Artist Jill Smith's 'Personal Vision of the Calanais Stones and Landscapes of the Western Isles' will be exhibited for visitors to the Farmhouse Gallery at Calanais Visitor Centre in a celebration of the Summer Solstice. Now retired and rarely showing her work, this is a perfect opportunity to see some of Jill's original artwork, as well as her cards, prints, books and CDs, in the exhibition which runs from June 20 to 25. Read more
Numerous prehistoric archaeological finds have been discovered around a proposed giant windfarm which the Scottish Government is said to be poised to approve. A new publication highlights the negative impact the controversial 53-turbine Eishken windfarm would impose on the significance of the world-famous Callanish Stones complex. Local archaeologists Margaret Curtis and her late husband Ron have extensively researched the huge Callanish complex of which the Eishken hills are a part.
It is a rare lunar spectacle whose significance dates back to ancient times, drawing visitors to the Isle of Lewis from across the world. But now the druids, pagans and witches who gather at the Callanish Stones fear the next time they visit their treasured view of the Moon could be ruined by a 53-turbine wind farm. According to local belief, the Callanish Stones were erected so they would have a special relationship with a range of hills opposite, known as the Old Woman of the Moors.
Weeks after plans to locate Europe's biggest wind farm on Lewis were refused, a public inquiry opened on the island yesterday into another controversial wind farm proposal. Opponents are concerned it would set the prehistoric Callanish standing stones in an industrial landscape.
A Lewis-based archaeologist has hit out at proposals to erect a Western Isles windfarm on a famous and mystical hill formation that resembles a woman lying on her back. If the plan is successful, Cailleach na Mointeach, the Old Woman of the Moors, would have some of the 53 turbines sprouting from her knees. The Cailleach, also known as the Sleeping Goddess, can be seen to the south side of the ancient Callanish stone circle. Ian McHardy says the visual impact of the highest seven turbines will destroy the effect of the "major lunar standstill" around which the mythical site of Callanish appears to have been built about 6,000 years ago. Every 18.6 years, the moon appears to rise from between the "knees" of the woman and travels in a low arc over her body, lighting it up, until it reaches the end of the ancient avenue of stones at Callanish. At this point, the moon is huge and low in the sky, and a person standing on a ridge in front of it also appears enormous.
The Callanish Stones will not be considered as a World Heritage Site (WHS) before 2010, despite international reports they are more impressive than WHS Stonehenge. A recent survey of World Heritage Sites carried out by the National Geographic Traveller magazine concluded that Stonehenge was in trouble due to overcrowding, noise pollution and a lack of benefit for the local community. Comments from a panel of 419 experts in sustainable tourism and destination stewardship stated that Scottish stone circles sites such as Callanish could offer a much more enjoyable experience for visitors.
A Neolithic cairn discovered on Lewis, in the Western Isles, Scotland, could force a controversial wind-farm plan to be redrawn. Leisure tycoon Nicholas Oppenheim plans to build a 53- turbine wind farm at his Eisgein Estate on the island, but the presence of the cairn could help prove the site was 'sacred land' to the prehistoric people who built the famous Callanish standing stones about 12 miles away. The site lies on a range of hills within the proposed development area known as Cailleach na Mointeach (the Old Woman of the Moors) because the skyline resembles the profile of a woman when viewed from Callanish. Every 18 and a half years, the Moon rises from her knees - as if being 'born' - and then sets at a point framed by the 4,000-year-old stones. Several of the 53 turbines planned by Mr Oppenheim's Beinn Mhor Power company would interrupt this skyline. Ian McHardy, an archaeologist, said his discovery of the cairn near the Old Woman's knees meant the site should be protected.
"There's a five-metre diameter cairn with a curve round the edge of it, which is of typical neolithic construction" - Ian McHardy.
"If there is something, it would be fascinating and the scheme would be amended. But I'd like to hear more about what it is" - Nicholas Oppenheim
The lunar standstill this month at the Neolithic standing stones in Callanish, in the Outer Hebrides, was a rare event. As the moon's journey through the sky takes nearly 19 years, the standstill only takes place three or four times in an average lifetime. Many worshipers from alternative religions travelled to Callanish to witness the moon "walk across the earth".