Hay's Way: Katharine is on the Isle of Lewis hearing about the impact of tourism

The Scotsman

Katharine visits Blackhouse Village on the Isle of Lewis to hear about the impact of tourism on one of the island's most popular attractions

Transcript

00:00I've made it to the Black House village, which is on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis.

00:25And just behind me you can see, these were the last inhabited traditional black houses

00:30on the Outer Hebrides and it's a really popular tourist destination at the moment on the island.

00:37In fact, so much that this year there has been a bit more momentum building to try and

00:43encourage some developments to help support the number of tourists coming through to this

00:49area.

00:51Just travelling towards it myself, I can see that the road, it's a single track road and

00:55not in the best condition, grass growing through the middle of it.

01:00And yeah, just imagining large coaches of tourists and camper vans and motorhomes coming

01:06down that, it must be a bit of a struggle in the summer months, particularly in July

01:12and August when they get the most numbers of people coming here.

01:16My colleague Alison Campsey wrote a piece just recently about local residents kind of

01:21getting together and calling on the Scottish Government to help them address this infrastructure

01:27concern.

01:28And the Scottish Government has said that it's not up to them, it's really up to the

01:33local authorities, so the Western Isles Council, to sort out the problem that they're facing

01:41here.

01:42I mean, one resident said it was a horrendous summer just because of the amount of people

01:46coming through and the developments at Stornoway Port, which is the main town on the island,

01:53they've developed the port so that larger cruise ships can arrive, which means more

01:58tourists coming onto the island.

02:00So it doesn't seem like it's going to be a problem that's going to go away.

02:04So there are still conversations being had over what's best.

02:08I just spoke to a member actually of a community council on the island who was saying that

02:14even if they did have the money to build a road, I mean, he was saying that this land,

02:20it's all built on peat.

02:23So to build another road would require millions, maybe more.

02:27And he was just saying that, is that really what the island wants anyway?

02:32Part of the charm to a place like this is because it is a single track road and people

02:36love the kind of authenticity of that and the fact that it's very traditional and old

02:41school and just like what it was.

02:42So to start building a bigger road is maybe not what people want anyway.

02:46Because the depth of peat, it would cost millions of pounds to upgrade the network of roads

02:53in these islands.

02:54And so when you've got places like Blackhouse Village that's so popular, I mean, I've had

03:00and seen people getting quite upset by just, you know, a lot of tourists coming in and

03:03concerns about the road.

03:04I mean, what is the solution?

03:06The solution is probably to build more lay-bys.

03:12Because to build a two-track road out there would take a lot of commitment and government

03:20cash.

03:21And I don't think there's much cash going about for anything, to be quite honest.

03:25So you think just manage it kind of as it is?

03:29I think so.

03:30It appeals to tourists, this oldie-woldie kind of thing.

03:36Because I've got people from Canada here and our roads that we drive on are like a sidewalk

03:42to them.

03:43They've got massive wide highways.

03:46But do we want that?

03:48I don't think so.

03:50I'm quite happy to remain in the old world.

03:54It makes more sense to me.

03:57So what about the kind of influx of tourism?

04:00I mean, is there any way of maybe managing that?

04:03They would have to stir.

04:04Well, I think over-tourism is taking place right now, there's too many, with all these

04:13massive cruise liners coming in and buses going about everywhere with them.

04:19That's taking its toll on the road as well.

04:21And maybe they should be charged more for coming in here, these cruise liners.

04:26And the amount of caravans and mobile homes we see floating around, there's just so many

04:34of them, and maybe they should contribute, in a way.

04:41Because I can't see our own council getting that kind of cash to do what's needed, really.

04:47But if we're not the only people like that, I think most of the country's like that, to

04:50be very honest.

04:51Maybe we're better off than some parts of the country.

04:55We haven't got so many portals.

04:58He was also saying that maybe there could be a way of getting them to contribute a little

05:03bit more to the island, because at the moment a lot of the tours, of which Blackhouse Village

05:09is one of the stops on the itinerary, it's just a sort of quick pit stop, and come take

05:14a photo, walk around, and then head on again.

05:17So yeah, there's a lot going on for a little historic village like this, seems all sort

05:23of peaceful and quiet.

05:25But I've actually just chosen this moment to do a video, because there was a large tour

05:30group here just earlier, who'd come from one of the cruise ships.

05:35But yeah, there definitely seems to be a little bit of upset among some of the locals who

05:42are trying really hard to encourage some kind of change to help manage the influx of tourism

05:49in the area.

05:50Because also just down the road, you've got the standing stones as well.

05:54So the road is just one road, and it's particularly popular when it comes to the high season.

06:01I'm going to head up to a community centre slash shop, where I've heard that I can talk

06:06to a few more people maybe about this issue.

06:09Interestingly, I've tried to talk to a couple of people who work here at the Blackhouse

06:14Village, but they just don't want to say anything.

06:17They're just telling me that they just want to, yeah, not have any interviews.

06:22So that's completely fair enough.

06:24Managed to speak to a couple of others who have been saying similar things, that it's

06:28just been a very busy summer, and that that road isn't cut out for these large campervans

06:35and tour buses coming down.

06:36I mean, it's originally built for a horse and cart, so there's no surprise there.

06:41But yeah, I'll be hopefully writing about my experience here on The Scotsman, which

06:46you can find under a section called Hay's Way, which is where you'll find articles that

06:51I've been writing about my tour of Scotland that I've been doing over the last seven months.

06:57You can also find pictures and stories on my Instagram page as well, which is rural

07:03underscore cat with a K.

07:05But yeah, for now, I'm going to be heading up to the shop, which is about two miles,

07:11I gather, just to get a few more voices about the Blackhouse Village and just to understand

07:17a little bit more the picture of over-tourism and just tourism in general on the Isle of Lewis.

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