2010 Visit Succeeds …….. eventually!
We managed to pick a particularly lively week for weather for our summer trip up to the Western Isles and Sgarabhaigh with the winds registering a constant 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph for six days solid. The wild seas were wonderful but access out to the island was a complete non-starter.
This was all the more disappointing as we had two new ‘Friends’ who had come up to visit our island for the first time and they had to put up with distant observation from the south east tip of Harris. We did however have the chance to share some time and a lovely home cooked meal with them before they had to beat a retreat and shoot back home for a family wedding. They departed saying “well we have had good time despite the complications of the weather and there is always next time”; that is the benefit of a ‘perpetual’ heirloom it will always be there next year, and the year after and so on down the ages.
For our part we managed to outstay the wind and on the Friday got out onto Sgarabhaigh and with our arrival came the sun to add to the calm conditions. We spent a wonderful few hours on the island along with other first time visitors and then we shared a traditional tea party at Café Sgarabhaigh. As we floated languidly in the bay on the north side of the island drinking tea and eating homemade cakes Hamish, our boatman, gentleman and entertainer explained how he had filled the fish box with some 150lbs of fresh Pollack while we were just wandering the island. We topped up the fish box with a few more fish after Hamish’s daughter and son-in-law collected half the box from us following another exciting open sea encounter as we were approached and boarded for some of our haul. All in all an excellent day spent with special friends and adding another page to our rich personal history of the island.
During one visit to the Rodel Hotel for some lunch we met Andy Strangeway an energetic adventurer also known as Island man because of his exploits having slept a minimum of a night on 168 Scottish islands mainly over 40 hectares (that’s about 100 acres to us oldies). His next venture is to try to land and spend a night and re-erect Her Majesty the Queen’s plaque restating the UK claim to Rockall a single tiny rock 162 miles to the west of the Western Isles out in the wild North Atlantic. He admitted that getting on and off Rockall is set to be a very scary adventure but that’s how he lives his life and we wished him the very best in his next venture. If you want to know more about Andy have a look at his website www.island-man.co.uk it is well worth the time. His energy and enthusiasm for what he does made a wet windy lunchtime a pure delight ………. thanks Andy!
Earlier in the week we visited the many visitor attractions of Harris and Lewis including the natural attractions of white shell sand beaches soaking up the energy of wild waves racing in from the North Atlantic. We strolled wind swept hills, watched sheep being sheared, met and broke bread with friends old and new. We all had the benefit of good food, good company and wild weather with a taste of calm what more could an adventurous group want from a holiday in God’s Country! We now look forward to our next opportunity to visit our rare and spiritual place perched on this bastion of the British Isles.
October 2010 Visit
A very good friend of mine and a Friend of Sgarabhaigh is retiring in September and wants to mark the occasion with a trip to Sgarabhaigh to see our 2010 crop of seal pups and experience a night on the island. So we have a plan to go onto the island on the 11th October and spend a couple of days watching the seals, catching some fish and recording a little more of the modern history of the island I expect to get some good footage of seal pups and will put the new film on the net as soon as we get back. So anyone with influence in higher places that can get the weather sorted for our trip please do – that’s the 11th- 14th October! If you want to share our experiences keep a look out for our newsreel film in November / December on this website.
The Future
It is now ten years since I began to develop the basis of what is now Friends of Sgarabhaigh and since our formal launch in 2005 we have written Sgarabhaigh into the folklore of almost one hundred families as Associate Owners and many more as holders of our Sgarabhaigh Sixpence which is now a formal deposit in the National Museum of Scotland. With the foundation is well laid I would like to broaden the Associate Owner base principally to secure the viability of the project and its administrative needs into the future. Currently I carryout all of the project functions from administration and management through to project development and artifact design and manufacture. It all takes considerable time and I am aware that I will not be able to carry out this level of commitment indefinitely so I must put in place a sufficiently robust financial model to ensure that the project is self sustaining by it having a sound financial base.
I am not the only person working for the project out of a love for its aims and objectives but again these supporters cannot work indefinitely out of the goodness of their hearts. Consequently I need to increase Associate Owner numbers to a level that will redeem some of the costs already invested and a small commuted sum to ensure its future viability. I would be very grateful to any Associate Owners or anyone who can see the magic of Friends of Sgarabhaigh to help by promoting the project on our behalf. I do talks across the country promoting the project, Scotland and the Western Isles in particular to help support the work of Visit Scotland. Everyone who has joined the project and particularly those who have met my wife Jane and myself seem impressed with the whole ethos of the project and our commitment to it. So come and join us, share our vision and have a little piece of Scotland as your heirloom too, pass it down your family line and write an indelible page in your family folklore for those who follow.
I anticipate the project being converted into a formal trust at some point in the future but currently the costs of setting up the Trust are prohibitive as are the essential additional administrative tasks involved in managing a formal trust effectively.
Future Documentary
I am in discussions with two film companies regarding the potential to do a documentary about this project Friends of Sgarabhaigh. I hope that we can cover its origins, motivation and reality as well as reinforcing how beautiful the wider Western Isles actually are. It is a case of watch this space as these matters take a little time to evolve. In the meantime I am producing my own short film which should be available as a DVD on the website early in the New Year. I have to thank ‘getmapping’ for their kind donation of an aerial photograph of the island for our use for the project.
The Sgarabhaigh Silver Sixpence
Interest in the sixpence continues to grow with the coin being sold worldwide and being increasingly bought by collectors, brides for weddings, parents for the ‘new born’ and many other people as just a very unusual and unique gift.
The sixpence, based on a coin from the Union of the Crowns back in 1603, has already caught the eye of the National Museum of Scotland and both it and its story are now a formal deposit of the museum ensuring its place in the future history of Scotland and the Western Isles.
The coin continues to introduce people to the project that is Friends of Sgarabhaigh as well as providing a beautiful family heirloom, an interesting addition to family folklore and an exceptional piece of ‘fine’ silver to grace every occasion. So if you have any special occasion coming up and want a special gift steeped in Scottish history ‘old’ and ‘new’ then we would be pleased to provide it for you.
Testamonials
Some of our first 'Friends' have sent their reaction to the 'Holding'. Click here for details.
Articles
The following press articles have been published. Click on the title to read the article.
• 'The Journal' - July 2004
• 'The Tamworth Herald' - 15 th July 2004
• 'The Hebridean' - 29 th April 2005
• 'The Scottish Islands Network Newsletter - May 2005
• 'The Shropshire Star' - 8 th August 2005
• 'The Advertiser' - 12th August 2005
• 'The Tamworth Times' - 1 st September 2005
• 'Stornoway Gazette - 15th March 2007
• 'Sunday Express - 18th March 2007
• 'The Journal' - September 2007
• ' Island Eye' - November 2008
Comments
Please feel free to phone, write or email me with any comments you may wish to
make about the project - if you want to email just click here.
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