Family to the end of their weeklong cruise of the Hebrides. Security was inobtrusive but tight. A Navy frigate lay south of the Braighe, 5 miles east of Stornoway, police launches scuttle back and forth. I take pictures from the Coastguard Station, then head for the ferry terminal where the Hebridean Princess is docking on the far side of the ferry pier. Hundreds of people gather there, several police and a security man scan the wellwishers. Ferry traffic is also building up, as the Isle of Lewis is scheduled to arrive at 1.15, and leave at 1.45 for Ullapool. The ferry turns up on time, with "dress flags" (bunting) flying slightly floppily from the flaglines. The gangway comes down, but I see no royals. Apparently, they will not disembark until the ferry has departed. Passengers arriving on the Isle of Lewis throng the windows on the starboard side of the vessel to watch the Hebridean Princess on the other side of the quay. I leave the scene at 1.10pm to have my lunch and to take mrs B to the Point Show. For geographical reference, Point is the local English name for the Eye (Aoidhe) Peninsula, 6 miles east of Stornoway. We head for the show, at the Aird Primary School, on the bus at 2.20. This goes up the road to the Sports Centre, then back down to Newton and up Seaforth Road to Sandwick Road. All along Sandwick Road, right into the village of Sandwick and further up at Park End and Branahuie residents are sitting out in chairs, flying the Union Jack, with cameras in hand, ready to meet their Queen. The monarch is due to fly from the airport, over to Balmoral near Aberdeen to start her summer hols proper. Prince Charles will leave Stornoway on the Hebridean Princess to go to Castle Mey, near John o'Groats, which was the home of his grandmother, the Queen Mother. She died in 2002, at the age of 101. This is a date that Prince Charles is unlikely to forget, as on 29 July 1981, he was getting married to Lady Diana Spencer. Meanwhile, the bus went right down Mealabost and back again, then went east across the Braighe. You have a fantastic view there down the Minch, to Loch Grimshader, Ranish and Kebock Head. Visibility does not allow anything beyond Kebock to be seen, but on a clearer day the Shiants and Skye may be discerned. We pass Aignish, Knock, Garrabost, Sulishader, Sheshader before a long line of parked cars announces Aird and the show. Entrance fee £3. On entering the Primary School, a tide of people sweeps up and down the corridors to such an extent that you barely have the opportunity to see anything. The stewards don't help much. We make our way to the assembly hall, where bakery, photography and crafts have been judged. Separate marquees outside contain flowers and produce. A barbeque provides endless supplies of beefburgers. On the other side of the school stand the lifestock pens, holding sheep and cattle. The cattle have been judged, the sheep are being put through their paces. From that position you have nice views over Flesherin and Portnaguran, a mile or two down the road. There are some magnificent rams and fine ewes on display; some are quite frisky, and the rams lock horns. The rain starts at 3.45, and the bus goes back to Stornoway at 4pm. The driver is in a crashing hurry, but he manages to deliver us to Newton in one piece. I go to Somerfields for some shoping, but the rain gets heavier and heavier. It carries on solidly until about 9pm. After that, the wind gets up. A French fishing vessel comes in for a crewchange, to leave again at 7.30pm. Interesting yet useless piece of statistic: I have now taken 3,000 pictures with my camera.