Harris Tweed any flaws. Once ready the cloth is finished. Dirt, oil and other impurities are removed by washing and beating in soda and soapy water before it is dried, steamed, pressed and cropped. The final process is the examination by the independent Harris Tweed Authority which visits the mills weekly, before application of their Orb Mark trademark which is ironed on to the fabric as a seal of authenticity. In 2012 the weavers and mills of the Harris Tweed industry produced one million metres of Harris Tweed, compared to 450,000 metres in 2009, which was the highest production figures in 17
Lewis and Harris the main town of the island, and the civil parish of Stornoway, including the town and various nearby villages, has a population of about 12,000. Stornoway (') has ferry links to Ullapool and air services to Benbecula, Inverness, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh. ' (Tarbert) is the ferry terminal in Harris with connections to Skye and North Uist. However the main ferry to North Uist uses the terminal at Leverburgh (An t-Òb). The island is the ancestral homeland of the Highland Clan MacLeod, with those individuals on Harris being referred to as from the clan MacLeod of Harris or MacLeod of