Tesco’s Sunday opening in Stornoway highlights evolving traditions on Hebridean islands

Residents of Lewis observe Sundays in a manner that has largely disappeared from the rest of Scotland and the UK for decades. On this day, swimming pools, sports centers, and most businesses remain closed. Consistent with the broader Western Isles, public transportation is also unavailable on Sundays. Lewis, along with neighboring Harris, maintains a strong tradition of Christian church attendance, with the Church of Scotland and Free Church being dominant. According to the latest Census data, the Church of Scotland constituted the most prevalent religious group in the Western Isles, at 35.3%. However, a dispute surrounding the seven-day operation of a Tesco store in Stornoway, Lewis, has brought this traditional way of life into sharp focus. The moment the first customers entered the store after 12:00 on Sunday marked a significant historical shift. While a small protest greeted them, shoppers expressed their support for the new opening hours. Domick Heward informed BBC News: “I really don’t mind at all.” He elaborated, “It means if I have forgot to get something during the week I can just get it on my day off.” Morag Macbeth characterized the development as “absolutely brilliant,” adding, “We have to move with the times.” Josh Nelson stated that the Sunday opening was “much needed.” Fiona Macdonald remarked that the island was “into the 21st century at last,” questioning, “If it is ok for the pubs to be open, restaurants, Chinese, why not a supermarket?” She also noted, “I am a Christian and, yes, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, but going into a shop for a tube of toothpaste I don’t think is a great sin.” The devout observance of the Sabbath, also known as the Lord’s Day, is deeply ingrained in the cultural fabric of Lewis and Harris. As per the Bible’s Ten Commandments, the Sabbath is designated as a spiritual period for worship and a cessation from work and leisure. Historically, islanders refrained from hanging laundry outdoors as a sign of respect for the Sabbath, and on certain occasions, some church-goers even secured children’s swings with chains to help ensure tranquility. Dr. James Eglinton, a senior lecturer in Reformed Theology at Edinburgh University with family ties to Lewis, commented that the practice of chaining swings has become a common misconception used by individuals who do not comprehend island culture. Dr. Eglinton further stated: “It’s very much projected on to that culture and that kind of stuff makes the Sabbath sound very dour, killjoy and weird.” He added, “What you have on Lewis is a living example of a local culture that practices a day of rest as a community.” He also observed, “On mainland Scotland people think that’s quite odd, but it’s a normal thing across continental Europe.” The Rev. Hector Morrison, a native of Lewis and principal of Highland Theological College UHI, attributed the enduring nature of Lewis and Harris’ Sunday traditions to evangelical revivals. These events involved communities committing to a highly pious form of Christianity. Rev. Morrison indicated that parts of Lewis and Harris experienced such revivals approximately every 10-15 years until at least the 1970s. He shared positive recollections of his upbringing in Lewis, asserting that the Sabbath never appeared somber. The former minister further conveyed: “I believe that Sunday will remain special for Lewis and Harris people not primarily because it is so deeply embedded in the island’s culture, but as long as the gospel itself remains significant and powerfully at work in these islands. “Each new generation which comes to love the Lord, will want to keep the Lord’s commandments.” Other religious affiliations across the Western Isles include Catholicism, particularly prevalent in the southern islands such as Barra, and a mosque is located in Stornoway. Over the past two decades, Lewis and Harris have witnessed notable alterations to Sunday practices. Hotel restaurants have begun operating, and a petrol station with an attached shop now conducts trade on Sundays. The island’s inaugural commercial flights commenced in October 2002. Approximately 60 campaigners assembled to greet the aircraft upon its arrival in Stornoway. They engaged in a quiet demonstration, distributing leaflets that asserted traveling on the Sabbath constituted a sin and was detrimental to one’s soul and island life. Among the passengers on that initial flight was a young oil industry worker, who informed the BBC at the time that a Sunday air service provided him the opportunity to balance working away from home with returning to spend quality time with his family. Seven years subsequent to the flights, the first ferry – a vital transportation link in the Western Isles – departed from Stornoway for mainland Scotland on a Sunday. A small contingent prayed and sang a psalm as vehicles boarded the vessel, while several hundred other individuals applauded in a display of support for the sailing. Among those protesting was Rev. Angus Smith, a Govan-born Free Church minister. He had previously led a protest against Skye Sunday ferries in 1965 and was removed by police after positioning himself in front of cars awaiting boarding. Subsequently, in 2018, a screening of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” marked the first instance of a cinema operating on a Sunday in Lewis. A minor protest occurred outside the venue. Donald Lamont, a Lewis-based BBC journalist, characterized the debate as complex. He conveyed to BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland: “It’s not as straight forward as those of a religious persuasion versus those who are not. It’s more nuanced than that. “There are a lot of people expressing sadness, a lot of people are ambivalent and there are those who are pleased with the news.”