Bosta beach is located to the north of Great Bernera, an island lying off the coast of Lewis in Loch Roag. It is a beautiful stretch of white sand and shell with views to the north west. Mounted on one of the rocky skerries along the shoreline you come across an unusual feature. This is the Time and Tide Bell, the creation of Marcus Vergette a sculptor, film-maker, composer and working musician.
The idea of the bell is “to create, celebrate, and reinforce connections, between different parts of the country, between the land and the sea, between the community and its environment”. Twelve such permanent installations are planned around the British coastline.
The Bosta Bell, installed on June 19, 2010, was the second to be installed. The bell works through the movement of the tides. At high water, the sea moves the clapper to strike the bell and, as the waves hit, an ever-changing musical pattern is created. As well as being unique works of art, Vergette also intended the bells to remind people about the threat of global warming as they will sound more frequently as sea levels rise.
It was low tide when we visited, so we put a willing volunteer ashore to ring the bell so that we could hear its sound. One of our guests was so taken with it that she recorded it to use as her mobile ringtone!
By Pauline Taylor
Moonshadow Yacht Charter Ltd
