Our first trip into Stornaway was from Leurbost and we found this magical Aladdin’s cave that housed an incredible collection of Harris Tweed in all forms.
The place was back off the main street and the man who ran the shop was a real character. We spent some time with him solving all the problems of the world today. 🙂
We did buy some tweed and then headed off to the building that houses the Harris Tweed Authority so we could get the full story of the importance of Harris Tweed to the Outer Hebrides.
The exhibition in the building gave the full story of Harris Tweed. I didn’t know that there is an act of Parliament relating to Harris Tweed.
This map shows the location of the weavers.
We were able to see several looms and were given a description of how they operated.
This last loom is operated like a bicycle and the tartan is Macleod of Lewis. We took a photo of the butcher’s shop where apparently the best black pudding is made.
Back to the Harris Tweed. We were lucky enough to be able to visit a croft where tweed was being woven. There are so many different uses of the fabric so I thought I would share a few photos of the items we spied.
The last one is a great way to use up scraps.
Gippsland Granny 
I was totally oblivious to the history of Harris Tweed. I had now idea there was an _Harris Tweed Act 1993_.
Apparently it is the only fabric that is protected by an act of parliament.
My memories of Stornaway was and Lewis were of the Callanais stone circles, and hearing Gaelic being spoken. The colours of the Harris tweed are amazing!
I will be doing a post in the future about our visit to the Callanais stone circles.