I was fascinated by the huge wooden carved chessmen that appeared by the roadside. There's lots of information in google land about the original Uig Chessmen - Discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hevrides, they may constitute some of the few complete, surviving medieval chess sets, although it is not clear if a set as originally made can be assembled from the pieces. When found, the hoard contained 93 artifacts: 78 chess pieces, 14 tablemen and one belt buckle. Today, 82 pieces are owned and usually exhibited by the British Museum in London, and the remaining 11 are at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The Uig Community Council commissioned Stephen Heyward to design some wooden replicas to place on the machair at Ardroil near the spot where the chessmen were found.
I think they need an information plaque to explain what they represent. They seemed incongruous to me sitting as they did by themselves close to the road, larger than life, miles from anywhere.
Towards the end of the road, the locals were a lot more warmblooded.
They paid no attention to us, there was no doubt about it, we were expected to give way to them. They were moving sedately down the road with purpose. We stopped, it was obvious they had no intention of doing so. They politely and quietly walked past the car, ignoring us. Beautiful creatures!
These folk weren't going anywhere. They were put there to entertain and
I guess they will stay there until a storm whisks them away.
