POST
Last shop before Newfoundland!
Some people simply cannot resist a challenge – and setting up a arts and craft shop half way down one of the longest remaining truly single track roads in Harris and Lewis has got to be defined as a challenge.
But for Pete and Christine Hope, the couple who created the celebrated Blacksheep House project in Strond, it was as simple as ... well, as opening a shop.
After all, it happens to be next door to the rented house where they are now living in Amhuinnsuidhe. Blacksheep House was built as their own home but it ran a wee bit over budget so it is now rented out for self-catering holidays – which means the shop has to be shut on Saturdays while they do the changeovers between guests.
In 2008 the restored black house spun in to property stardom on Channel 4 when it was invited to enter for the Grand Designs Home of the Year. The house was in the Best Conversion category, which it won, making it eligible for the coveted Home Of The Year title along with the other best of category winners voted for over the week-long TV spectacular. Much to Pete & Christine’s surprise they walked away as overall winners, making Blacksheep House into The Grand Designs Home Of The Year by public vote, which, for the Hopes, mades it all the better.
Back in May 2003 the couple had sold their Sheffield terrace home, stashed their remaining possessions into an old Volvo, and struck out for the north. Pete is a singer-songwriter turned drystane dyker. Christine was a social worker.
Their lease on a rented house in Borrisdale, south Harris, ran out last year and after only three days of looking for an alternative a chance contact with a friend for whom Pete was building a wall meant that they found the house in Amhuinnsuidhe – and then it turned out the old post office next door was finally shutting down as the last postmistress retired.
When they decided to restore the blackhouse, many said they were crazy. “Why bother with a pile of old stones? Best use it as fill, or turn it into a shed.” The same could be said of running a tiny shop in this age of supermarkets – but the key element is one of surprise. The old blackhouse became a kind of eco-Tardis, squeezing two large bedrooms, a vast living area with kitchen, office workspace and a large bathroom, complete with Japanese-style soak tub into the traditional style of construction.
So the shop, a tiny extension on the side of the house like many hundreds of village shops that used to exist across the islands a few decades ago, is a little, tightly packed haven of surprises.
It serves ices, sweets and coffee – as well as selling shoelaces and one or two other handy items left over from its previous life. But more important, it has a range of unusual crafts, photographs, cards and other gifts that make the journey worthwhile for any visitor.
Called simply POST – an echo of its former role as a post office – it also boasts of being the final trading post before Newfoundland, a claim which has confused at least one visitor who asked where that was, obviously expecting another surprise just round the corner.
In order to appeal as a store, it has to be “a purveyor of the unusual,” says Pete. One such range are the photographs by “The Flying Monk” – a really unusual and striking range of photographs taken across the islands using the effect of long exposures on digital cameras at night under moon and starlight. They give insights into our surroundings which are both intriguing and exciting. They can also be seen on-line at www.theflyingmonk.co.uk.
Craftwork includes both mosaics and tweed work by Christine. Her mosaic figure also featured in the Blacksheep House where the centrepiece is a table made out of a rusty cartwheel rim found at nearby Scarista. Christine filled and tiled bent metal to create a work of art. She worked similar wonders in the bathroom, spending four long weeks smashing up tiles to make an intricate pattern covering all four walls. Now she works on smaller scale products – while Pete also works with mosaics and has other items on sale including sculptures made from sheep skulls.
They also have tweed products made by Abi Stubbings in Leverburgh and jewellery by Goldie Macdougall in Scarista as well as Artisan stained glass from Perth. Other locally made products include walking sticks from Scalpay. Pete and Christine are also on the look out for other local products to sell.
“We want the shop to be a lot of fun and provide something which is an alternative view of the islands. The response so far has been really good. People have come in and said it’s really great to find our shop here,” said Pete. One of the most popular lines are the postcards of The Flying Monk’s photographs.
For those unfamiliar with the twists and turns of the road to Hushinish, the shop is just beyond the Castle heading west. For those totally unfamiliar with Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, yes, you do have to drive across what looks like their front lawn. Actually, it is their front lawn!
For those who make the trek, there’s a warm welcome and a chance to browse in one of the quirkiest shops anywhere.
Contact
POST, Amhuinnsuidhe, HS3 3AS
Tel: 01859 560221
