Sunday 21/08/05

Weather today is pretty awful, intermittent heavy rain and strong winds. Jimmy and Isabel head off for a drive round the West Side at 11.30. Everything will be closed today, but they can at least look at the outside of things. We're having a springtide today (full moon 3 days ago), and the difference between low- and high-tide level is 5 metres (16'8"). The old beacon at Arnish Lighthouse is completely submerged at the morning's high tide. Normally, the top of it remains above water. At low tide, during the afternoon, it is linked to the mainland at the lighthouse, which is not normally the case. Cloudcover sinks to about 200 feet, measured by the fact that the top of Gallows Hill is wreathed in mist in the evening.