Where Eagles Dare

After decades of holidaying on the Isle of Lewis, Richard and sally Norman built their own haven in the Hebrides, on a remote shoreline spot frequented by golden eagles.

- Alison Gibb

Non-divers might not realise that the underwater scenery off the west coast of the Isle of Lewis is some of the best you’ll find anywhere. Subaquatic mountains, gin-clear water and abundant sea life – lobsters, seals, basking sharks – all make for fantastic scuba diving. ‘We started coming here in 1993 and it is so good we kept coming back,’ says Richard Norman, who first got hooked on the marine pursuit at university. above sea level, the Hebridean landscape, intriguing uninhabited islands and white-sand beaches prompted Hertfordshire-based Richard and his wife sally to take family holidays on Lewis for 20 years.

Sally, who, like Richard, works in finance, says she had a choice of joining in the fun beneath the waves or becoming a diving widow. ‘our two children are grown up now, but when they were small, they loved being in wetsuits, on the beach, or in the sea with the dogs, messing about on boats,’ she recalls. ‘they had tremendous freedom here.’

Idyllic family holidays involved fishing for mackerel, cooking over an open fire on the beach, lobster potting, crabbing and scalloping. ‘We came up with other diving families and in-laws and had a fantastic time, but years of renting was wearing thin,’ sally explains. ‘We started looking for the ideal house to buy, but anything remotely suitable would have needed so much work it wasn’t economically viable.’

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

They decided to start from scratch and, about a decade ago, began scouting for building plots on the island instead. Eventually, they found a waterside site on the isle of Great Bernera – a tiny island across a small bridge off the west coast of Lewis. ‘We saw a number of other plots but we had a hankering for a sea view, so held out, and bought it in 2007,’ Richard adds.