We’ve all watched those romantic comedies where the guy and the girl are thrown together by circumstance and kick off their relationship by hating each other. Then, forced to work together, things change, hate turns to love, and they end up living happily ever after.
My relationship with the islands of the Outer Hebrides has been a bit like that. Commissioned by Scottish Television to come up with an idea for a soap opera in the Gaelic language, my wife – writer Janice Hally – and I first arrived on the islands by ferry on a bitterly cold February in 1991.
We were skimping on expenses, because we wanted to save money for a trip to China to research a book I wanted to write.
So we had booked ourselves into a cottage in the village of Port of Ness, on the very northern tip of the Isle of Lewis.
Following a long, bleak drive through a treeless and windswept landscape, we arrived at the cottage – Ocean Villa – to find that it was freezing cold, and the mattress on the bed was so damp we had to drag it through to the living room and dry it in front of an electric fire. And that’s where we slept for the duration of our trip.
Peter May likens his relationship with the Hebrides to a ‘romantic comedy’, revealing how he fell in love with islands he first hated. Above is the village of Port of Ness on the Isle of Lewis, where Peter stayed during his first visit in 1991
The Scottish screenwriter and novelist stayed on the Isle of Lewis (above) until 1996 as producer of Machair – a Gaelic soap set on the island. He filmed in ‘every imaginable weather’
Peter (above, in the Hebrides) writes: ‘People often say that Scotland can deliver four seasons in one day. In the islands it is possible to have four seasons in five minutes – which can making filming a continuity nightmare’
It was not the most auspicious of starts. But despite the freezing weather, the sun came out to greet us the next morning, and we began a ten-day voyage of discovery – exploring the islands, meeting the most wonderful, friendly and helpful people who assisted us in developing our idea for the drama serial, Machair – which over the next half dozen years became a huge hit with viewers in Scotland, achieving a 33 per cent audience share on a prime-time transmission.
My love-hate relationship with the Isle of Lewis continued as producer during five years of filming in every imaginable weather. People often say that Scotland can deliver four seasons in one day. In the islands it is possible to have four seasons in five minutes – which can making filming a continuity nightmare.
When I left the show, and therefore the islands, in 1996, I thought I would probably never be back. But the Hebrides have a way of seeping into your soul, and eight years later I returned to research a book that would catapult me from mid-list writer to best seller. The Blackhouse.
As my small plane banked over the east coast of Lewis to begin its descent into Stornoway, I cast my gaze across the acres of peat bog turned purple by the heather, and saw the autumn hues glowing golden in the sunshine, and was almost overcome by a sense of homecoming.
Peter describes how in the Hebrides ‘breakers of the Atlantic crash in creamy foam across golden sands’. Above – North Uist
Peter’s love for the Hebrides was aided by the sight of ‘peat bog turned purple by the heather’ on the Isle of Lewis (above)
Born and raised in Glasgow, Peter (above) says the Hebrides have ‘somehow become my spiritual home’. Peter said he has returned many times to the islands to complete ‘The Lewis Trilogy’ series. The most recent addition to the series, The Black Loch, is out on September 12 and available on Amazon
I spent the next days revisiting locations where we had filmed, meeting old friends, and soaking up a landscape of bleak and outstanding beauty – black cliffs rising above deserted beaches where the breakers of the Atlantic crash in creamy foam across golden sands. Mountains rising to the south where Lewis meets Harris and the most amazing turquoise waters wash the west coast all the way down through the Uists to Barra.
By the time I left to go and write my book, my relationship with the islands had completed its transformation from that first cold, damp greeting nearly fifteen years earlier to a deeply ingrained feeling of love. Born and raised in Glasgow, the Hebrides had somehow become my spiritual home, and I was leaving it with a great sense of sadness.
But, of course, that wasn’t the end of the story. I have been back many times now, to complete what has become known as The Lewis Trilogy, and most recently, to research and write the sequel to that series – The Black Loch – which is published this month.
There was a time, during the Covid pandemic, when I thought I might never return. And so it was with joy in my heart that I flew back to the islands last year to conduct my research. Coming, in a sense, full circle and completing a journey that took me from mixed feelings to absolute devotion over more than thirty years.
The Black Loch by Peter May is published on September 12 by Riverrun at £22. Peter May will be doing a book tour of the UK. To book tickets see: geni.us/PETERMAY-EVENTS.