Stornoway
Stornoway is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides, and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland.
The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotland after Kirkwall in Orkney and Lerwick in Shetland. The historical civil parish of Stornoway, which includes various nearby villages, has a combined population of just over 10,000. The Comhairle nan Eilean Siar measures population in a different area: the Stornoway settlement area, Laxdale, Sandwick and Newmarket; in 2019, the estimated population for this area was 6,953.
Stornoway is an important port and the administrative centre of the Outer Hebrides. It is home to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and a variety of educational, sporting and media establishments. Until relatively recently, observance of the Christian Sabbath has been associated with Hebridean culture. Recent changes mean that Sundays on Lewis now more closely resemble those in most parts of the Southern Isles, i.e. Benbecula, South Uist, Barra, and Vatersay, and on mainland Scotland.
History
The town was founded by Vikings in the early 9th century, with the Old Norse name Stjórnavágr. The settlement grew up around a sheltered natural harbour and became a hub for people from all over the island, who travelled to Stornoway either by family boat or by horse-drawn coach, for onward travel to and trade with the rest of Scotland and further afield.At some point in the mid-1500s, the already ancient MacLeod castle in Stornoway, which had prior been the ancient clan seat of Clan MacNicol, 'fell victim to the cannons of the Duke of Argyle'. By the early 1600s rumbling trade wars came to a head, and all further government attempts to curtail traditional shipping rights were firmly resisted by the islanders, as was an attempt by James VI, King of Scotland, to establish on the island the Scottish trading company known as the Fife Adventurers around 1598. As a result, James VI transferred Lewis to the MacKenzies of Seaforth in 1610.
In 1844, the MacKenzies sold Stornoway, and the Isle of Lewis as a whole, to Sir James Matheson. He and his descendants built the present Lews Castle on a hill overlooking the bay of Stornoway. Fragmentary ruins of the old Stornoway Castle had survived in the bay until that time, and can even be seen in Victorian photographs, but Matheson destroyed them in 1882, in order to expand the harbour; a few remains of Stornoway Castle still remain, hidden beneath pier number 1, close to the shore, slightly west of centre. By 1863, the town had become a police burgh.
In 1918, Matheson's great-nephew sold the island to William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme. Lord Leverhulme held the island for a short time. His economic plans for the island overstretched his finances. Faced with failure in Lewis, he gave Stornoway parish to the people of the town. The Stornoway Trust was formed and continues to administer the parish.
During World War II the Stornoway aerodrome was used by the military, and the town was a base for anti-submarine planes and a fuelling station for other aircraft. The castle was used as a hospital and living quarters for the personnel of 700 Naval Air Squadron. Between 1986 and 1993, the airport was employed as a "NATO Forward Operating Base for Air Defence aircraft protecting the fleet" for six weeks each year.
Stornoway Town Hall was officially re-opened for community use in March 2012.
Economy
The Isle of Lewis website states that the town's "economy is a mix of traditional businesses like fishing, Harris Tweed and farming, with more recent influences like tourism, the oil industry and commerce". The sheltered harbour has been important for centuries; it was named Steering Bay by Vikings who often visited.A 2018 report states that the fishing industry's primary focus is on aquaculture. A conventional fishery still existed, "composed solely of inshore shellfish vessels targeting prawns, crabs and lobsters around the islands and throughout the Minch".
Harbour and maritime industry
On 1 January 1919, Iolaire sank at the entrance of the harbour, one of the worst maritime disasters in UK waters, with a death toll of 205 men, who were returning home from World War I.Today, the harbour hosts a fishing fleet somewhat reduced from its heyday, a small marina and moorings for pleasure craft, a small shipyard and slipway, three larger piers for commercial traffic and Stornoway Lifeboat Station, run by the RNLI and home to a, Tom Sanderson. His Majesty's Coastguard operates a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre from a building near the harbour.
A lighthouse, seaweed processing plant and a renewable energy manufacturing yard are situated on Arnish Point at the mouth of the harbour and visually dominate the approaches. Arnish Point was also proposed by AMEC as the landfall for its proposed private sub-sea cable which would export the electricity generated from the Lewis Windpower wind farm. A planning application for 181 turbines was submitted to the Scottish Executive; but in 2008, the Scottish Government rejected the plans.
Since then Lewis Windpower has obtained planning consent for a maximum of 36 wind turbines to be sited to the west of Stornoway on land held by community-owned Stornoway Trust Estate.
The Arnish area was also surveyed by SSE for a second sub-sea cable, but lost out in favour of Gravir to the south as the preferred site. SSE preferred Arnish Point as of 2016. The manufacturing yard was originally established in the 1970s as a fabrication plant for the oil industry, but suffered regular boom and bust cycles. The downturn in business from the North Sea oil industry in recent years led to a move away from serving this market. The yard is now proposed as a key business in the development of the whole Arnish Point industrial estate and has received large amounts of funding in recent years.
In 2007, the Arnish yard was taken over by its third tenant in as many years. Cambrian Engineering fell into liquidation as did Aberdeen-owned Camcal Ltd with relatively large-scale redundancies. Both firms were affected by the absence of a regular stream of orders and left a chain of large debts impacting upon local suppliers. Altissimo Ltd is a new firm backed by a group of Swiss and Dutch investors, and has purchased the Camcal name from the previous operator. In December 2007, the yard won a contract to construct 49 towers for wind turbines in Turkey. This will ensure employment for around 70 employees for over six months.
As of 2021, the yard is now operated by Harland and Wolff.
In September 2020, Stornoway Port Authority announced that development of a new £49 million deep water terminal was to go ahead following the approval of marine licences by Marine Scotland.
The new multi-purpose terminal will provide berthing for vessels up to 360m long with a water depth of 10m below Chart datum, a ferry berth, and 6.5 hectares of land for unloading, storage and industrial uses.
In April 2022, Stornoway Port Authority announced they had signed a £49 million construction contract for their new Deep Water Terminal. The contract was awarded to building and civil engineering firm McLaughlin and Harvey. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Wind farm
The UK's largest community-owned wind farm, the 9 MW Beinn Ghrideag, is located outside Stornoway and is operated by Point and Sandwick Trust. In February 2021, that organisation was shortlisted for the title of Best Community Energy Project at the Scottish Highlands and Islands Renewable Energy Awards. A February 2021 report stated that this operation "already has a number of awards and multiple nominations". Point and Sandwick Trust helps fund community activities "because of the revenue created at our wind farm, Beinn Ghrideag. The 3 turbine, 9 MW scheme is built on common grazings land on the Isle of Lewis".Climate
Like much of the British Isles, Stornoway has an oceanic climate, with relatively little variation of temperature and damp conditions throughout the year. Winters are exceptionally mild for such a northerly location; average nighttime low temperatures in January and February, the coldest months, are above, while daytime high temperatures average about. Summers are cool, due to influence from the Atlantic Ocean; average daytime high temperatures in July and August are just over. Precipitation falls mostly as rain, and October through January are the wettest months due to frequent, sometimes intense storms from the North Atlantic, which can bring heavy rain and high winds. April through July represents a markedly drier season, when storm frequency and intensity diminish markedly. June is the driest month in Stornoway, averaging of precipitation, while January is the wettest month, averaging.A quirk of the climate on Stornoway and the Isle of Harris more widely is that it records the highest frequency of hail in the UK, with 30 or more days per year of measurable hail falling.
Transport
The Caledonian MacBrayne-operated ferry has been sailing since 2015, from Stornoway harbour to Ullapool on the Scottish mainland, taking 2 hours 30 minutes. There are an average of two return crossings a day: more in summer than in winter. The former main ship on the route, , used to carry the freight crossing; however, she has now been reassigned elsewhere by CalMac. This means that MV Loch Seaforth is often heavily congested, particularly during the summer months.The idea of an undersea tunnel linking Lewis and Harris to the Scottish mainland was suggested in early 2007. One of the possible routes, between Stornoway and Ullapool, would be over long: the longest road tunnel in the world.
Stornoway is the hub of bus routes in Lewis: buses run to Point, Ness, Back and Tolsta, Uig, the West Side, Lochs and Tarbert, Harris. These buses are operated by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and several private operators.
Stornoway Airport is located next to the village of Melbost, east of the town; there are flights to Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow, all operated by Loganair. and Benbecula operated by Hebridean Air Services. The airport is also the base of an HM Coastguard Search & Rescue Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, and was previously home to RAF Stornoway. In 1898, the Hebridean Light Railway Company was proposed, with a terminus at Stornoway, but the line was never constructed.
Cruise ships visit the town and anchor in the bay, with passengers coming ashore on tenders.