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Welcome
My blog will keep you up to date with the journey. I won’t be able to tell you specific things from the interviews and group discussions, because these are confidential. But I’ll be talking about what I see and learn as I go round, and hopefully this will give you a flavour of some of these places – from Ness in the north of Lewis to the Isle of Gigha in the south…
I’ll also be telling you about the fun and challenges of doing all this in a motorhome: accessing some of the remotest places on the islands and mainland, driving on and off ferries, navigating narrow roads, cattle grids, and reversing into passing places; sharing the weather (and midges) with locals; and finding food and fuel in off-the-beaten-track locations, as well as cooking on the road in the evenings after interviews.
So, I’m off in search of those individuals and communities who have chosen to go down the route of purchasing their own land, to develop and manage for theirs and future generations. Join me on this journey of discovery…
Epilogue
Published: 29 May 2011
Without wishing to sound like a smulchy Oscar-acceptance speech, there are a few people I would really like to thank for making this trip possible…
Day 16: On “God’s Isle” then back home… (Saturday May 28th: Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust, then back to mainland and to Perth to return Big Bertha)
Published: 28 May 2011
At 5.10am the rain began again in earnest, and, although we’d found a sheltered spot, the winds were gusting fairly healthily… But… there were breaks in the cloud and we even saw some of that blue stuff, yes, sky, that had been absent for the rest of the study tour. They say the sun always shines on Gigha, and here were seeing some of it, for a few moments here and there at least.
Day 15: Amongst the trees… (Friday May 27th: North West Mull Community Woodland Company Ltd, through Oban and Kintyre, and on to Gigha)
Published: 27 May 2011
I woke to the sound of geese and lambs mooching around at our idyllic wild camping spot at Dervaig.
Day 14: Journeying south… (Thursday May 26th: Silver Sands Campsite to Mull, via Fort William & Oban)
Published: 26 May 2011
After filling up the water tank, we said goodbye to the Silver Sands campsite that had been our home for the past 4 nights.
Day 13: Soaked in Rum… (Wednesday May 25th: Silver Sands Campsite to Isle of Rum and back)
Published: 25 May 2011
We were getting everything ready to go to Rum for the day; we were going as foot-passengers, so had to make sure we had supplies with us as we weren’t sure what would be available on the island.
Day 12: Knoydart… (Tuesday May 24th: Silver Sands Campsite to Knoydart and back)
Published: 24 May 2011
I was woken at 1am by the most scary gales I can remember; I got up and open the blinds, just to be able to look outside and know see if all was OK. It was like excessive turbulence in a flight. Plus, and this sounds weird, the wind noise around the motorhome sounded like a bunch of manic musicians scratching away furiously on double-basses and cellos – a kind-of deep, groaning sound.