Certainly an apt description of this photographic tour of the Isles of Barra to North Uist – links in the chain of the islands of the Outer Hebrides or Long Island. Whether you be a distant Clan Chief or exiled kinsman, armchair traveller, regular visitor or permanent resident, these
photographs – taken between the 1880’s and the late 1930’s – give you an opportunity to see something of the individual character of each island in those days.

The nature of its landscape and industries; the various religious and secular buildings scattered along the route from Castlebay to Lochmaddy; but especially their Victorian and Edwardian islanders whose faces you glimpse – fleetingly – within the pages. It is their land, their homes and churches, and their work places that you see in ‘Western Isles: A Postcard Tour’. Today their ancestors live and work in these isles, cherishing the land and holding it in trust for the next generation and for the continuing pleasure of future voyagers from the 21st century.