Welcome to 2012
May I start by wishing all of our ‘Friends’ a very happy New Year and then extend it to everyone who is currently visiting our site whether the first time or a returning reader. This year we will enter our second decade as a live project as it was 2002 when I first set foot on Sgarabhaigh with Brendan Commons a very good friend of mine now lost to a brain tumour. Every time I visit I remember Bren and his excitement at walking ‘our’ island as it was to become early in 2003. His ‘Holding’ has been passed to his granddaughter who continues to write Sgarabhaigh into his family’s folklore. He will always be remembered because the second highest hill on the island has been called Mount Brendan and as he was so fascinated on that visit by the boulder which stands on it we called that Brendan’s Boulder!
We are now well established with nearly one hundred formal ‘Friends’ and many followers who take an interest in what we are doing. I hope that with my wife, Jane, who is retiring this year, we will be able to consolidate links with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT), which provided some help in the early stages of the project and which does so much excellent work in the waters around the islands of the Hebrides.
We have produced a ‘ Sgarabhaigh Sixpence’ minted in pure fine silver and we are proud to say that it has been accepted by the National Museum of Scotland as a formal deposit. Having the coin and its story held in the national archive has helped to promote the project and provides another page in Scotland’s rich and diverse history.
Jane and I will restart work this year on trying to contact the families of the many people displaced from the islands in the dreadful Land Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries with the aim of reconnecting them to their spiritual home. We will also continue to have anyone who would like to write a Scottish page in their family folklore as a new ‘Friend’ to swell our ranks and to increase the sustainable footprint of the project. Most of all we will continue to share one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland with its people and the world to establish a perpetual project that will support the islands in the future and underpin family genealogy for all time.
I hope that 2012 is a very successful year for you all and that it holds some of the best times of your lives. Jane and I are looking forward to visiting the island with our daughter and some new friends while she is over here from Australia and to spending more time in the islands particularly when the next seal pups arrive in October. So the island will write a few more pages in our folklore in 2012.
Bless you all,
Dave Hill
Founder Friend of Sgarabhaigh
Seve Ballasteros
It is with some sadness that we reflect on the loss of Seve Ballasteros. He was not only one of a handful of world class golfers but he was also a very special person. He held us spellbound at his play around the world and he was an example to us all with his commitment to family. He inspired us in the way he dealt with his brain tumour and it was very sad that he was too ill to travel to the British Open last year to add his magic to the proceedings. I sent Seve one of our Sgarabhaigh Sixpences for luck when I thought he needed a talisman to help when his golf was failing and he was gracious enough to not only personally thank me for the gift but also to put it with his treasured trophies. He has left a gap in the golfing world that is very hard to fill and our condolences and best wishes for the future go to Seve’s family.
Good Luck News for One of Our Sixpences
This is the essence of an email I just received from a friend in Australia regarding one our Sgarabhaigh Silver Sixpences:
“I have received the Sgarabhaigh Silver Sixpence and I believe it has already given us a run of good luck. On the Monday we received the coin, we had an email from our estate agents who are dealing with a property we own in Scotland, the property has been rented out for the past two and a half years and up for sale all that time with not much interest from people to buy it but that very day we had an offer secured on the house. The next day we had a rebate (tax) payment from the Australian Government of a reasonable amount, which I had no idea we were owed. As if these two things weren't enough good fortune I was contacted with a big contract for March and another contract for a quite large industrial clearance for next week……all these things since I received the sixpence. I know that there may be some people who would say that it’s just coincidence but I am sure that these things happening in such a short space of time proves there is more to it. I thank you again for the coin and I’m sure that good luck comes with it and I wish everyone the same good fortune.”
Whilst I am not claiming any special powers for our beautiful coin it clearly can reach the parts that other gifts cannot! On a more serious note it is good to hear that a friend has had some good luck in these hard times so let’s hope there is more to come for everyone certainly Australia has had its share of bad luck recently.
More Travel Support
We have now also exchanged links with Globester a travel company in the USA to help our American ‘Friends’ to find great travel deals. So visit www.globester.com and get some of the best, if not the best, travel prices so let them take the hassle out of the travel part of your visit to your special place in Scotland, your own island in the islands. You now have the necessary links to ensure a seamless journey to ‘special’ place in Scotland.
October Seal Pup Census Trip
Well early October came up trumps this year as the weather settled and it gave us three beautiful days on Sgarabhaigh without wind and some beautiful sunshine. The trip started with a Sea Eagle welcoming us to the Sound of Harris as we turned into the Little Minch from Rodel Harbour. It sat proud and regal on the rocks and after a pause treated us to a measured and serene flight onto the coast showing its huge wingspan.
Onward to the island and we unloaded our kit onto the rocks and then Billy, Hamish’s brother, and another real gentleman took us out into the bays to catch tea which we managed in about five minutes. We caught a few more good Pollack but returned them to the water complying with the catch and release initiative being implemented in the islands.
On our sweep of the island and return to the cove we could see the island was packed with seal pups ranging from new born to well grown and losing the white baby fur. We set up camp and set out to see what joy was in store for our visit. We did a complete tour of the beaches as best we could to avoid disturbing the seals and counted sixty three seal pups many of which we filmed and that will appear here in the Gallery in due course. On our way back past The Rocks on the north-east side of the island my companion for the trip and a good friend pointed out a good pod of porpoises breaching some 300-400 yards offshore. They circled the island for much of the afternoon and reappeared each day for a Sgarabhaigh fish lunch and it was our pleasure to provide it!
The sea otter put in two appearances and it was heartening to see how established it appeared to be on the south side of the island. They are shy creatures and you have to be quick to film them when they appear, we only got two very transient shots I’m afraid but they’ll be here on the Gallery too.
With a competent fisherman and climber as a camping companion we risked scaling the cliffs to get a good fishing spot as the beaches were out of bounds because of the seal pups. What a good option it turned out to be as we set up and within minutes had caught some good fish to 6lbs with ease. Again we used the catch and return approach as the pollack are due to spawn in the next few months and we at least want to conserve stocks ………. even if the seals don’t agree!
October clearly has its benefits if its seals you crave there were loads and all on the rocky doorstep. The still water gave up its secrets as all surface movement was easily visible hence the brilliant otter, porpoise and dolphin sightings. It really is a magical place when the weather is kind and if you have not yet visited these beautiful islands then put a date in your diary and go and see first hand what money cannot buy.
Sgarabhaigh's New Link to 'goscotlandtours'
We are pleased to announce that we have exchanged links with a brilliant Scottish tour company www.goscotlandtours.com. They not only do generic organised tours of Scotland but they also organise Private Tours organised to your own requirements which is very useful for our visitors to Sgarabhaigh. If you want the effort taking out of a trip to the Western Isles then talk to goscotland and they'll take the strain. They can also provide an additional dimension to your visit to Sgarabhaigh by adding extra days taking in other wider parts of both the Western Isles and Scotland.
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.
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
• 'Stornoway Gazette' - 28th June 2011
• 'The Scotsman' - 16th June 2011
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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