Peat Cuttings, Bog Cotton and Water Tower

Image: © londonaye Taken: 1 Jul 2007

The peat cuttings just right of centre in this photograph were, until recently, worked by Torcuil MacRath (Torquil MacRae), a Gaelic poet and author of some distinction who died late in 2006. A wonderful character and a good neighbour, it was our privilege and pleasure to count him as a friend during the few years my family and I have lived here. I now work these peat cuttings myself. While much of the UK has suffered a wet spring and summer in 2007, the weather on the Isle of Lewis has been relatively dry. Perhaps this accounts for the fine crop of bog cotton seen on the moorland this year. On the horizon is a water tower, no longer used.

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