Thursday, February 15, 2018

Lightning strike on Castle Maol, a wall tumbles down...



It happened in an explosive instant of time. Just two hours after yesterday’s post of the exquisite rainbow, the remaining ruins of 15th century Castle Maol were changed forever. The remnants of the castle sit on a small headland, just a few hundred metres from our flat. Around 1930 hours last night, we were looking out the window at the storm…a rare and unnerving combination of lightning, thunder, violent wind, and wet snow.



Suddenly, a sharp, almost deafening crack of thunder coincided with what seemed like a massive fireball. Electricity filled the air. The familiar floodlights, which illuminated the walls of the once-fortified tower were extinguished. Only at sunrise this morning, did we discover that the iconic peak of the left wall was also gone…blown apart by the bolt of lightning, just twelve hours earlier. 


The castle, first established by the Vikings in the 9th century, was dealt yet another blow by nature's capricious hand - right before our eyes.

2 comments:

  1. Wow....just wow! The power of the natural world never ceases to amaze....thanks for this Duncan - I think you're ahead of the BBC in reporting it!

    Warm wishes to you both

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amaze is right, Ian, it was pretty dramatic. Definitely ahead of BBC, but gave pics and info to local paper first thing as it seemed a rather “historic” event. Pics and article just came out in the West Highland Free Press! Warm wishes from us both.

    ReplyDelete