Holiday in Scotland - Day 18 Harris

It was slight rain as we drove south to Harris where the rain stopped but the day remained overcast so we were not to see the other part of the long island at its best. Driving down The Golden Road on the east coast we passed through many small settlements, by countless lochs and the inhospitable rocky terrain from which crofters displaced by the terrible Clearances had to scratch a living by planting lazy beds, little raised up plots fertilised by kelp and capable of producing a few potatoes, barley and oats. Ay the southern coast is Leverburgh. I was surprised that the road signs, invariably in Gaelic uppermost and English below did not mention the Gaelic name of the town. It bears only the name of Lord Leverhulme, founder of Lever Brothers, Port Sunlight and owner of Lewis and Harris for a few unsucessfull years from 1918. It is as if St Petersburg was still Leningrad!. Driving up the west coast we stopped at one of the beautiful golden sandy beaches. The Harris beaches rank among the best in the world and all the better for seeing few visitors.