Lord Dunderheid

  Next on my bucket list tour of inhabited, coastal and inner Hebridean islands is Rona. It is often known as South Rona to avoid confusion with another, but uninhabited, Rona which lies roughly 44 miles to the north of the Butt of Lewis. This Rona lies immediately to the north of Raasay and is basically a continuation of the larger island (if only the linking ridge hadn’t dropped below sea level).  Rona is small, about 5 miles long and, at most, a mile wide (or about 3.6 sq miles in area) with Meall na h-Acarsaid, at highest elevation, being only just over 400 feet. From what I've read Rona is very rocky and rough with little land that can be cultivated, but my visit was so brief, and confined to the area around it’s jetty, that I’m unable to say one way or the other with any personal knowledge. There is no easy way to get to Rona apart from renting a holiday cottage and getting taken across by boat from Portree on Skye (unless, of course and once again, you have your own ...

I have completed the first draft about the next island on my bucket list. I hope to post that soon (as I write this on 20 th April 2025) but I decided there were a couple of updates on current affairs that needed to be posted first. These are on: Donald Trump, Starmer’s Labour Party and government and the UK’s Supreme Court judgement on Scotland’s blocked Gender Recognition Bill.   Donald Trump - Further to my last post about Trump, it would appear that I underestimated what a danger he was/is to the USA and the World.  It's clear he is trying to create a Russian or Chinese style dictatorship (or tyranny) in the US by subverting it’s constitution. The question is, will the republican senators and Congress members allow him to carry this through to completion or will they find some way, along with their Democrat colleagues, to stop him? On has to wonder if the Supreme Court now regrets giving him carte blanche to do whatever he wants in his official capacity as the ...

Continuing south to north and east to west, the next inhabited island on my list, since Scalpay (Skye) is uninhabited, is Raasay. Raasay is a smallish island north of Skye’s north coast (see my post on Soay (I think it was) regarding my definition of Skye’s coastline). It sits roughly north to south and is about 14 miles long but only three miles wide at it’s widest (one article I read claimed 5 miles wide but 3 seems to be the consensus). It is shaped rather like the flame of a lit match: rounded and blunt at it’s southern end tapering to point at it’s northern, slightly twisted, end. Raasay is basically a ridge of hill, higher in the middle and at it the southern end but slowly tapering off, elevation wise, at it’s northern end. The highest point of the ridge is the flat topped summit of Dun Caan, standing at 1457 ft (444 meters). Although sitting north of Skye, it’s west coast is almost parallel to Skye’s Trotternish peninsula. This is because Skye’s north coast twists from running ...

Continuing south to north then east to west, the next island on my tour is the small island of Soay (I understand it’s pronounced SOY). It is located to the south of Skye and only reached by boat from the hamlet of Elgol (unless you have your own sea going vessel or a helicopter). For those who don’t ‘see’ Soay as south of Skye, I will briefly explain. Skye, like Mull and many other west coast Scottish islands, has what can only be described as a torturous, twisting coast line with very little actually aligned with any of the cardinal compass points. It therefore comes down to accepting an approximation and my approximate view is that Portree is on Skye’s north coast (despite large lengths of it facing almost due east), Uig on the west coast with Neist Point and Glenbrittle on the south coast. This results in Soay lying off Skye’s south coast. Feel free to disagree but that is how I view Skye’s coastline. So, Soay lies, for me, off Skye’s south coast (close to both the Cuillin mountain...

 On Tuesday 5th November 2024, the people of the USA voted for their next president. To my utter dismay and despondency they voted Donald Trump back into the White House. For some reason, that I cannot comprehend, this was always going to be a close race but all the unbiased opinion polls that I’d been watching indicated that Kamela Harris had a slight lead and stood a good chance of being the first female president of the US - but, instead of voting for what appeared to be a reasonably decent human being, they voted back into power a criminal who clearly lies and cheats at everything he does - and is a despicable, narcissistic, moron to boot. Let me be clear: I don’t live in the US so I couldn’t care if the US vote Republican or Democrat, as both are too right wing for me. As far as I’m concerned Bernie Sanders is also too right wing. I’ll be quite happy if the US suffers over the next four years because they will only be getting what they deserve. What upsets me, however, is that...

Continuing south to north, then east to west, the next island on my bucket list journey is Skye. Skye, at 639 square miles (1656 square kilometres), is the largest island of the Inner Hebrides, the second largest in the whole of the Hebrides (and Scotland) and the fourth largest of the whole of the British Isles, after Great Britain, Ireland and Lewis & Harris. Lewis, at 683 square miles, without Harris, is still larger than Skye but, as you can see, not by much. Skye is known as the ‘winged isle’ and if you look at the map you will see why: with a central area, containing both the Black and the Red Cullins, it is made up of a collection of peninsulas radiating outwards in all directions. These include Trotternish, Sleat, Minginish and Vaternish (sometimes listed as Waternish). Over the years, especially during my time living near Kyle of Lochalsh, I’ve spoken to many tourists who told me they were going over to see Skye for a day, who then looked at me as if I was mad when I sugge...

 On the night of July 4th I went to bed about 23:00, shortly after seeing the general election exit poll. This was the first time in about sixty plus years I hadn’t stayed up until about 06:00 watching the results roll in. Why go to bed early, this time? Well, it was pretty clear what the outcome was going to be and while very happy that the Tories were going to be well and truly kicked out of office, I also didn’t want to sit and watch the SNP lose seat after seat (which they did). Also, any joy that the Tories would be taking a beating was balanced by what appeared to be a very right wing Labour Party - which, from what it was saying, was going to be far away from the left wing Labour Party I’d have welcomed. But that indicates one of the reasons why I support Scottish independence; in UK terms, the Labour Party can only get into power by going to the right (just like Blair did) - and this time that was against a Tory government increasingly disliked by even the majority in Engla...