Am Pàipear August 22 NEW

Photo by Seonaidh MacInnes

AmPàipear

IN THIS ISSUE:

Games, gigs and prizes galore Crofting's future with Donald MacKinnon Pressure builds - ferries, care and housing And an exclusive with STV's Sean Batty

AUGUST 2022 EDITION 428 £1.50 www.ampaipear.com

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OPINION

OPINION

Opinion: Donald MacKinnon

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Scottish Crofting Federation Chair The fight for crofting's future 41 AIRPORT ROAD BALIVANICH BENBECULA HS7 5LA 01870603299 07769912227 www.ampaipear.com

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In my role as Chair of the Scottish Crofting Federation I have the privilege of representing the interests of crofters and crofting at a range of different levels.

Crofting delivers a huge amount of good. The system has kept people on the land, producing high quality food while protecting the environment. It is no coincidence that the Outer Hebrides, and Uist in particular, is a stronghold for some of our most endangered wildlife, this is deeply intertwined with traditional crofting practices.

However behind the positive stories, far too often I come across things that are holding crofting back from fulfilling its potential.

These problems range from an under resourced regulator in the Crofting Commission to inappropriate levels of agricultural support and uncertainty for the future. If crofting is going to deliver what we want it to, it needs adequate financial support and appropriate regulation.

Agricultural payments are critical to the future of crofting and the economy of our islands.

As we have left the EU, it is now up to the Scottish Government to come up with a way of delivering agricultural support. While there is still much uncertainty surrounding the new payment system, plans are now starting to emerge. It looks like there will be a base payment, linked

to agricultural activity. This will be topped up with additional payments for businesses undertaking specific measures to maintain and enhance biodiversity or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Additional elective, specialist schemes will also be available.

It is not yet clear how payment rates will be calculated and exactly what crofters will be expected to do to receive payments. There are a few key points that I think are important if this new policy is going to work for crofting. It needs to be proportionate to the size of the business, there is no point trying to find a one size fits all approach, what makes sense for a farm on the east coast won’t always be appropriate for a croft in Uist. Payments need to reflect peripherality, LFASS currently categorises 86% of Scotland’s agricultural land as ‘Less Favoured Area’... less favoured to what?

There should be a decent sized, minimum payment that makes claiming worthwhile for the smallest producers, recognising the costs that all businesses face regardless of size. Front loading should be considered, that is higher payments for the first few hectares or calves/ hoggs claimed.

Common grazings should also be built into the system, not treated as an afterthought.

Scottish Government will soon be launching a consultation on their Agriculture Bill.

This is the legislation that will underpin the new system. The Bill itself is not likely to give too much detail on payments but it is a good opportunity to feed into the legislative process.

SCF will be making a submission and continuing to engage through various channels including the Agricultural Reform Implementation Oversight Board, which I sit on. It is vital that distinct crofting voices are heard in this discussion, there is a lot of money at stake and powerful interests are keen to see the status quo maintained.

Ensuring that crofting agriculture can continue and is well supported is key to the future of the system but so too is regulation. Crofting law should exist to protect crofting and crofters with the Crofting Commission overseeing the day to day regulation. Unfortunately this does not always seem to be the case. Anyone who has submitted a regulatory application recently will be aware that the Commission has a serious backlog in applications, with turnaround times three months longer than usual. This is having a knock on impact on everything else that the Commission does. In a positive move, Scottish Government has increased the Commission's budget this year. With new staff being recruited, the backlog is now coming down.

While problems at the Commission are an issue for existing crofters and those in the process of acquiring crofts,

for many getting into the system can only be a dream. The market in tenancies and owner occupied crofts is out of control. It has got to the point that purchasing a croft is only a viable prospect for the wealthy. Ever increasing prices are excluding many people, in particular, younger generations from being able to access land and the all important possibility of somewhere to build a home. I don’t think it should ever be the case that the depth of your pockets is what determines whether you are able to live in our communities. While there is not much appetite for intervention in the market, better regulation and better enforcement of the existing regulation could go some way to calming it down. The process of crofting law reform, recently restarted by Scottish Government, should be used to address these issues.

In crofting we have a system of land tenure that may have its roots in the past but has the potential to contribute solutions to so many of the modern problems facing the Highlands and Islands. From the climate emergency to the housing crisis, crofting is well placed to meet these challenges.

Joanna Peteranna’s piece in the last issue of Am Pàipear highlighted the stark reality of the population crisis facing Uist.

Crofting has to be part of the answer to providing opportunities for young people to live in these islands, maintaining sustainable, economically active communities.

With the right combination of appropriate regulation and financial support this potential can be unlocked. But to see this realised requires political will. Our politicians and public bodies need to see the potential that there is for crofting to deliver across a wide range of policy outcomes.

At this time of change it is vital that crofting has a strong voice and that is exactly what the Scottish Crofting Federation will continue to deliver. We will keep making the case for a modern crofting system fit for the 21st century, that gives people the opportunity to live and work on the land for generations to come. I don’t just want crofting to survive, I want it to thrive.

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OPINION NEWS

Care in crisis

Concerns raised as waiting lists for care and support grow The extent of unmet care needs has been set out in shocking detail in a set of reports put to the Integrated Joint Board for health and social care in June.

The reports reveal growing pressures in social care delivery, with 109 people seeking support still waiting for an initial assessment of their care needs, 11 of whom are in hospital waiting to be discharged, and a further 122 overdue a statutory review of their needs.

The number of people who have been assessed as needing care but have no delivery in place is 58.

These shortfall figures account for 477 hours of undelivered care each week, down from a peak of 731 hours per week in March. The report recognises that the figure for undelivered care would be considerably higher if it were to include those waiting to have their needs assessed: “Of particular concern is the hidden

‘need’ associated with those individuals requiring assessment.

Until this gap is closed as a system we cannot truly understand the totality of unmet need.”

The figures come as a result of continuing resourcing issues in care, with 47 vacant posts within homecare and reenablment alone, and a sickness absence rate well above the national average, running at up to 14.2% in some areas.

For those looking for support, the service shortfall can be catastrophic. Am Pàipear spoke to one family carer who asked not to be named: “We are already at breaking point but have no option other than to carry on. Not having the care we need in place has left us depressed, exhausted and fearful for the future.We are desperate.”

Tagsa Uibhist delivers some of the allocated care hours through its dedicated care at home service. CEO Chris

MacLullich explained the impact that the situation has on both his staff and clients: “The staffing crisis in care is particularly acute in the islands where we face a desperate situation that is getting worse, month on month.

“We have done what is in our power to recruit more staff; we have increased the rates of pay to well above the National Living Wage, increased our employer’s pension contribution to 5%, offered full time working hours, increased our mileage rate to £0.56, gained key worker status for incoming workers in partnership with the Hebridean Housing Partnership and we continue to offer training, and continuous professional development, from entry level to managerial level.

“Our Managers are caught between a rock and a hard place – doing all that they can to respond to on-going and unmet needs for care whilst also trying to look after the wellbeing of our Care Assistants, who cover the length and breadth of Uist.

"There is a real risk this crisis could deteriorate into a full blown emergency. In Tagsa and in other agencies such as the Western Isles Community Care Forum, we have huge concerns about the strain that unpaid carers are under with these levels

Loganair fails to fly the flag for Uist Uist and Barra left out of new discounted air fares offer Uist and Barra residents will not benefit from a new discounted ‘islander fare’ introduced last month by Logainair on selected island services.

All Air Discount Scheme (ADS) members booking seats

on either the Stornoway to Edinburgh or Stornoway to Inverness route will benefit from the new islander fare, which also covers Kirkwall and Sumburgh. One-way prices will start at £50 on the Inverness

route, and £60 for the Edinburgh flight.

While the Comhairle has welcomed the move, Cllr Uisdean Robertson, Chair of Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n and Infrastructure expressed his unhappiness that some islands were being excluded from the deal: “Clearly any reduction in the cost of travel for island residents is a welcome step but

of unmet need and waiting lists.”

The Disability Advocacy Col lective (DAC), a campaigning support group for people needing care, has cautioned that shortfalls in service provision is having an impact on mental and physical health. Cathy Anne Dunn, Advocacy Western Isles Manager and DAC Facilitator, told Am Pàipear: “DAC represents a number of people at the sharp end of the care crisis.

Every undelivered hour of care means more pressure on family carers, who are already struggling. We know that care services are stretched and we recognise there is no quick fix, but we are heartened to have the

support of Uist councillors, including Paul Steele, who pledged his commitment and support to DAC members when we met before the election.”

A Comhairle spokesperson said: “Health and Social Care is utilising the additional resources provided by S cottish Government to enhance frontline services. The first phase of increasing the social work team capacity is nearly complete and when all posts are operational this will assist in addressing the outstanding assessments. This has included an additional FTE post based in Uist and enhanced Team Leader capacity to support the frontline workers across the islands. The

additional payments to care providers have been facilitated to enhance the renumeration of their workforces, supporting their endeavours to recruit and retain.

“In addition, the Integration Joint Board has approved the development of new posts to support existing services. This was subject to a Report to the last meeting of the IJB. This investment will include services to supplement and extend the reach of existing services in relation to unscheduled care and hospital at home, as well as providing proactive support to sustain or retain independent living skills. ”

it is very disappointing that this benefit is not being extended to passengers on all Loganair’s island routes.

“To limit this to Stornoway, Kirkwall and Sumburgh means that the relative cost of travel to other islands including Benbecula is going to be higher.

If Loganair cannot see this is unfair perhaps consideration should again be given to introducing a Public Service

Obligation (PSO) on the Benbecula route to ensure that fares are reduced and kept to an affordable level, as is the case for the Barra service and on the Benbecula to Stornoway service which operates through a PSO awarded by the Comhairle.”

Asked why Benbecula was excluded form the new deal, a spokesperson from Loganair said: “We’ve introduced our new Islander Fares for those

communities where we have multiple routes and several flights per day, offering sufficient seats on selected flights and routes to ensure that customers have every reasonable opportunity of accessing the new fares. We are unable to offer this where we have a smaller schedule, but will keep this in review as our schedule and route network continues to evolve.”

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OPINION

NEWS

Housing needs

The complex issues underpinning Uist’s affordable housing shortfall The Comhairle is debating how to maximise the value of £16m of as yet unspent Scottish Government affordable housing funds.

The Government’s allocation for the Western Isles for the fiveyear period up until 2026/27 is £42m, allocated at around £8.5m per year. The Comhairle’s current housing programme plans for a further 100 new houses up to 2026/27, accounting for £26m of that £42m fund, and leaving a balance of around £16m not yet allocated.

Current commitments require the Comhairle to site 55% of all new builds outside of Stornoway to support population growth and retention in the most fragile rural communities, but increased building costs in rural areas has meant that this commitment is now in question.

At a meeting of the Sustainable Development Committee in June, elected members were asked to consider whether to step back from the 55% commitment to ensure the remaining £16m can be fully utilised. The decision was put on hold pending further discussion at an Affordable Homes Seminar for elected members, due to be held this month.

The Government funding is tied into a set of benchmark unit costs, which for Island areas, is currently set at £95k per unit, well below average unit build costs in the Western Isles.

Neither the Comhairle or Hebridean Housing Partnership (HHP) were able to confirm current average unit costs, but both agreed that the Uist figure is well above the Government’s agreed £95k budget.

HHP states that additional freight costs mean island prices have historically been 20-25% higher than on the mainland, and this increases the further you travel from Stornoway. This geographical disadvantage is exacerbated by significant inflation over the last few years, which has led to price increases of around 50% over the last 10 years.

The situation is sorely felt by local contractors. Iain MacInnes, Project Manager at MacInnes Bros Ltd, explains: “The cost increases start before a brick is even laid. Virgin sites just need more preparatory work - access

roads, peat clearance, land drainage, independent sewer networks - theses are all costs you wouldn’t need to consider in an urban construction project. Then there is the logistics of managing freight through a sometimes unreliable ferry service. The cost of fuel is an issue - our lorries carrying full load manage about seven miles to the gallon - that’s a lot of fuel to get the materials we need on site. The UK Government changed the rules on the use of red diesel within construction in April of this year, and we are no longer able to use the cheaper fuel alternatives for our work. That decision has cost MIB an additional £20k per month to operate essential construction plant at just our Lochmaddy development site alone. There are additional costs, and additional risks and the contractor is often the one who carries that. It can end up with some projects not being commercially viable.”

Iain is clear that the burden should not hold back development: “Building in rural settings is more difficult and more costly, there’s no denying that, but the value of these projects has to be considered in a wider sense. The cost of a rural build needs to be seen against the wider value it adds to the community and smaller settlements across Uist: the jobs it helps retain, the population it helps to stabilise, the school rolls it helps maintain.”

Rural developments also face additional hurdles in finding suitable land, it can take up to two years and cost as much as £5,000 to free up croft land for development.

MSP Rhoda Grant told Am Pàipear: “While it’s their responsibility to ensure adequate good quality housing, the Council and HHP are being placed in a really difficult position. The requirements for Government funding mean that they already exceed their per unit house budget within Stornoway, and by the time they look at building in Barra those prices have tripled.

It’s a natural deterrent for island authorities to build in more rural areas as they desperately try to maximse the return for the paltry budgets they’ve been allocated.”

MSP Alasdair Allan believes

the issue is directly impacting local communities: “The shortage of affordable housing in Uist is having considerable social and economic impacts. A limited or expensive housing market means that it is harder for islanders to access suitable properties on the open market, making it more likely that they live in accommodation which does not match their needs. As a result, younger people and families may be pushed out of island areas like Uist where they are sorely needed.”

Dena Macloed, Chief Executive of HHP has stated that delivering the housing programme within budget is becoming more difficult: “HHP’s vision is to provide good quality and affordable homes: that vision is challenging to deliver at the best of times but our current economic climate is making it much harder. The cost of living increases are impacting on every aspect of our work so we are able to do much less with the money we have available from rental income. “ “Developments of new homes would not be possible without the grant we received through the S cottish Government ’s Affordable Housing Programme but even with the grant, the finance we are required to commit to each new development has increased substantially.”

Despite the issues, rural development does go ahead.

HHP has recently delivered new housing developments in Garrynamonie, Howmore and Balivanich, and has a further 12 homes planned for this financial year, and a further 16 by 2026.

Matching housing stock to local need requires a flexible approach, says Donna Young, Smart Clachan Development Officer at Rural Housing Scotland in Balivanich: “We believe that affordable homes come in all shapes and sizes. Our Smart Clachan development at Rubha Bhuailt in Lochboisdale incorporates energy efficient homes alongside shared amenities, such as a workspaces and poly crubs. The eight houses in the development will be available to purchase through shared equity, with islanders given priority. The project has only just been submitted for planning permission but we have already had notes of interest from 14 people, some of whom are current HHP residents.”

Neurology service cuts Change in store for Uist neurology patients

A local charity has raised its concerns about reduced ser vices for neurological patients in Uist.

NeuroHebrides has joined forces with the MS Society Scotland, Parkinsons Scotland and Epilepsy Scotland to campaign for improved resources for neurological patients, saying recent changes to the way the NHS Western Isles delivers services will have a negative impact on patient safety and wellbeing.

The charities say that the service previously had three nurse specialist posts in place: an Epilepsy Specialist Nurse working two days per week to support 510 patients, a Parkinson’s Specialist Nurse working four days a week to support 67 patients, and an MS Specialist Nurse working full time at five days per week to support 93 MS patients.

The new provision will see all three posts replaced with an Advanced Nurse Practitioner for Neurology, who will support 1171 patients, including those with a wider range of neurological conditions. Neurohebrides has warned that increasing the caseload at the same time as reducing staff hours will not serve the best interests of patients.

The Charities say that the service restructure has been imposed upon the

neurological community with no proper consultation and have taken their concerns to Humza Yousaf, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and S o c i a l C a re, w h o i s investigating these claims on their behalf.

A spokesperson f or Neurohebrides said: “The reduction in service provision will put people at risk. There are a number of treatment options for conditions such as Epilepsy, MS and Parkinson’s.

17 for MS alone. All of these treatments come with their own risk profiles and monitoring requirements.

This requires detailed understanding on the part of the nurse to offer support in choosing the right treatment option and to monitor the progress of the treatment effectively to prevent an adverse reaction occurring.

Moving away from specialist nurse provision dilutes specialist knowledge across a range of ver y different conditions and medications.

Greater Glasgow Health Board has confirmed there is to be no change in the level of support they provide to compensate for the reduction of this service and specialism.”

NHS Western Isles has defended its restructuring of the neurology service, saying the new service model will provide equitable care for all

people needing specialist neurological nursing support.

A spokesperson for NHS Western Isle said: “NHS Western Isles is developing a safer, prompter, and more sustainable service for all people with neurological conditions in the Western Isles. This will offer a greater continuity of service and will be supported by the neurology service in Glasgow.

“There is a very good evidence base for the role of generic neurolog y nurse specialists. Our colleagues in NHS Shetland have in fact also developed a successful model with a generic neurology nurse specialist.

Such roles, in addition to serving patients with Epilepsy, Multiple S c lerosis and Parkinson’s, also vastly improve access and support for people with a range of many other significant conditions, such as Neuropathies, Muscle D ystrophies, Myasthenia Gravis, Headaches, Ataxias, Myelitis, and Neurogenetic conditions.

“Ser vice models with single-handed conditionspecific clinicians present risks in terms of continuity of care and gaps in service provision, in particular during periods of absence.

“The neurology team in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been involved in the development of the model, with clear links and support mechanisms. Dr Saif Razvi, Lead Clinician for Neurology, believes that the model will be prompter for patients, allow ing cross cover and safety, and improving access to support for people with Epilepsy, Multiple S c lerosis and Parkinson’s, as well as all other neurological conditions in the Western Isles.”

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NEWS

Stormy waters

Ferry troubles reach tipping point As Am Pàipear went to print, Uist ferry services were yet again facing disruption, with the MV Hebrides taken off service for emergency repairs, marking 44 such cancelled sailings in the four weeks since the last paper published, and no doubt adding to the already substantial £3.5m performance penalties accrued by CalMac. Timetable adjustments made with the aim of mitigating service impacts have been less that perfect, with passengers sent from one end of the island to the other without any secure promise of boarding, and boats sailing as early as 4am.

The immediate threat of cancellations and timetable disruption is set against growing concerns about longer term infrastructure failings.

Uig’s imminent closure will reduce Uist freight capacity by a third for at least the six months the work is scheduled to take to complete, and quite possibly for considerably longer.

With only two months to go, there is still no reasonable contingency plan in place.

The over due replacement ferry for MV Hebrides is still a long way off, with an increasing number of key players raising concerns that the boat is not suitable for the service it is due to operate, and others raising doubts that after so long in dry dock, it might not even be seaworthy.

The failure in both CalMac’s service delivery and CMAL’s infrastructure operation is being met with increasingly voluble protest from the community and the local bodies representing their interests. As frustrations grow, stories have started to emerge about the impact the issue is having on every facet of island life.

The Lochboisdale Ferry Impact Group has delivered a devastating assessment of the economic impact of just one

single outage of the Lochboisdale-Mallaig service between 17th and 30th May. The survey was sent to 395 local businesses, including accommodation providers, food producers, IT services, retail and more, and concluded a loss of £648,000 to the local economy for those 14 days.

John Daniel Peteranna of Energee Services Limited and Uist Travel Accommodation (UTA) is clear that these losses will have catastrophic effects: “The Report makes clear that these are fragile businesses, struggling to survive in a post Covid world. Adding ferry failure into the mix and it is clear that some will simply not survive. And the long term impact is that people will not choose to operate here, and that means fewer jobs and ultimately shrinking communities. The fines paid by CalMac for its continued performance failure should be coming back into this community by way of compensation.”

One island business has received direct confirmation of ferry impact on his operation, with the following cancellation email: “We will no longer be visiting South Uist and therefore won’t need you for the usual tour bookings. This is a direct result of the continuing problems we have faced throughout the year to date with the ferry crossings. The time, energy and stress of having to find workarounds and rejigging the itinerary after a ferry cancellation, not to mention the huge added expense we incur and the inevitable bad feeling delays create with passengers. It just can’t go on. We are sending similar emails to the hotels on the island too so it’s not just yourself who is impacted.”

The North Uist Community Pressure Group was set up in July and has been amassing evidence of a different kind,

setting out the human impact the failing ferry service has had for both residents and visitors.

Posts from the Group's twitter feed showcase the difficulties people have faced: “My husband and I were supposed to be taking our two boys away to celebrate my father’s 70th birthday in Inverness….we had booked months in advance, paid £800 for our accommodation and we will now miss tonight ’s celebration.”

“Broken down ferry has prevented me attending my Granny’s funeral. Initially it was fully booked with no contingency for personal emergency local travel. Now its not even sailing.”

Amanda Levenson Gower, who was instrumental in setting up the North Uist group, is determined that this wider impact is captured: “This does not just affect tourism businesses, it is ALL businesses.

It doesn’t just affect tourists, it is each and every person living on these islands.”

The impact of our failed ferr y ser vice has been communicated in the clearest possible terms at the highest possible levels. Over the past months, our community leaders have met with the senior leadership of Transport Scotland, CalMac and CMAL, and held meetings with the Transport Minister. The case they have made for urgent action is clear and robust, but still the situation continues to decline.

Scottish Parliament is holding what it describes as a ‘major inquiry’ into current and future ferry provision and is inviting members of the public to submit views for consideration by the inquiry through the online questionnaire atyourviews. parliament.scot.

(Web search ‘ferry provision inquiry’.) The call for views closes on 26 August 2022.

Highlands and Islands transport An update from the new Chair of HITRANS In May I was pleased to prepare a piece for Am Pàipear that set out what I hope to achieve from a second term as the Comhairle’s Chair of Transportation. I hope this was useful and helped reassure the Am Pàipear readership that I and my colleagues on the Comhairle understand the challenges our lifeline transport links pose to our way of life and that we are working hard to ensure the voice of the Western Isles is heard.

Having settled back into my duties as Chair of Transportation and Infrastructure, one appointment that I have always enjoyed is as the Comhairle’s representative to HITRANS. HITRANS is the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership. One of seven regional transport partnerships that cover the different parts of Scotland, HITRANS brings together the local authorities of Argyll and Bute, Eilean Siar, Highland, Moray and Orkney Islands. Regional Transport Partnerships (RTP) were established by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 to deliver transport solutions across their regions. RTPs are partnerships focused on the delivery of integrated, multi-modal, transport solutions and are ideally placed to work with both public and private sector partners to deliver on their statutory Regional Transport Strategies.

Since its establishment, HITRANS have successfully delivered projects and initiatives which have made significant transport improvements across the region. In the past the organisation received significant funding for public transport infrastructure that allowed it to deliver things like new bus shelters and low floor buses.

HITRANS was also a significant funder of the redevelopment of Lochmaddy

Ferry Terminal which saw a new terminal building and increased marshalling space after MV Hebrides came into service.

Recent years have seen an increased emphasis on active travel and HITRANS supports projects to improve walking and cycling in the region.

Current HITRANS projects include the implementation of a new digital demand responsive transport booking application and the largest Mobility as a Service platform in the UK. This latter app is called GO-HI and allows people to plan, book and pay for travel on multiple transport modes and will include an integration of the demand responsive services so they appear alongside bus, ferry, air, rail , car club and bike services. HITRANS also leads the Scottish Islands Passport project which encourages people to visit our islands and looks to promote slow tourism to showcase islands that are visited less frequently and to encourage travel at times of the year that are less busy.

After five years as a HITRANS Board Member and an earlier period supporting the organisation as a substitute to my predecessor Cllr John MacKay I was delighted to be appointed as the new Chair of HITRANS when the organisation convened their first meeting following the local government elections on Friday 24th June. I will have big shoes to fill in following Cllr Allan Henderson who stepped down as a Highland Councillor at the last election but I will look forward to working with my new colleagues on the Board and the team of officers who do much of the work day to day. I am really proud that this appointment will mean the Chairperson of HITRANS will be a Comhairle member for the first time with previous Chairs

having been Councillors from Argyll & Bute, Highland and Orkney.

Over the years, HITRANS has established itself as a highly effective partnership supporting sustainable economic growth across the Highlands and Islands. We have a committed Partnership Board, supported by highly effective officials who share a commitment to support active communities and maintain and improve lifeline transport networks and services, such as ferry services which are so dear to my heart. HITRANS affords an opportunity for local authorities to come together as a strong collective to make the case for our regional transport system. This is particularly important in making the case for the right investment in our ferry services. The challenges faced in the Western Isles are very similar to the experiences of islanders in Argyll & Bute; Highland and Orkney. On air services there are common interests and challenges. Bus services in the north of Scotland face different challenges to other parts of Scotland and by working together we can make the case for fair funding to ensure we offer an alternative to the car.

Active travel is important everywhere and working with HITRANS offers a way to deliver proportionate and appropriate investment in these activities in the Highlands and Islands. The work of HITRANS can go unnoticed but it is the practical nature of the work that makes it so important. In HITRANS we have an organisation that really understands the challenges of travel to, from and within the Highlands and Islands. The organisation can build on its past success, develop new opportunities, and will continue to focus on what matters for the region. I expect it to continue to deliver transport solutions that make a genuine difference for people, communities, and businesses across the region.

Other Councillor representatives on HITRANS Board are Councillor Amber Dunbar, The Moray Council, Councillor Ken Gowans, The Highland; Councillor David Dawson, Orkney Island; and Councillor Andrew Kain, Argyll and Bute.

Non Council members on the Partnership are: Robert Andrew, Professor David Gray and Naomi Bremner.

Leis a h-uile deagh dhùrachd Cllr Uisdean Robertson

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Uist weather with STV’s Sean Batty

Last month’s heatwave saw temperatures reach 40c down south, whilst here in Uist we barely made 11 degrees. Am Pàipear asked STV ’s

weather reporter for his views on what climate change will mean for our weather. viewers, especially the young ones who are currently enjoying their school holidays. However, I can also feel the resentment as I sweep my hand across the Western Isles with the announcement of more trailing weather fronts and showery rain.

I say resentment, but I'm sure there's a good few of you who don't really fancy partaking in the extreme heat. But still, it would be good to lose the fronts for a while.

There's been a trend for the Azores high pressure cell to ridge further north more often and this is what brings the more prolonged drier spells along with warmer weather. Although for Uist, it still predominantly means a westerly airflow, which means being on the edge of the good weather, along with our friends in Shetland.

But what are our climate change markers here? Well unfortunately for my research, I only have three weather stations to look at for the Western Isles.

There's Stornoway, Quidnish in Harris and South Uist Range.

The weather station in Stornoway is the main one I use for climate trends, as it's one of the longest serving in Scotland and is still recording.

What really stands out from the records is that the biggest climate change marker for the Western Isles is during the winter and spring months. For example, Stornoway has recorded its warmest November night, December night, February night and April night on record, all within the last 20 years. When it comes to warmest days, Stornoway recorded its warmest April day, its warmest July day and mildest

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OPINION

NEWS

In my early career working in meteorology, we talked about 'global warming' but over the years the narrative has changed to 'climate change' to take in more of the complexity of a warming climate.

Climate change is such a big talking point now because so many areas of the world are experiencing wild and volatile extremes.

Yes, I get the argument that extremes have always been around - of course they have, but it's the regularity of them and how widespread they've become in recent years. Alltime records are falling all over the world at either end of the extreme spectrum.

We can't get away from the images of massive shelves of ice breaking off Antarctica, fires raging around the world, floods ravaging South Sudan, while next door in Ethiopia, mass migrations are taking place due to droughts. And of course, the extreme heat sweeping Europe.

But wait... What about the record-breaking snow we experienced in Central Scotland in 2018 from the Beast from the East? The extreme cold we had in 2010, or the recordbreaking cold they've experienced in recent winters in the United Sates? And the record cold weather they're currently experiencing in Australia? Well, this is part of the climate change package of extremes, and that's why we no longer talk simply about 'global warming'.

But what about you in the Western Isles?

Often this year, when I've been talking about the warm and dry weather, I can almost sense the excitement from

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November day, all in 2003.

An average winter afternoon in the 70s would have been around 7C in North Uist and Benbecula, but now that's near 8C. This doesn't sound a lot, but that change in average masks the number of days above 10C, which are now a lot more frequent.

Our summer average afternoon high has increased from 16C to 17C in the same period and means days with 20C plus are now more common.

The increase in winter and spring temperatures will be seen as a benefit to farmers as this means fewer damaging frosts. In the 60s and 70s, we would normally have recorded about 30 days with air frosts each year in inland parts of North Uist and eastern South Uist, but now that's around 15-20 days.

I've talked a lot about temperature, but let's look at rainfall. In the 60s and 70s we would get around 1100mm of rain per year but that is now 1300mm. That's quite a big jump when you think how that equates to an extra two months worth of rainfall compared to 50 years ago.

Uist is no stranger to wind and winter storms, but how is that changing? Well, there was a big rise in the number of severe storms sweeping through the UK from around four per winter in the 1960s to around 14 in the 90s. But it was even stormier in the past – the 1920s for example, had 16 per winter.

So it’s been up and down throughout the decades with no clear pattern of change.

And actually, if we look at Stornoway since the stormy

period of the 90s, there’s been a very slight decline in the number of days with gales reported.

So it’s likely that changes in our storms are more likely to be driven by natural fluctuations in the Atlantic, with no real evidence to blame man-made factors.

The one main change we’ll see from storms is that coastal flooding could become more of an issue due to rising sea levels, with the fastest change seen over the last 30 years. This could create more issues for our causeways during stormy periods in the future.

So, whilst the climate changes around the world, we're certainly not immune in the Western Isles. But what does seem evident, is that we're protected from some of the biggest extremes, especially when it comes to temperature.

What does that mean for the future of our islands?

Perhaps increased tourism due to our more comfortable summers, longer growing seasons for farmers and gardeners, an increase in wildfires, changes in wildlife behaviour, increased midge numbers due to warmer winters and increased rainfall, a higher risk of floods and perhaps an increase in causeway closures and damage.

As I always say with climate change, it's a mixed future of increases and decreases and spikes in rainfall, temperatures, and snowfall. While we can plan and prepare for general trends, being equally prepared for the volatility is almost impossible.

A Climate Change Strategy for the islands

The Comhairle sets out its plan for climate action The effects of climate change are already being felt across the world. Scotland is likely to experience warmer wetter winters, more intense rainfall, and hotter drier summers, with rising sea levels, increased flooding, and coastal erosion of particular concern to the islands.

Area-wide emissions for the islands are estimated to be 234 kt CO2 (kiloton carbon dioxide), and while this total figure is low compared to other local authority areas in Scotland, at 8.7kt CO2 per capita, it represents one of the highest per person emissions in Scotland.

The Climate Change Act 2019 committed Scotland to Net Zero by 2045, meaning that greenhouse gas emissions produced must be balanced out by the removal of emissions from the atmosphere.

Public bodies now have a legal requirement to set target dates for zero direct emissions and indirect emission reductions, report on how spending and resource will contribute to these targets, and report on their contribution to Scotland’s Climate Change Adaptation Programme.

With this pressing target in mind, the Comhairle has published its new draft Climate Change Strategy, which is now

open for public consultation and available to view online.

Comhairle Leader, Cllr Paul Steele, said: “The Draft Climate Change Strategy has been developed to provide strategic direction on climate change and ensure statutory obligations on mitigation and adaptation are met. The strategy has three priority areas aligning to national priorities on climate change: a Carbon Neutral Comhairle, Net Zero Islands and Climate Resilient Islands.

An action plan with performance indicators has been developed and will be used to track progress against key outcomes.

“Comments received will be reviewed and the draft Climate Change Strategy will be amended as appropriate. The final draft of the Climate Change Strategy will be considered by the Policy and Resources Committee of the Comhairle which will be held week beginning 19th September.”

The Strategy and the consultation are available at https://www.smartsurvey.co. uk/s/OH4AZS/ .

Responses by individuals and organisations are invited by Saturday 13th of August 2022 at 5pm.

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NEWS

Environmental croft payments An update from the SAC team

10,000 trees for Uist Uist Community Tree Nursery plans for home grown saplings Stòras Uibhist, Tagsa Uibhist and the Woodland Trust are working together to create the Uist Community Tree Nursery.

A trial project to grow 1,000 native trees is now underway with the expectation that the young trees will be planted out next Spring.

The ‘mini-plug’ trees were hand delivered by tree guru, Craig Shearer, whose work for the Woodland Trust supports smaller nurseries and seedcollection ‘hubs’ throughout Scotland. Craig spent a July afternoon at Tagsa Uibhist, imparting his expert knowledge and devising a care plan to nurture the plants. The young trees will be looked after and closely monitored by Tagsa Uibhist staff and volunteers, with the main concern being keeping them safe from the hungry East Camp rabbits.

V iv Halcrow, Crof t Woodlands Adviser for Uist and Barra said: “It is inspiring to see such high interest in establishing small areas of native trees on crofts and in the community. These will fit in with other crofting activity, benefit wildlife, add a missing dimension to the landscape, and maybe most importantly,

provide shelter for stock, housing, and people!”

The opportunity for the new nursery project came about through Viv’s project work, which highlighted that the considerable demand for trees in Uist was being hampered by significant challenges with the supply chain: “Through the six years of the Croft Woodland Project, we have had to bring practically all the planting stock from the mainland. I’ve always felt that an island nursery would make a lot of sense, as we can use seed from local trees, reduce transport costs and delays, and ultimately, hopefully, the nursery could become a small business opportunity”.

Once the trial has completed, the hope is to scale up to producing 10,000 trees per year with the majority being supplied to the Woodland Trust for local projects and the remainder being made available for people to purchase directly from Tagsa Uibhist.

Olli MacLennan, Community Gardens Manager at Tagsa Uibhist said: “Trialling a Uist Tree Nursery within Tagsa Community Gardens’ existing infrastructure and utilising the current skeleton

staff and site grounds is a logical approach to setup for us, allowing us to monitor and record required maintenance needs, time, and resources to estimate future commitments for scaling up to 10,000 seedlings/saplings. It’s an exciting step for us in Community Gardens, with a team made up of dedicated growers, and a real privilege to work in collaboration with Stòras Uibhist and the Woodland Trust.”

Tagsa Uibhist Chief Executive Chris MacLullich said: “In Tagsa we see this as a fantastic opportunity for our volunteers and Community Gardens team to work together on a meaningful project that will improve the environment in which we live in Uist. It’s a great collaboration and will be part of the Uist response to the climate emergency. These trees will sequester carbon over their lifetime and contribute to mitigating global heating. We hope to scale up after a successful first year”.

Stòras Uibhist has been closely involved with setting up the trial and will be planting the 1,000 trees out across the estate in Spring 2023. Darren Taylor, Chief Executive: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Tagsa Uibhist and the Woodland Trust on this brilliant project that will bring so much community benefit.”

The islands are host to many nationally and internationally important species and habitats.

The government has committed to funding management to support these until 2024, by way of the existing AgriEnvironment Climate Scheme (AECS). This will be open for applications from crofters and grazing committees.

We are home to a diverse range of bird and plant life. In part this is due to the way the land is managed by crofters.

Corncrakes, once common throughout the UK, are now primarily found in the islands, and associated in particular with cattle-based systems. This is due to the lower intensity crofting management here, be that areas of ‘weeds’ such as nettles and iris that provide good early cover for corncrakes, or late cutting of grass silage fields in August and after.

Waders, too, thrive on the habitats created on the crofts and common grazings by extensive grazing practices.

However, this management comes at a cost. Fenced off

corncrake corners are essentially lost to the animals during the time period when grazing is in short supply in the springtime.

Late cutting of silage fields negatively affects the feed value of the silage. Old, stemmy, grass is less digestible, and animals are less able to extract energy from it. Not to mention the weather as we move later into the year, which makes a successful harvest more and more difficult. Extensive/ restricted grazing in the springtime, to provide undisturbed nesting/feeding areas for waders, extends the expensive period of winter feeding.

In recognition of these extra costs to manage the land in a sensitive manner, the government offers support through the AECS, which has been extended to 2024. This scheme provides payments for managing land in an environmentally friendly manner, and as a competitive scheme, is not available to all crofters. Land suitable for corncrakes and waders, and land

New homes from old

Partnership launched to tackle empty homes Tighean Innse Gall (TIG) and the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP) have launched a joint project to tackle the issue of empty homes, working closely with the Comhairle to purchase and refurbish empty homes for social rent, mid-market rent, and rent-to-buy.

A minimum of twelve

homes will be brought back into use over the course of the two-year project, making them more attractive to people who wish to remain on the island and also attracting new families to re-locate to the islands.

Donna Smith, Chief Executive Officer, TIG, said: “We are truly excited about the difference this partnership

in a designated site (SSSI, etc) stands a better chance of getting in.

Applications consist of an environmental assessment of the croft or common grazing, in conjunction with management maps and plans. Applications are submitted online, through usual the Rural Payments and Services portal (the same one as the IACS form).

To find out more about the scheme, go to the Rural Payments and Services website (ruralpayments.org) and search for AECS. Alternatively, staff at the RPID office in Balivanich (0300 244 9600), or at NatureScot (formerly SNH) in Stilligarry (01313 144 190) can provide more details. SAC Consulting can support crofters to complete applications.

Contact the team on 01870 60 2336, or at balivanich@sac.co. uk.

could make in terms of tackling the problem of empty homes in the Outer Hebrides. Our project will build on the fantastic empty homes work undertaken by the Council in the last few years and we will work with the local Empty Homes Officer to ensure the partnership is a success.”

The Western Isles has one of the highest rates of vacant dwellings anywhere is Scotland at 8.1%, against a national average of 3.4%, The islands also have the second highest percentage of long term empty properties, the second highest percentage of second homes and the highest proportion of unoccupied council tax exemptions.

Scottish Government estimates there are 596 properties that have been empty for six months or more, 462 of which have been empty for more than a year.

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OPINION

NEWS

Sealladh Hiort

St Kilda Viewpoint Project Update The proposed St Kilda Viewpoint visitor centre at Beinn Riabhach on North Uist is now in its final pre-contract stages of development following an award of over £150,000 to community group Sealladh Hiort by HIE and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar earlier this year.

Detailed planning permission and a building warrant are now approved and the project design team, led by Fraser Architecture of Benbecula, have nearly completed the detailed construction drawings. The quantity surveyors Torrance LLP of Inverness are now

preparing bills of quantities, and contract documents will be ready for the project to go out to tender later this year.

Exhibition designers, Mather & Co of Manchester, are now working on a detailed design for the interior displays through which visitors will learn more about St Kilda’s natural history and the historic links between Uist and the double UNESCO World Heritage archipelago, which lies less than 40 miles off North Uist’s north-west coast.

Located nearly half a mile from the public road up the slopes of Beinn Riabhach at an altitude of 250ft above sea level,

the Centre has panoramic views out across the Atlantic ocean, and the main feature will be a 60ft long full height viewing window through which visitors can get the best possible views of Hiort, Boreray and the two Stacs on clear days.

The innovative building design, which has a mainly timber structure, is based on off-site pre-fabrication, thus minimising the amount of onsite construction time. It is also highly energy efficient to reduce carbon emissions and running costs to a minimum.

The timing of the final precontract tender process will be linked to a number of capital funding applications now submitted to both the Scottish and UK governments. The Sealladh Hiort project is also

included in the Destination Development group of tourism infrastructure developments proposed for the Outer Hebrides within the Comhairle’s Islands Growth Deal 10 year funding package, which is now in its final stages of agreement.

Sealladh Hiort Chair Alasdair MacEachen said:

“The Sealladh Hiort board was delighted to receive this award from HIE and the Comhairle to enable the Uist St Kilda project to complete all of the pre-contract stages of what will be Uist’s most important tourism investment for many years. Although the funding environment is challenging at present, we have received

excellent support from officers in HIE and the Comhairle to ensure we have the best possible chance of success. And even if we are not successful this year, the project will be absolutely ready to take advantage of any future funding opportunities if and when they arise.”

which has been replaced by a considerably smaller structure housing modern energy generating equipment.

The MoD’s presence on St Kilda goes back over sixty five years to April 1957, when the first Advance Party arrived on the Island.

That group comprised mainly an RAF Airfield Construction Team

who were responsible for the task of carrying out the groundwork for the radar complex and access roads as we know them today.

That first phase of “The Furtherest Station West” was code named by the MoD and known as Taskforce Hardrock / Operation Hardrock, taken from a quote by the late

seventeenth century visitor Martin Martin, who described St Kilda as “nothing but a hard rock”.

Associated buildings have taken on different forms over those years. The first arrivals lived for most of their time in a “tented village” above Village Bay then moving on to a mix of timber huts and Nissen huts for

the soldiers that followed through from the late ‘50s and in the ‘70s, these were replaced by flat roofed concrete buildings of that time.

Now, with this latest development on St Kilda, we have moved on to another era of building technolog y incorporating 21st century design and facilities.

New Look St Kilda

Keeping our tourist hotspots safe and sound This year’s visitors to St Kilda will witness a change of scene as they enter Village Bay, with completion of the new MoD facility just above the landing area.

Visitors regularly commented on the impact of the military buildings set in front of and alongside the historic buildings of the Main Street to the rear and the manse, church and school to the right of the landing area.

The aim of this latest building project was to reduce the visual impact of the more modern buildings as well as

reducing the footprint of the complex over the area of ground closest to the island’s original structures.

New buildings which are timber clad and grass roofed have been designed to meet the latest energ y efficiency standards and can be dismantled if not required or need to be replaced in the future.

Previously, the 1970s flat roof structures were actually attached to the St Kilda manse at one end of the complex. At the other end of the complex was a substantial power station

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COLUMN NEWS

Samantha Jordon Hebridean Naturalist MYSP Late summer butterflies

Youth Parliament update

Samantha Jordon MYSP was elected to the Scottish Youth Parliament last year and took up her new role in March 22. Until this summer, she was a Lance Corporal in the Army Cadet Force, but will be leaving this month to take up a Retail and Catering Apprenticeship with CalMac. Samantha turns 18 in September and lives in Benbecula.

How life as an MYSP been?

My first six months in office have been amazing! Between getting to meet my fellow MSYPs and the staff, being given amazing opportunities and starting to work on various projects, I’ve loved every bit of it.

I’ve been really inspired to make changes and now that I’ve been in SYP for a good amount of time, I’ve really gotten the feel for how to do that. It makes me so happy to know that I have the support system that will help me make the changes that will help young people.

What has been the highlight?

There’s been so many! If had to pick one thing, it would be the summer sitting which happened at the start of July in Cumbernauld. I finally got to meet so many of my friends that I’ve made since being elected. I got to be part of a debate around members motions and to learn more about our board members.

I got to have a session with

MSYPs from our Region, Highlands and Islands. And I just had the best time. I was so sad to leave.

How does it all work?

So the way that the Youth Parliamentary System works is that there are MSYPs from every local authority, though some may not have an MSYP if no young person stood for the position. We have a board that is made up of a Chair, a Vice Chair and six trustees. We have ten subject committees, and each committee has a Convener and Deputy Convener.

Are you on any committees?

And interest groups?

I am a member of the Equalities and Human Right committee, which means so much to me because I have always been a fighter for equality, since I can remember. I am also a member of Creative Communications Team (CCT) and the Youth Ethics Advisory Panel (YEAP).

But I am constantly applying for every opportunity that I can - I want to get as involved in as many things as possible!!

What issues will you be working on?

I’m currently in the process of putting forward a members motion for SYP78 on getting air fare that is actually affordable for young people between the Scottish Isles and the Mainland.

This is such a big problem for

young people at the moment, especially for Islanders.

It is ridiculous how expensive it is to fly to the mainland!

Living on an island, it can be so isolating for people, especially young people who end up missing out on so much due to our location. This is a topic I am extremely passionate about.

What have you learned?

I have learned so much since becoming an MSYP. I’ve learned just how many things still need changed for young people. I’ve learned how important it is to make sure your social media posts are accessible, by using alt text or closed captions - it means that everyone can properly see your content, which is so important.

And I look forward to learning so much more that can help me, not only in my role but also in everyday life.

What has surprised you the most about yourself ?

I think I’m the most surprised about how outgoing I’ve become. Since joining SYP I’ve noticed I can now go and speak to people without getting too anxious, which I think is such an amazing skill to have earned. I started my journey with really bad social anxiety, but as I’m answering this I’ve come to realise that thanks to SYP my social anxiety isn’t as bad. It still affects me but it’s gotten so much better.

How have you kept in touch with your constituents?

I like to post on my social medias (Sam4syp) to make sure that young people can see what I’m up to and so that they can give me suggestions and ask me any questions. I also consult my constituents by using google forms, which I post the links to on my social medias.

What would you say to other young people reading this?

Even if you think it’s not cool, or not your problem, please work with us. If we post a consultation, fill it out, it takes less than 5 minutes. We do our role to make a difference for you, so help us, because I don’t think you realise how much your opinion matters.

Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock (known collectively as vanessids) must be amongst our most familiar butterflies and can regularly be seen taking nectar from late flowering summer plants such as marsh thistle, devil’s-bit scabious and buddleja All four species occur in the Outer Hebrides. Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell are the ones you are most likely to see.

Painted Lady is a long distant migrant than can occur in their thousands in good years but is hardly recorded at all in other years. The Peacock is less predictable but perhaps under recorded here and is maybe a recent colonist or re-colonist.

For all of them, the nectar they Red Admiral

Painted Lady

Small Tortoiseshell

Peacock

consume in late summer and early autumn is vitally important in helping them survive the winter. It’s all about building reserves of body fat.

Two of our species overwinter here as adults and they need those reserves to survive their hibernation during the cold months. As temperatures drop in autumn Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies seek out sheltered hibernation sites in woodpiles, sheds and other outbuildings and even inside our houses.

The reserves laid down in late summer keep them ticking over until temperatures start to rise again in spring.

For the other two species, Red Admiral and Painted Lady, the reserves are for more

immediate use. Both species are long distance migrants and they need energy for their return migrations.

The earliest sightings of these species are from late march and early April.

These individuals may have been carried here by strong winds d i re c t l y f ro m overwintering sites in North Africa. Later sightings in June and July are probably from intermediate generations that bred somewhere in Europe. The arrival, here, of most of these butterflies in spring is an example of a “multigenerational long distance migration”. They may have had one, two or three generations en route before they get to us.

What happens to those Red Admiral and Painted Lady butterflies we see in August? It used to be thought that many of these butterflies, seen in the UK in late summer, simply died. For them, it was a one-way trip. We now know differently.

Entomologists using vertical looking radar have been able to look at the movements of insects to and from the UK. This type of radar is very sensitive and has been used to look at movement of plant pests such as aphids as well as larger insects. Radar studies on the movement of butterflies such as the Painted Lady and Red Admiral have given us the real picture.

In 2009, one of the biggest Painted Lady migrations of recent years, it is estimated that 11 million of them arrived in the UK. Some of these made their way to the Outer Hebrides. Over the UK as a whole they had a successful breeding year and an estimated 22million left the UK in autumn. Flying at heights between 200m and 1200m they headed for North Africa. Winds at these heights are 4-8 times faster than at ground level and butterflies can reach speeds of 100kph (approx. 60mph) and accomplish flights of 1000km with ease. If you are lucky enough to spot a Painted Lady nectaring on a marsh thistle in late summer, just think, it’s next stop for food might be in North Africa.

Robin Sutton

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OPINION

COMMUNITY NEWS

Naidheachdan Coimhearsnachd

Local news from our community organisations

organisations that can help you on your way.

The Directory covers the five ’steps to wellbeing’: connect, be active, take notice, learn and give! The Directory has been produced with support from CnES, Uist & Barra Sports Hub, Cothrom, Community Learning and Development, UCVO, UBSC, Active Schools and Sgoil Lionacleit and is being distributed around the community.

Moran Taing dhuibh uile!

Sgoil Uibhist a Tuath thank those whose financial contributions and support enabled pupils to travel to the mainland in the Comunn Na Gàidhlig’s Cuach na Cloinne football competition. “We are extremely grateful to LOCH DUART Salmon for purchasing 30 bespoke football kits for our school. These kits will allow pupils of all ages the opportunity

‘All aboard’ at Ceann na h-Àirigh and the Grimsay Boat Haven!

An update from Grimsay Community Association, which manages the community heritage and visitor centre at Scotvein, Grimsay: “We recently played host to some fantastic workshops to coincide with the Outer Hebrides Wildlife Festival.

Small groups of enthusiastic participants have made stake and strand baskets, ceramic hanging fish, and knitted gansey fish inspired by our current exhibition ‘SHOAL.’ SHOAL is a travelling exhibition of knitted herring curated by the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther. The fish can be seen swimming happily above the beautiful Grimsay Boats until 2 September.

GCA is also delighted to be hosting the Herring Girls Exhibition, which was created

by Commun na Mara and was previously on display in the former school at Lochmaddy.

This exhibition also runs until 2 September and is well worth a visit.

As part of Art on the Map 2022, the workshop at Ceann na h-Àirigh became an exhibition space showcasing the wonderful creations which have emerged

from workshops and courses held at the centre over the last four years.

The week-long ‘Workshop Exhibition’ was very well attended by both visitors and the artists themselves, and GCA would like to thank everyone who contributed work and the volunteers who kindly gave their time to talk with visitors during the week long event.

The cafe is now under new management, so if you’ve not been for a while, come and visit.

There is certainly plenty to see and do.

If you are interested in taking part in GCA’s workshops and courses, or have ideas for future courses, please get in touch: info@grimsay.org / 07789 306223.”

Uist Wellbeing Directory

The new Wellbeing Directory for Uist brings together all the information we need to support good mental and physical health and well-being in postpandemic times. There are helpful ideas for simple exercises and activities you can do on your own, or as part of a family, group of clubs, as well as information on national and local initiatives aimed at maintaining or improving your wellbeing and the contact details of

Frobost £450 donation • North Uist Junior Football Club £300 donation • Effie at Ask Car Hire for the hire of the minibus • The Courtyard Marriot Hotel at Inverness airport Moran Taing dhuibh uile!

Commemorating the Marloch’s departure

A new statue is to be commissioned to commemorate the centenary of the Marloch’s departure from Lochboisdale in 1923, as Storas Uibhist Director Donne Steel explains: “In the 1920s, 595 passengers left the Hebrides in a single week on two ships, the Marloch, which departed from Lochboisdale, and the Metagama, which left from Stornoway a few days later.

W hether pushed by circumstance or pulled by the promise of better days, waves of islanders broke upon the shores of places like Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.

memorial. The project is subject to funding and timescales are currently uncertain.”

The statue will be erected in the garden at Lochboisdale pier, looking out over the bay where the Marloch sailed.

Further updates to follow as the various Marloch centenary projects develop.

USA success for Maria

Congratulations to 14 year-old Maria Monk, whose recent trip to the USA was rewarded with

the moon to have won two championships whilst over in America and i would like to thank my dance teacher for this wonderful opportunity. I have made lifelong memories and I look forward to my next adventure.”

Although Maria isn’t a Uist resident, she has full Uisteach status, being the daughter of Iain (Benbecula) and Margaret (Lochboisdale) Monk. Maria lives in Glasgow where her mother is Deputy Head of Bunsgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu, along with her aunt, Catriona Campbell, who is the Head at Àrd-sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu.

Clanranald sword on public display

to represent the school in future football tournaments and festivals. Our football team looked very smart alongside other teams during their games.

“Our sincere thanks also go to the following businesses and organisations for their support: • MacAulay Askernish £500 donation • Energee Services LTD,

“The idea to create this statue came from a desire to reflect on our history, but also for future generations to remember those that left.

“We get many visitors to the Islands who wish to learn more about their history and genealogy, we need something to show the Islands remember our history too.

“Not only a time to reflect, but we should take heart, and pride too from the resilience of those that left the Islands and made their contribution, often a significant one, to the communities of other countries that received them.

“We would be keen to hear from local artists interested in working with us to create a

not one, but two major highland dancing wins.

Maria won the North Atlantic Championship and the North America Open Championship, beating off stiff competition to lift the trophy in both events.

Maria travelled with her dance teacher Fiona MacNeil and fellow students to take part in the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in Linville, North Carolina, a huge four-day affair attracting tens of thousands of tartan clad fans of ‘the mother country’.

The experience was one Maria will never forget: “It was the most amazing experience, and one that will remain with me forever. I was absolutely over

Kildonan Museum has a new artefact in its Clanranald collection - a five ball spadroon.

The sword is estimated to be dated 1780s, the time of the 18th chief of Clanranald and would have been used by himself or a close family member. The sword has the clanranald crest on the scabbard.

The sword has been loaned

by Angus Robertson, and joins other artefacts lent to the museum by the MacDonald family.

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ADVERTISING COLUMN NEWS

Reflections

Surely the Lord is in this place!

S

Uist Unearthed on the move

Innovative archaeology app launches new Cill Donnain and Bornais sites The Uist Unearthed team hosted the launch of two new additions to the app on a bilingual walk and talk from Bornish to Kildonan machair last Saturday (30th July). The app can now be downloaded to smartphones and used to animate archaeology and ancient lives in English and Gaelic at a total of three machair sites in South Uist.

The Bronze Age Roundhouse at Cladh Hallan, Daliburgh, famous in archaeology as the first site to reveal prehistoric mummified remains in the UK, made its debut on the app in 2021. Now the impressive longhouse at Bornais, the largest Viking settlement found in Scotland, and the Iron Age Wheelhouse at Cill Donnain, are freely available to download. Two North Uist sites will launch later this year.

Uist Unearthed is the first UK app to combine archaeological evidence with augmented reality to educate and entertain audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The app allows users to hold their smartphone over a QR code at each site and visit virtual dwellings in their historic heyday.

The team are currently touring a multi-media travelling exhibition, funded

by Stòras Uibhist, to promote the app within the Outer Hebrides, and further afield.

The exhibition includes immersive VR headsets, 3D pr inted ar tefacts and interactive touch screens. The tour was well received by visitors to Kildonan Museum and London’s British Museum during July. Next stop is the National Museum of Scotland and the Scottish Parliament in

September, as well as smaller venues in Uist.

Dr Emily Gal, Project Coordinator, said: “Our aim is to use tech to engage and enhance awareness of the unassuming, but internationally significant, archaeology tucked away amidst Uist ’s stunning landscape. We are re-working academic research from traditional museum and textbook experiences to reconnect audiences to the ancient past in their own language and environment.”

The Uist Virtual Archaeolog y Project is delivered by archaeologists at UHI Outer Hebrides, in collaboration with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. The project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)'s Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund administered by NatureScot, The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES), and Stòras Uibhist.

ummertime sees our islands teeming with tour ists again. As hospitality and tourism are important employments in the Hebrides, it’s a busy time for the locals whose job is to ensure that the visitor leaves with happy memories of their holiday. Some visitors are people making one of their regular trips home to connect with family ; others are looking for a change of pace and scenery. All of them have left behind the demands of daily life in order to relax and return to resume their responsibilities with fresh zeal.

We all need to rest and God Himself makes this demand of us in the commandment concerning the Sabbath. We need to lay aside our work so that body, mind and soul can be refreshed. No one is so indispensable that the world will stop turning if we take time out! The word ‘Sabbath’ comes from a Hebrew word meaning “he rested”; if God rested at the end of His labours, then so too must His creatures.

In a Christian context, what does ‘rest’ mean? The Hebrew word ‘Shabbat’ is a verb; in other words, resting is an activity. A great modern saint, St. Josemaria Escriva said, “...to rest is not to do nothing: it is to relax in activities which demand less effort ” and “...rest means recuperation: to gain strength, form ideals and make plans.

In other words, it means a change of occupation, so that you can come back later with a new impetus to your daily job.” We see in the Gospels how Jesus took time to rest, especially before some of the important events of His ministry. Jesus demanded of His disciples that they should do likewise. In St. Mark’s Gospel we read, “ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’

So, they went away by themselves in a boat to a

solitary place.” (Mk.6:31,32).

This is a divine command, not an invitation.

Rest should invol ve spending time in the company of people who will refresh us, rather than drain us. When Jesus tells His disciples to leave the people behind, He asks them to spend quality time with Him instead. This was not ‘me-time’ on their own, but a chance to renew themselves in God’s presence.

True rest involves an encounter with God, however fleeting, however opaque.

“Come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest.” (Mt.11:28) Our daily work is sacred a participation in the creative work of God Himself. What is good in life ultimately comes from God and points us back towards Him. Not without reason did Jesus work as a carpenter before engaging in public ministry – those years were not time wasted.

But more importantly than work, we were created for relationships which give meaning and purpose to our lives, especially the creature’s relationship to the Creator.

The command to set aside our labours on the Sabbath is given so that we can spend time with the God of life and be renewed in His presence.

For the visitors who have opted to come “away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place” such as our islands, the attractions are manifold. The beauty of the surroundings points back to the God whose handiwork they are (Ps.95:4,5); the tranquillity and change of pace bring calmness to the wear y or frenzied soul (Ps.131:1,2), the social encounters enrich both visitor and local, renewing old friendships or creating new ones (Ps.133:1). In and through all these things, God touches our lives although we might not have an explicit awareness of His presence (Ps.24:1). Wherever the soul is truly refreshed, the hand of God is at work (Ps.23:2,3).

As a priest living on Eriskay, I delight in the number of visitors who have a

more direct encounter with God. Our Churches are open daily and the Visitors’ Book in St. Michael’s is replete with comments by visitors from Australia, Japan, Canada, Italy, Germany, Ireland who have spent a quiet moment in our beautiful, little Church and have unexpectedly connected with God. Cnoc na Sgrath is not Mount Tabor, but it is a place of Transfiguration for many visitors who catch a brief glimpse of the God of Glory as they sit in the quiet, stillness of the Church.

How often we take our Churches for granted! They are part of the landscape and we pass them by every day without a second thought about their significance. But they are there for us – places where we can leave the world behind briefly and go to be by ourselves in the presence of Christ. Day and night, the soft, red light of the Sanctuary lamp burns, indicating that God is present to us, waiting for us to make a short visit and be present to Him. God reaches out to us in many different ways, often where and when we least expect it. Jacob puts it well when he says, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it!” (Gen.28:16) Our landscapes, our way of life, our relationships can all be places of encounter with God if we don’t take these things for granted. Perhaps we need to learn to see them again with the eyes of the visitor – of one who is merely passing through. It would do us no harm to pause from our activities, to take time out to be with the Lord and renew our sense of appreciation for the blessings that surround us.

What better place to do so than in one of the many Churches which abound in these islands? In the words of Jacob, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the House of God, this is the Gate of Heaven” (Gen.28:17) as many a visitor to St. Michael’s will attest.

Fr. Ross Crichton Parish Priest of St. Michael's, Eriskay, Our Lady of Sorrows, Garrynamonie and St. Peter's, Daliburgh.

Our new monthly Reflections column will feature different members of the clergy from around our island parishes.

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OPINION

ARTS AND CULTURE

What's on

ISLANDS GALORE

SATURDAY 13TH AUGUST LOCHBOISDALE HARBOUR Boat trips - Skiffs - Live music and dancing Piping - Flora MacDonald celebration - Licensed bar Kids inf latables - Uist producers and caterers Refreshments, including local seafood Evening marquee with a live band Live music in Lochboisdale Hotel from 9pm SUNDAY 14TH 3pm - Fishermen’s mass in the marquee with Fr Ross Chrichton Followed by a blessing of the boats Short concert Refreshments, including local seafood See updates on social media!

Dùthchas Home

“And it’s as though you were here before you were even born.”

“Tha e mar gun robh thu ann fiùs mun do rugadh thu” A new feature length documentary film produced in Uist has been honoured with selection for the prestigious 75th Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Dùthchas is a film of loss and leaving, beautifully interweaving previously unseen Kodachrome 8mm archive film of everyday life on Berneray through the 60s and 70s, with interviews from current island residents.

The film evolved from a conversation between Berneray resident Gloria MacKillop and local filmmaker Andy Mackinnon. Gloria contacted Andy before the start of Covid to ask for his help with a box of film reels donated to her and her late husband, Donald Alec (Splash) many years before. The films had been given to them by Splash’s cousin Anne Scott and had stayed boxed and untouched in Gloria’s attic for many years.

Andy describes the first viewing as emotional, not least for Gloria, who had never previously seen footage of her own wedding. “It was clear that the footage was very special and that the everyday scenes of island life in the 60s and 70s captured something lost and longed for.”

“What really struck me was the repeated scenes, year after year, of people leaving, and the friends and family they left waving from the pier. This seemed to me such a strong metaphor for a wider loss; that the island had been waving goodbye to its language, its culture and its people for centuries.”

Andy continues: “Once we saw the films, a structure began to take shape and we drew up a list of the people we wanted to tell the story of Berneray's outward migration, especially though the eyes of women. As

“There is no word in English for Dùthchas. It’s your culture - so it’s everything that’s around you but it's also everything within you.”

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SCREEN MACHINE IS ROLLING INTO TOWN!

“….Many things are woven into the word Dùthchas.

There are the people you belong to, and their history… the place where you were raised…” several people told us, if women didnt want to marry a crofter or a fisherman, there was nothing for them on Berneray then.”

“We have been lucky to work with Donald Shaw, a ph e n om e n a l l y talented composer. The soundtrack features singers Duncan Mackinnon, Linda Macleod, Catriona Watt and Karen Matheson, and draws on the rich tradition of traditional Gaelic songs and their compelling melodies to add another layer of beauty and meaning to the footage.”

The film was co directed by Andy and Kirsty MacDonald, North Uist, and has been coproduced by UistFilm, the company Andy formed with Taigh Chearsabhagh Trust in 2013. The company produces a wide range content and runs the FAODAIL | FOUND archive film project. All footage of the Outer Hebrides currently held by the National Library of Scotland Moving Image is from

an outsider perspective; FAODAIL seeks to address that shortfall by digitising and disseminating indigenous archive film of the islands.

The film’s selection for the Edinburgh International Film Festival is a huge but welldeserved honour.

Dùthchas will be screening at selected cinemas throughout Scotland and will have its local premiere in Berneray Community Hall, on August 18th 7pm. Booking through the Taigh Chearsabhagh website.

The film will also be available on Screen Machine across the Highlands & Islands until November and on BBC ALBA in December.

The big blue truck of fun will be in Uist mid August, with a wide range of movies on offer. Full details on the Screen Machine website.

CARINISH HALL, NORTH UIST THURSDAY 11TH AUGUST 17.30 Thor: Love and Thunder (12A) 20.30 Elvis (12A) FRIDAY 12TH AUGUST 17.30 Minions: The Rise of Gru (U) 20.30 Top Gun: Maverick (12A) DARK ISLAND HOTEL CARPARK, LINICLATE SATURDAY 13TH AUGUST 14.00 Minions: The Rise of Gru (U) 17.30 Downton Abbey: A New Era (PG) 20.30 Top Gun: Maverick (12A) SUNDAY 14TH AUGUST 14.00 Top Gun: Maverick (12A) 17.30 Thor: Love and Thunder (12A) 20.30 Elvis (12A) MONDAY 15TH AUGUST 17.00 The Ballad of a Great Disordered Heart (12A) 20.30 Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (15) BORRODALE HOTEL CARPARK, DALIBURGH TUESDAY 16TH 17.30 Thor: Love and Thunder (12A) 20.30 Elvis (12A) WEDNESDAY 17TH AUGUST 17.30 Minions: The Rise of Gru (U) 20.30 Top Gun: Maverick (12A) Book online at www.screenmachine.co.uk Full Price - Adult £7.50 Under 25s and over 60s, Student, Disabled £5.50 FREE - AT TAIGH CHEARSABHAGH UNTIL 27TH AUGUST

ANDREW KING: RUNRIG PHOTOGRAPHS

There’s still time to catch the superb exhibition of photographs from Andrew King. Andrew is a Scottish performing arts and (sometimes) landscape photographer who has provided the imaging for many great musical & stage names in Scotland and worldwide.This exhibition selects just some of his favourite images from across many years and literally thousands of photographs.

FREE - AT KILDONAN MUSEUM THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER

W B BLAKIE PHOTOGRAPHS

A new exhibition of photographs taken in South Uist and Eriskay in the late 1890s by Walter Biggie Blakie, a renowned scholar of the Jacobite period, especially of the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Blakie was a good friend of Father Allan MacDonald, to whom he donated the small bell above the porch at St Michael’s.

Missing your event? Let us know for next time!

AUGUST 2022

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ARTS AND CULTURE NEWS

Chì Mi

The Gaelic Poetry of Donald John MacDonald The Gaelic Burns?

The old cliché has it that a prophet has no honour in his own land. Perhaps that might explain why some in Uist (and many in Gaeldom generally) still find it difficult to accept that a young lad desperate to leave school at fourteen might have evolved into one of the most important poets in the long tradition of Gaelic language.

Donald John MacDonald’s claim to fame rests on the fact that he is the missing link between the complicated metres, imagery and musical sound of the traditional bard and the literary poetry of today.

A rich vocabulary inherited from a tradition-bearing family which traced its roots through North Uist to the MacRury bards of Clan Ranald in Skye enabled him to master the complex classical bardic metres in his twenties to such effect that he won the Bardic crown at the Glasgow

Mod of 1948.

That command of ancient metres was seen as a gift independent of education.

“Chan eil de dh’fhòghlum anns an t -saoghal a dheanadh duine na bhàrd” (There is not enough education in the world to make a bard), said Donald Alan MacDonald of Gruagach Òg an Fhuilt Bhàin fame.

But in the latter half of the 20th century, the demise of the ceilidh house and academia’s switch to literary poetry saw even masters like his uncle Donald Macintyre dismissed as ‘village bards’. It has to be accepted that the importance of the local blas in traditional verse for recitation made for less acceptance outwith its home area.

Of all the Uist bards it was Donald John who best embraced the challenge, switching to a literary style with an increasing philosophical content – but without abandoning his

characteristic beauty of sound and vivid imagery. “Bha uair a bha sinn a’ dèanamh òrain airson an gabhail; tha sinn a-nist a’ sgrìobhadh na bàrdachd airson a leughadh”.

(Once we made songs to be sung; now we write poetry to be read).

However, the very richness of his encyclopaedic command of the language began to prove an obstacle to comprehension as verbal eloquence declined.

But it was the unforgiveable neglect of his extraordinary range of work which spurred me to start translating his poems. As much as for the Gaels, I wanted to prove to a non-Gaelic readership that the power of bards from Uist’s rich oral tradition was independent of academic qualifications.

Chi Mi in 1998 was an immediate success and the second edition in 2001 (which included some extra poems) won the literary award at the National Mod. Although the hymns and some of the lighthearted songs have survived within the community, the late Fred Macaulay of the BBC once said that without this book no one today would have heard of Donald John MacDonald. I have seen how non-Gaelic audiences in Canada, the USA, Ireland, Brittany and England respond to his language and philosophy.

Whether traditional or literary this poetry has to be heard.

Although I have recorded most of the major poems for Tòbair an Dualchais, Covid has hindered all but a few from entering the site.

The new hardback has been beautifully produced by Acair.

It is a tactile pleasure to hold and easy on the eye. Together with a couple of extra poems and a touching memoir by L ena Walker of her grandfather goes a complete revamp of the translations. I know of no other Gaelic poet with such a volume and quality of output, from light-hearted songs through the universal themes of love, life, death, romance, war, nationalism and remembrance to philosophy which has featured in many a sermon.

This astonishing range of work from a ploughman poet does indeed qualify him to be considered as the Gaelic Robert Burns.

The new revised hardcopy edition of Chì Mi is widely available in shps locally.

Bill Innes

Fading Footprints The Life and Times of Neil Turner

By Murdo A Turner

Rolled off the press in the last month, Fading Footprints by Murdo Turner, tells of the life and times of his schoolteacher father, Neil Turner.

School and schoolteacher themes are not new to island literature but each one has its own unique story to tell. One classic account is given in A

School in South Uist: The Reminiscences of a Hebridean Schoolmaster 1890 – 1913, telling the story of Frederick Rea, appointed to the post of headteacher of Garrynamonie School in 1889.

This latest account of school life and that of the headteacher takes us to North Uist and

SAC Consulting provide advice for all things crofting and agriculture.

Independent, unbiased, local, and up-to-date.

Harris schools in the early 1920s through to the late 1950s.

As Neil’s son, Murdo, takes us through his father’s school moves from Rhenigidale to Grimsay to Lochportain and back to Harris and Drinishader school, we read about a way of life common to isolated communities. We read of the challenges posed by the exposure of children to bad we a t h e r, t h e periodic outbreaks of infectious diseases and school buildings that were often in a poor state of repair.

Such challenges did not, however, dampen Neil’s dedication to providing well prepared tuition in all subjects for his pupils and including his own lifelong interest in the use of Gaelic as a spoken and written language demonstrated by the fact that he purchased, at his own expense, a complete set of the Carmina Gadelica for the use of his school pupils!

Fading Footprints is available from Berneray Historical Society priced £15 plus £5 postage and packing (for up to two books). All proceeds from the sale of the book are being donated to Berneray Historical Society. Contact BHS at Nurses’ Cottage, Berneray, North Uist HS6 5BD.

For further information on any of our services please contact your local office in Balivanich on T: 01870 60 2336 E: Balivanich@sac.co.uk

Our services include • AECS applications • Croft registrations • Decroftings, sublets, assignations • Grant applications • Livestock advice and records • Soils and silage analysis

SAC Consulting is part of Scotland's Rural College (SRUC)

Supporting sustainable growth

@ConsultingSAC

SRUC is a charity registered in Scotland No. SC003712

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EILEAN DORCHA FESTIVAL

Eilean Dorcha Festival Near-on 5,000 people attended the three day EDF event at the end of July, and the odd downpour didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits!

Despite some logistical nightmares in the run up to the event (including a last minute cancellation by the EDF tent supplier!) and some very blustery weather, everything went mostly to plan, with the community coming together in spectacular fashion to ensure a great time was had by all.

The EDF team would like to thank everyone who helped ensure a great weekend, including DJ Buchanan

Hauliers, who saved the day by securing additional ferry space, along with MacInnes Bros, Mowi, SSE, MacAulays Askernish, Laings Garage, Neil Campbell Electrical, Ceòlas and more than 40 volunteers.

Organiser Roddy MacKay said: “When the tent supplier suddenly cancelled a week before the event, we thought we were well and truly stuck, but in true Uist fashion, help and support came from all quarters. We had local businesses and the various event committees from around the islands, north and south, pulling together to find

alternatives and somehow, it all came together in the end. And what a show from Coda Production Services, who had just six days to replan the whole thing as an outside gig - what a team!

“There are so many people to thank and I’m grateful to every single one of them, and to the thousands who came to enjoy what turned out to be three fantastic days of entertainment.

“It was a very hard slog and a lot of stress, but it was definitely worth it! ….Now to get stuck into the planning for EDF2023 and do it all again!”

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COLUMN CEÒLAS NEWS

Ceòlas

After a hiatus of three years, there was a lot of excitement about the return of a ‘live’ Ceòlas Summer School!

As well as the classes and concerts, there were a variety of other events throughout the week including walks, a boat trip, a square dance and Georgian harmonic singing workshops led by Nana Mzhavanadze.

Most of the classes were held in the fantastic new building ‘Cnoc Soilleir’ with all the Ceòlas ‘regulars’ delighted to see this long-held aspiration being realised.

The classes were all well attended, as were the nightly concerts, which were hugely enjoyed by all.

Artistic Director Iain MacDonald said: “We were absolutely delighted to be back and making use of our new premises. The new space worked well and the two teams of ladies who organised the hospitality did a brilliant job keeping everyone fed - and in good time and with good humour. A very

successful Summer School in all and we look forward to the next one.”

The feedback from Ceòlas students and guests says it all: “I can probably never repay the kindness I've been shown by both Ceolas Uist and the Uibhistich as a whole. Please just know that I'm deeply, deeply grateful.” “...but the beautiful, impromptu, Gaidhlig singing session as we overlooked South Lochboisdale... just sublime!’

“Thank you Ceolas Uist for the best week of step dancing, singing, Gaelic learning, music and cake.”

“Just about recovered from my first ever Ceòlas! Supportive and patient tutors and staff at the fabulous new base Cnoc Soilleir made it a fun and interesting week of Gaelic immersion. The sessions, events and concerts throughout the week kept everyone mingling and by Friday, I'm fairly certain everyone just about knew everyone else! Taing mhòr dhuibh uile.”

Photos by Seonaidh MacIntyre and Seonaidh MacInnes

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NU GAMES, SU GAMES, NU SHOW & BERNERAY WEEK

Back to normal...

Results on page 18 Photos by Seonaidh MacInnes

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EVENTS NEWS

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TROPHY WINNERS MACLEAN CUP BEST BLACKFACE EWE LAMB OR RAM LAMB - UIST BRED (CLASSES 1 & 8) Iain MacDonald, Illeray WEST HIGHLAND CROFTERS AND FARMERS TROPHY BEST BLACKFACE EWE HOGG (CLASS 5) Duncan MacLean , Berneray DR LACHLAN MACLEAN MEMORIAL CUP BEST BLACKFACE EWE WITH OWN BLACKFACE LAMB (CLASS 6) Iain MacDonald , Illeray DONALD ARCHIE MACDONALD MEMORIAL CUP BEST PURE BRED CHEVIOT EWE WITH OWN CHEVIOT LAMB (CLASS 12) Colin MacLean , Carnish NORTH EASTERN FARMERS LTD TROPHY BEST CHEVIOT EWE HOGG (CLASS 14) Ruairidh MacDonald, Hougharry DINGWALL AUCTIONEERS TROPHY BEST LAMB IN CLASSES 9, 13,18, 20,+25 Ali MacDonald, Amor HUGH MURRAY TROPHY CHAMPION SHEEP (CLASS 33) Ali MacDonald , Ahmore A & J.A MACDONALD CROSSROADS MEMORIAL CUP COMPETITOR WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF POINTS IN THE SHEEP SECTION Iain MacDonald , Illeray ALASTAIR MACDONALD AHMORE MEMORIAL CUP NATIVE BRED COW PURE BRED OR FIRST CROSS , WITH OWN CALF AT FOOT (ANY BREED)(CLASS 5) Angus Smith, Sollas NORMAN HUGH MACAULAY MEMORIAL TROPHY BEST SHORTHORN OR SHORTHORN CROSS COW IN CALF OR MILK (CLASS 7) Ruairidh MacDonald , Hougharry NORMAN MACDONALD BLASHIVAL MEMORIAL CUP BEST HEIFER CARRYING FIRST CALF (CLASS 16)

Duncan MacLean , Hougharry COLONEL CATOR CUP BEST BEEF TYPE BREEDING COW, TRADITIONAL OR CONTINENTAL WITH OWN CALF AT FOOT. CLASSES 17 AND 18.

Angus Smith , Sollas R.C MACAULAY CUP BEST BULLOCK OR HEIFER ANY BREED CLASS 19,20,21& 22 Angus Smith , Sollas WESTFORD CUP BEST ANIMAL IN CATTLE SECTION (CLASS 23) Angus Smith , Sollas NORTH UIST & BERNERAY ASSOCIATION CUP LIVESTOCK – HIGHEST AGGREGATE IN SECTIONS I & II (CATTLE AND SHEEP) Ruairidh MacDonald, Hougharry SOUTHERN ISLE VETERINARY SERVICES TROPHY BEST ANIMAL IN HORSE SECTION (CLASS 3) Sara Stewart with Obaidh NORTH UIST RIDING CENTRE TROPHY BEST HORSE AND RIDER (CLASS 4) Eva Troughton with Merri IVAN MACDONALD MEMORIAL CUP AWARDED TO THE CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS ,CATTLE, SHEEP AND HORSE SECTIONS Angus Smith , Sollas MACGILLIVARY CUP CROFTER’S KITCHEN GARDEN (CLASS 1) Sgoil Uibhist a Tuath CATHERINE MACVICAR MEMORIAL TROPHY FLOWER GARDEN (CLASS 1) Jessie Morrison , Claddach Kirkibost RILEY CUP - NATIVE HEBRIDEAN BREEDS CUP BEST IN HEBRIDEAN BREEDS Calum Ferguson, Hougharry NORTH UIST & BERNERAY ASSOCIATION CUP HIGHEST AGGREGATE IN HOME INDUSTRIES SECTION (CLASSES 1 – 29) Effie Ann MacPherson, Lochportain & Barbara Fraser, Claddach Carinish MRS G MACINNES CUP (PRIMARY ) BEST HANDICRAFT 9- 12 YEARS (CLASS 1) Guthrie Wheeler, Claddach Kyles

HEBRIDEAN JEWELLERY TROPHY BEST METALWORK (SECONDARY ) CLASS 3 P. J Fleming Major, Balivanich MRS G MACINNES CUP (SECONDARY ) BEST HANDICRAFT SECONDARY (CLASS 4) Millie Shepherd , Balemore SHORELINE STONEWARE PRIZE MODEL MAKING – CLAY, SALT DOUGH, PLASTICINE OR SIMILAR PRIMARY (CLASS 6) Mara Hughes BELLA MACLEAN MEMORIAL TROPHY BEST DROPPED SCONES (CLASS 16) Morag MacBain , Knockintorran MACLEANS BAKERY CUP BEST CLOOTIE DUMPLING (CLASS 18) Anne Morton , Grimsay BANK OF SCOTLAND CUP HIGHEST AGGREGATE IN DAIRY, HOME BAKING, PRESERVES AND CONFECTIONERY (CLASSES 1 – 35) Mairi MacIntosh , Grenitote INVERNESS TROPHY CENTRE SHIELD HIGHEST NUMBER OF POINTS IN PRIMARY BAKING (CLASSES 1 – 3) Ciorstaidh MacLean , Claddach Kyles MACLENNAN BROTHERS TROPHY HIGHEST NUMBER OF POINTS IN SECONDARY BAKING (CLASSES 1 – 5) Uisdean MacGregor , Malaglate CLACHAN STORES TROPHY BEST OVERALL COMPETITOR – DOG SHOW Emma MacLeod with Spark DONALD FERGUSON MEMORIAL TROPHY UNDER 25’S STOCK JUDGING, CATTLE AND SHEEP CLASSES Tara Drummie , Hougharry TRACTOR SHIELD BEST TURNED OUT AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR Douglas Parkin , Malaglate with a MF35

North Uist Games ATHLETICS TUG OF WAR ( MEN ) Paible TUG OF WAR (WOMEN)

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GAMES AND SHOW RESULTS North Uist Agicultural Show

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Sollas WINNER OF THE 16LB SHOT Ranald Fraser, Lewis WINNER OF HEAVY WRESTLING Andrew Currie, Carinish WINNER OF HEAVYWEIGHT WRESTLING Andrew Currie, Carinish WINNER OF LIGHTWEIGHT WRESTLING John Angus MacPhee YOUTH EVENTS Sean MacKenzie U 16 GIRLS RELAY Claddach WRESTLING UNDER 11ST John Angus MacPhee U 16 GIRLS HILL RACE Morven Duncan, Lanark BEST LOCAL IN THE MEN’S 100M Kieran MacIsaac, Paible MOST POINTS IN HEAVIES AND ATHLETICS LOCAL ATHLETE Andrew Currie, Carinish MOST POINTS IN HEAVIES Ranald Fraser, Lewis BEST LOCAL GIRL ATHLETE Kate MacCorquodale, Sollas BEST LOCAL BOY ATHLETE Seumas MacIain, Sollas BEST OPEN FEMALE ATHLETE Helen Haxby, Carinish BEST LOCAL FEMALE ATHLETE Helen Haxby, Carinish BEST OPEN MALE ATHLETE Cameron Boak BEST LOCAL ATHLETE MEN’S H.JUMP John Currie, Carinish DISTRICT WITH HIGHEST POINTS Carinish PIPING PIPE MJR JOHN MACLEAN MEMORIAL TROPHY Decker Forrest, Skye ROYAL CELTIC SOCIETY PRIZE Decker Forrest , Skye SIR RODERICK MACDONALD TROPHY Padruig MacMillan, South Uist MACLELLAN TROPHY Mairi MacIain, Sollas DONALD MACDONALD TROPHY Niamh MacInnes CALUM IAIN CAMPBELL MEMORIAL TROPHY Decker Forrest, Skye JESSIE ANN MACAULAY MEMORIAL TROPHY

Gilleasbuig MacVicar , Skye MULHAGERY TROPHY Caitidh MacLean, Claddach NORTH UIST PIPING SOCIETY TROPHY Caitidh MacLean, Claddach

South Uist Games FLAT RACE 50M BOYS 5-7 Finn MacDonald R FLAT RACE 50M GIRLS 5-7 Ellie Campbell S FLAT RACE 50M BOYS 8-10 Matthew Rogers N FLAT RACE 50M GIRLS 8-10 Elsie Williams E FLAT RACE 50M BOYS 11-13 Kyle Rogers N FLAT RACE 50M GIRLS 11-13 Mairi MacInnes M FLAT RACE 100 YARDS BOYS 14- 16 Thomas Brennan N FLAT RACE 100 YARDS MEN Thomas Brennan N FLAT RACE 100 YARDS WOMEN Isla Beaton M FLAT RACE 220YDS BOYS 11- 13 Finn Robson E FLAT RACE 220YDS BOYS 14- 16 Thomas Brennan N FLAT RACE 220YDS GIRLS 14-16 Elsie Wilde R FLAT RACE 220YDS OPEN Ali MacLeod R FLAT RACE 440YDS BOYS 11- 13 Alexander Henderson N FLAT RACE 440YDS GIRLS 11-16 Anna MacDonald N FLAT RACE 440YDS BOYS U11 Finn MacDonald S FLAT RACE 440YDS GIRLS U 11 Eilidh Campbell S FLAT RACE 440YDS BOYS 14- 16 Blair MacKenzie R FLAT RACE 440YDS OPEN Ali MacLeod R PRE SCHOOL FLAT RACE Daniel Buckland M PRE SCHOOL SACK RACE A Daniel Buckland M PRE SCHOOL SACK RACE B

Ruby MacInnes N SACK RACE BOYS 5-7 A Patrick D Steele S SACK RACE BOYS 5-7 B Tor Wilde R SACK RACE GIRLS 5-7 A Amelia Buckland M SACK RACE GIRLS 5-7 B Penny Davidson N SACK RACE BOYS 8-10 Owen Connelly S SACK RACE GIRLS 8-10 Eleanor Buckland M SACK RACE BOYS 11-13 Alexander Henderson N SACK RACE GIRLS 11-13 Anna MacDonald N PRE SCHOOL EGG AND SPOON BOYS Angus MacRury N PRE SCHOOL EGG AND SPOON GIRLS Mlsabel Glen S EGG AND SPOON BOYS 5-7 Finn MacDonald N EGG AND SPOON GIRLS 5-7 Erin MacRury N EGG AND SPOON BOYS 8-10 James Scott S EGG AND SPOON GIRLS 8-10 Sylvie Crerar S EGG AND SPOON BOYS 11-13 Finlay Crerar S EGG AND SPOON GIRLS 11-13 Patricia MacDonald WHEELBARROW RACE BOYS 5-7 Finn MacDonald N WHEELBARROW RACE GIRLS 5-7 Penny Davidson N WHEELBARROW RACE BOYS 8- 10 Ben and Finn Hannon S/S WHEELBARROW RACE GIRLS 8- 10 Elsie Wilde/Lily MacLeod E/E WHEELBARROW RACE BOYS 11- 13 Finlay Crerar S WHEELBARROW RACE GIRLS 11- 13 Anna & Patricia MacDonald N/N ADULT WHEELBARROW RACE Michael Young/Calum MacMillan M/M RELAY RACE Team Buckland M X COUNTRY 14-16 AND OPEN Seonaidh MacInnes TUG OF WAR Women’s Team DISTRICT SCORES South End 140 North End 138 Middle District 80 Rest of World 56 Eriskay 39

AUGUST 2022

AM PÀIPEAR

19

SPORT

Sports clubs boost

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar announces free sports facilities hire for affiliated clubs and groups From September, all constituted clubs and groups affiliated to the Uist and & Barra Sports Council will be able to book Comhairle sports facilities free of charge.

The move will allow clubs to spend their hard-earned funds in other ways, purchasing much needed new equipment, training and developing their coaches or mainland trips.

Kevin Morrison, Community Sports Hub Officer for Uist & Barra, commented: “The free access to facilities for clubs associated with the Western Isles Sports Councils is a fantastic initiative made possible through Crown Estate funding. It will allow well run clubs to use vital resources and funding on coach education and equipment rather

Fèis Tir a’Mhurain Fun Run

than on facility costs. It will also allow clubs to run extra sessions and maybe even allow them to run discounted/free membership for individuals or families struggling with the rising cost of living.

“The more access our community has to our sports facilities at an affordable rate, the healthier the population will be as a whole… which can only be a good thing!”

Kevin is keen to hear from local clubs and groups wanting to join the already xx-strong Uist & Barra Community Sports Hub: “Affiliating your group brings many benefits and it’s a straightforward process.

Anyone who wants to know more is welcome to get in touch and I can happily talk them through the process.”

Kevin can be contacted on 01870 603599 or by email at kevin.morrison@cne-siar.gov. uk or through the Uist & Barra Community Sports Hub facebook page.

The Feis Tir a’Mhurain is one of the longest running feis in Scotland, drawing a mix of local and national participants from across Scotland. This year, the Feis committee had high hopes of staging the week-long event again after three years of pandemic cancellations, but sadly, the local Covid numbers put paid to their plans. The Fun Run did go ahead as planned on July 10th, setting off from Stoneybridge Hall. Although numbers were down on previous years for obvious reasons, 30 runners took part, with a great turn out from the community lending their support.

The winner on the day was 16 year old Sean Campbell from Iochdair.

Thank you to Tomas MacDhomhnaill for the lovely photos.

Summer Cup champions!

Iochdar Saints lift the cup The Summer Cup brings together all six teams in the Uist & Barra league - Barra, Benbecula, Eriskay, Iochdar Saints, North Uist and

Southend - who battle it out in two groups of three, each playing home and away.

It was Benbecula and Iochdar Saints who topped

their groups and went on to play the final match on July 9th, with Iochdar winning 1-0 with a goal scored in the 90th minute by Donald John Beaton.

Thank you to Seonaidh MacInnes for the great photos.

20

AM PÀIPEAR

AUGUST 2022

OPINION

NOTICES SALE OF WORK St Mary's, Griminish, Benbecula 20th August , 2pm MACLEAN (1ST ANNIVERSARY) Remembering with much love and fondness our dear mother Flora Maclean (Florraidh Shandaidh) 26 Locheport who passed away peacefully at Ospadal Uibhist agus Bharraigh on the afternoon of the 18th August 2021.

I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he was dead, yet shall he live - John 11 v 25 -

Ronald John, 26 Lochport Lachlan Alex and Sandra, Glen Eval, 20 Locheport Tommy, Lynda and Angus, Shoreways, Claddach Baleshare Neil, Magda and Julia, Redwood, Cambuslang

Bottle Stall, Raffle, Teas, Baking All the usual attractions.

Everyone welcome.

Thanks Canon Michael A Hutson

PROPOSED ASSIGNATION OF A CROFT David Cameron is applying to the Crofters Commission for consent to assign the tenancy of the croft at 312 Kilpheder Isle of South Uist to Donald John Steele.

2 Ballaquark ,Braddan , Isle of Man. Written comments from those with a relevant interest (which may be made public) to the Crofting Commission, Leachkin Road, Inverness, IV3 8NW or email info@ crofting.gov.scot by 24/08/2022.

———Food Van For Sale——— Call Donald 07376901053 Isle of Barra

Alasdair Allan MSP/BPA Surgery Notice

Fully fitted out, with new wiring and fuse box.

New gas pipes and fittings, new gas certificate issued Q1 2021.

Tall, full glass front fridge, under counter fridge.

Bain Marie 4 section warmer, tea / coffee gas water heater, electric under counter water heater, cold & hot water taps, double sink, gas heated hot plate, Microwave, Gas powered fryer, LED running lights, quick fix number plate holder, everything works as it should, van measures approx 9feet x 6feet, not including towing bar, two gas bottles included (no gas) Any inspection welcome.

Alasdair Allan, Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Na h-Eileanan an Iar, will be in Talla Chàirinis, North Uist, on Wednesday 24th June 2022 from 7-9pm should any constituents wish to meet with him.

If you would like to speak to Alasdair about any issue at all, please phone 01851 700357 or email alasdair.allan.msp@parliament.scot to arrange a home visit or appointment.

www.alasdairallan.scot

AUGUST 2022

AM PÀIPEAR

21

FEATURE COLUMN

Caraidean Uibhist SCIO Caraidean Uibhist SCIO

W

(Befriending Uist) is a befriending organisation in place to tackle loneliness and social isolation across our five island communities of Eriskay, South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist and Berneray.

Caraidean Uibhist SCIO, regardless of its official funding, requires the gererosity and support of the broader community to allow it to flourish and grow.

Ena MacDonald

We are a voluntary sector service providing governance and management support to • a befriending service • activity groups • a drug and alcohol support service The companionship we provide to our patrons increases their quality of life and uplifts their life experiences

e are near the end of July and still waiting on summer.

The wind is really fond of Uist and doesn’t want to leave us at all.

The Cattle Show was on the 21st July and the weather was quite decent that day. I didn’t go this year as I felt too tired.

No doubt the official results will be in this edition of Am Paipear. One result I was waiting on, that had a brand new cup was the Pancake Cup donated by Neil John in memory of his late wife Bella.

It was won by Morag MacBain who makes scrumptious pancakes. I was really pleased to hear that, as she brings me some every time she visits me.

I was teasing her, that now seeing her pancakes are so famous it might not be a good thing for me, that she will charge me a high price now!!!

The two new hens are becoming very tame now but are still sleeping in the stable.

A few days ago the Rhode Island Red followed me towards the old hens’ house. I let them out and fed them, gave them clean water and then looked around for the Red one.

She seemed to have disappeared

into then air. I opened the door and got a big surprise, she had ventured into the hen house and was actually on a nest where she laid her eggs.

However she never went in again, maybe she was doing a ‘nosey’ but decided she still preferred Sarah’s stable. That hen definitely has character!

I suppose that those who read my column are wondering what happened to the chickens.

Well, as you know they were due on the 30th June and I was so excited looking forward to them. However on the 25th 26th June we had torrential rain and some got into the house on Saturday night and then on Sunday if you remember it was a terrible day with wind and rain and when we had discovered what had happened it was too late and the eggs got cold. Of course when the eggs were cold the chickens died. I could have cried when it was all over. Michelle and I put dry hay in the nest and covered the brooding house with a horse blanket which was completely waterproof. Although the eggs got warm again they were too long cold. Most of the eggs were fertile so discovering that made me so sad.

On Alba on the Gaelic news, I saw Orin after getting 1st prize for her beautiful dog.

It’s nice seeing the young ones winning. She looked so happy.

Orin works here but will be leaving for Agricultural college end of August. I’ll miss seeing her around. It’s so obvious that she loves the animals and her work. I really love to see the young workers’ enthusiasm.

We had a very interesting family visiting us a few weeks ago. That was Andy Woodburn,

a farmer who is married to a Ukrainian. His mother-in-law was here too, she escaped Maripol and her daughter travelled there and took her to Scotland. They have a girl and boy of a family and they were so friendly. Their farm is in Ayrshire and I think this was the fourth time they had bought our calves. This lot, 77 of them were born spring 2021.

He obviously slaughters a Highland bullock for the family and he kindly brought me a roast so that I could taste it. It was delicious without a doubt.

The children were lovely and kept asking me questions. They wanted to go upstairs so they went exploring there too. I thoroughly enjoyed their company. They stayed for a week’s holiday.

My vegetable garden is growing well and Jean Morrison has been the main ‘green fingers’. She brought extra help this week. Young 14yr old Caitaidh MacLean put some energetic help into the weeding. The carrots are slow but they look promising.

As usual the best are the lettuces. What strikes me every year, when the vegetables are slow the weeds still grow at a pace!!

The cattle are happy on their summer grazing but I don’t enter fields, although I can see them from the road.

I hope all the crofters will get their summer work done.

It’s difficult when the weather is so unsettled.

The Biblical chapter that I chose this month is 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5 and the Psalm is 133.

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If you can donate your time, please either call Jo on 07969180868 or Tracy on 079399965124, or email the office at admin@caraideanuibhist.org

We are looking for a Personal Assistant for a 30 year old pleasant man, to support him in the mornings (8-10am) but also on other times.

Flexible arrangements, excellent rate of pay, nice working environment.

Ardivachar, South Uist.

Contact Ella on: 07809531276.

22

AM PÀIPEAR

JUNE 2022

AUGUST 2022

AM PÀIPEAR

3

OPINION

LOCAL INFORMATION

Refuse Collection Dates

Refuse Collection Dates

PAPER / CARD BIN

PLASTIC / TIN BIN

AUGUST 2022

AUGUST 2022

East Gerinish, Rhughasinish, Loch Carnan, Iochdar, Ardnamoine,

East Gerinish, Rhughasinish, Loch Carnan, Iochdar, Ardnamoine,

Ardivachar, Ardmor, Creagorry, Liniclate, Torlum, Hacklet,

Ardivachar, Ardmor, Creagorry, Liniclate, Torlum, Hacklet,

Uskevagh, Petersport, Balivanich

Uskevagh, Petersport, Balivanich

Monday 15th August 2022

Monday 1st and 29th August 2022

Eriskay, Glendale, Kilbride, Smerclate, Garrynamoine,

Eriskay, Glendale, Kilbride, Smerclate, Garrynamoine,

South Lochboisdale, South Boisdale, North Boisdale, Kilpheder,

South Lochboisdale, South Boisdale, North Boisdale, Kilpheder, Strome,

Strome, Daliburgh Commercials, Daliburgh (West), Rangehead

Daliburgh Commercials, Daliburgh (West), Rangehead

Wednesday 10th August 2022

Wednesday 24th August 2022

Stoneybridge, Locheynort, Daliburgh, Lochboisdale, Garryhellie,

Stoneybridge, Locheynort, Daliburgh, Lochboisdale, Garryhellie,

Askernish, Milton, Kildonan, Bornish, Howmore, Howbeg,

Askernish, Milton, Kildonan, Bornish, Howmore, Howbeg,

Drimsdale, Stilligarry, Drimore, Gerinish, Rangehead, Liniclate,

Drimsdale, Stilligarry, Drimore, Gerinish, Rangehead, Liniclate,

Balivanich Commercials

Balivanich Commercials

Wednesday 3rd and 31st August 2022

Wednesday 17th August 2022

Locheport, Berneray, Clachan Sands, Vallique, Lochportain,

Locheport, Berneray, Clachan Sands, Vallique, Lochportain,

Cheesebay, Blashaval, Minish, Lochmaddy, Uachdar, Dunganichy

Cheesebay, Blashaval, Minish, Lochmaddy, Uachdar, Dunganichy

Monday 15th August 2022

Monday 1st and 29th August 2022

Langass, Clachan na Luib, Carinish, Baleshare, Claddach Carinish,

Langass, Clachan na Luib, Carinish, Baleshare, Claddach Carinish,

Grimsay, Island Flodda, Gramsdale, Griminish, Nunton, Aird, Muir

Grimsay, Island Flodda, Gramsdale, Griminish, Nunton, Aird,

of Aird

Muir of Aird

Monday 8th August 2022

Monday 22nd August 2022

Clachan, Claddach District, Bayhead, Knockintorran, Balemore,

Clachan, Claddach District, Bayhead, Knockintorran, Balemore,

Kyles Paible, Paible, Balranald, Tigharry, Lochmaddy Commercials,

Kyles Paible, Paible, Balranald, Tigharry, Lochmaddy Commercials,

Hougharry, Hosta, Sollas, Middlequarter, Grenitote

Hougharry, Hosta, Sollas, Middlequarter, Grenitote

Monday 8th August 2022

Monday 22nd August 2022

AUGUST 2022

AM PÀIPEAR

23

LOCAL INFORMATION

Refuse Collection Dates RESIDUAL BIN AUGUST 2022

East Geirinish, Rhughasinish, Loch Carnan, Iochdar, Ardnamonie, Ardivachar, Ardmore, Creagorry, Liniclate, Torlum Tuesday 9th and 23rd August 2022

Eriskay, Glendale, Kilbride, Smerclate, Garrynamonie, South Lochboisdale, South Boisdale, North Boisdale, Kilpheder, Strome, Daliburgh Commercials, Daliburgh (West), Rangehead, Hacklet, Uiskevagh, Petersport, Balivanich, Uachdar, Dunganichy Tuesday 2nd, 16th and 30th August 2022

Stoneybridge, Locheynort, Daliburgh, Lochboisdale, Garryhellie, Askernish, Milton, Kildonan, Bornish, Howmore, Howbeg, Drimsdale, Stilligarry, Drimore, Geirinish, Rangehead, Liniclate, Balivanich Commercials Tuesday 9th and 23rd August 2022

Telephone Numbers

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar telephone numbers for Uist and Barra E-mail: enquiries@cne-siar.gov.uk Comhairle nan Eilean Siar office (Benbecula): 01870 602 425

Building Standards – Balivanich Economic Development – Balivanich Environmental Health – Balivanich Harbour Master Housing Services – Balivanich Library – Castlebay Library – Lionacleit Lionacleit Education Centre Market Stance Museum – Lionacleit Patient Travel – Castlebay Planning Services – Balivanich Registrar – Balivanich Registrar – Castlebay Sports Centre – Castlebay Sports Centre – Lionacleit Trading Standards – Balivanich Waste Transfer Station– Benbecula

01870 604990 01870 604990 01870 604990 01870 604991 01870 604990 01871 817200 01870 603691 01870 604880 01870 604997 01870 603692 01871 810431 01870 604990 01870 604981 01871 817210 01871 817201 01870 603693 01870 604990 01870 604998

Tide Table for Lochboisdale Tidal predictions for Lochboisdale - AUGUST 2022.

Units are meters, initial timezone is GMTDT. DATE

TIME

HEIGHT

TIME

HEIGHT

TIME

HEIGHT

TIME

HEIGHT

1st

0352

0.79

0921

3.55

1550

0.95

2122

3.84

Locheport, Berneray, Clachan Sands, Vallique, Lochportain,

2nd

0423

0.83

0955

3.47

1623

1.02

2156

3.74

Cheesebay, Blashaval, Minish, Lochmaddy

3rd

0457

0.91

1033

3.35

1659

1.14

2235

3.59

4th

0534

1.05

1119

3.22

1739

1.30

2321

3.42

Thursday 11th and 25th August 2022

Langass, Clachan na Luib, Carinish, Baleshare, Claddach Carinish, Grimsay, Island Flodda, Gramsdale, Griminish, Nunton, Aird, Muir of Aird Thursday 4th and 18th August 2022

5th

0617

1.22

1218

3.10

1830

1.49

6th

0022

3.24

0713

1.39

1329

3.06

1934

1.65

7th

0144

3.13

0824

1.51

1448

3.13

2055

1.66

8th

0315

3.14

0947

1.48

1602

3.33

2223

1.48

9th

0437

3.31

1104

1.31

1707

3.62

2337

1.16

10th

0545

3.56

1205

1.07

1802

3.96

11th

0036

0.79

0640

3.82

1258

0.82

1851

4.26

12th

0129

0.47

0728

4.01

1346

0.61

1935

4.49

13th

0217

0.24

0808

4.09

1431

0.49

2014

4.58

14th

0303

0.15

0845

4.04

1514

0.47

2052

4.51

15th

0344

0.22

0922

3.88

1555

0.57

2130

4.30

16th

0422

0.41

0958

3.64

1632

0.77

2210

3.99

17th

0459

0.71

1038

3.37

1711

1.06

2254

3.62

18th

0536

1.06

1125

3.10

1754

1.39

2349

3.25

19th

0616

1.42

1234

2.89

1844

1.72

20th

0103

2.95

0706

1.74

1402

2.81

1957

1.95

21st

0231

2.81

0820

1.94

1527

2.88

2144

1.96

22nd

0352

2.82

1002

1.93

1635

3.05

2305

1.76

23rd

0458

2.96

1111

1.76

1724

3.27

2356

1.52

Clachan, Claddach District, Bayhead, Knockintorran, Balemore,

24th

0547

3.16

1159

1.55

1804

3.49

Kyles Paible, Paible, Balranald, Tigharry, Lochmaddy Commercials,

25th

0037

1.27

0626

3.36

1237

1.33

1837

3.70

26th

0113

1.03

0700

3.54

1313

1.12

1906

3.88

Hougharry, Hosta, Sollas, Middlequarter, Grenitote Thursday 4th and 18th August 2022

27th

0147

0.83

0730

3.70

1347

0.95

1933

4.02

28th

0219

0.68

0756

3.81

1419

0.81

1958

4.12

29th

0251

0.58

0823

3.83

1452

0.73

2025

4.15

30th

0324

0.55

0851

3.85

1525

0.72

2054

4.10

31st

0355

0.60

0922

3.77

1558

0.80

2127

3.97

24

AM PÀIPEAR

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OPINION

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