Restoration, repair and interpretation work under the The Stornoway Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) will be underway in the next few weeks.

It is expected that the resurfacing of Cromwell Street between South and North Beach will commence in October and continue over the winter months.  The Comhairle will work with the contractor, when appointed, so as to try and minimise any disruption to premises in the town centre. This will include a period over Christmas when work will stop altogether to enable the usual festivities to take place. There will also be restrictions  on other activities and works taking part in or adjacent to the area to help minimise disruption.

As preparatory work for the resurfacing a firm of archaeologists will be carrying out a survey of part of the area in the next few weeks to assess whether there are any important archaeological remains. The town centre is recognised as an archaeologically sensitive area. This work is unlikely to take more than a few days.

The first building repair grant application has now received approval and work will commence in the next few weeks. The premises in Church Street should undergo a transformation in the months ahead. Further applications for grants in the THI area are encouraged.

Banners on sites acknowledge the grant support from Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund indicating that these are THI projects.

A project to install information and interpretive panels at the castle, telling the story of the castle and its grounds, is currently in progress and this should be completed in early November.

Preparatory work has now started  on a project to repair and restore part of the Lews castle sea walls. It is anticipated that work will commence in Spring next year and involve training local builders in the use of lime mortar and stone masonry. There will be the opportunity for all to learn about this and other lost building skills once the project gets underway.

The Townscape Heritage Project Manager can be contacted in the Comhairle offices (709535) for more information.