SCOTLAND
This has to be the prettiest place I have seen – after Sydney Harbour of course – and even the cold, wet, winds, chill and temperature doesn\’t damage my love for this place. I set off for a wwoofing job from Glasgow, via Fort William and then Oban where a huge ferry takes me over to the Isle of Mull, a bus trip of about 50 minutes on a single lane road to Fionphort and then a short van ride in the Erraid van to a small boat. This motors about 3 or 4 minutes accross the water to the Isle of Erraid. When it is rough or after dark (and that can be at 4pm) one has to either walk on the sands when the tide is low around the bay or if the tide is high, drive around to a crofter/farm (called Knockvologan and owned by John and Linda Cameron-don\’t you love these scottish names) and leave the van there and walk across Mull and the sands – the Narrows – that link the isles and then continue across bogs to the community. At very high tide it is only accessible in rough weather by wading through at chest height and most just wait for the tides to go down! After arriving at the Isle of Erraid on 10 November for an allowed stay of 2 weeks I was given cottage #7, shared with a Brisbane woman and a Lancaster man. The cottage – so comfy is one of about 4 main buildings built to house the engineers who built the lighthouses in this area of Scotland. And there are many. Stevensons, the father and uncle of Robert Louis, were the ones contracted by the relevant authority to design and build them. Dad Stevenson wanted RL to be an engineer and he trained as one, but wrote instead. \’Kidnapped\’ was written, maybe on Erraid differing stories there, but the Isle is mentioned in the book. It is a very uncharitable chapter, he gets shipwrecked into Balfour Bay and lives on raw crustaceans until he is told that he can actually cross onto Mull easily at low tide – this after his 4 miserable days. Balfour Bay – looks like the caribbean when the sun is shining – a beautiful place, however all of Erraid and this part of the western Scotland coast, is.
The cottages were built of stone quarried on the island, same stone transported all of 16 and 25 miles offshore to the building sites. Skerryvore LH is 25 miles away and only seen from Erraid at certain times, and generally at night. The other unpronouncable lighthouse one can see on a clear day. I will find the name and edit this page but will publish until then. They are fully self-contained with about 3 bedrooms, fireplaces now replaced by woodburning stoves, bathroom, kitchen, backyard toilet! and a living room where the stove is. There is also a clothes line which is on pulleys and rises to about ceiling height where one hangs washing and clothes to dry. These 9 cottages, or 4 buildings, face \’the street\’ and about 5ft stone fences and within the stone fences are the gardens. The fence keeps out a bit of breeze, gives somewhere for the few sheep that belong to the community to feed, and as the space is divided up into about 6 or 7 gardens, there is a social area too. It is beautiful. And then there are the other old stone buildings that used to house an island school, community area, byre (cattle shed), and boat shed. There is the boat landing too where the boat generally comes to and goes from. The day I arrived there were about 3 seals swimming about, a grey/blue colour, only seen at a distance since then.
More to come –
Monday 2 December ::
I am in lovely Scotland still on Erraid and here until Friday 21 December when I will go by 24 Dec to an animal sanctuary at a farm at Lockerbie in Dumfriesshire – I remember the name Lockerbie very well. That’s sort of central Scotland.
The day I arrived back here was a great day. I came via ferry, bus from Craignure to Fionphort, and from where another ferry goes to Iona, another isle. However I was to be collected by the small bus from the Findhorn Foundation [at Findhorn, top of Scotland] which has a regular weekly to and fro exercise – at fionphort – some of their guests come and visit here, or Iona, for a week and then return. There are also some part of their courses conducted at Findhorn here. Findhorn and Erraid are two totally different settlements – but both findhorn communities – Findhorn was set up as a 3 point development ideal – spiritual, environmental and personal and on Erraid they continue with the original concept – anyone can come and visit and explore environmental and own development. And appreciate the place – most go away and return, there is a good feel which may have partly to do with the residents me thinks.
The day was wet, wild, high tides, windy and did I say wet? The ferry to take some of the FH people to Iona, and bring some back, couldn’t land and sailed into refuge into a bay on the lee side of the place, or between the rocks of Mull waiting for the tide to go down about 3 hours later which seemed to allow it to load and deliver people both sides of the sea. For me, I waited with the other guests of FH who were coming to Erraid for a week, in the pub or the ferry shop, for the Erraid people to arrive. We were driven to a farm on Mull a few miles from the ferry, put on wellies (wellington boots) and waterproof trousers and of course heavy jackets, and then walked an half an hour down hills, across bogs all the time, over the narrows (the sand strait between Mull and Erraid) and the 3 inches of water still there, more bog and into the community settlement. It was fortunately not raining at the time – but the entrance to the island was a bit of a challenge to some people. And one which we would not usually be exposed to – it is a delight walking through sheep and these bogs – without care one can sink up to one’s knees…difficult pulling one’s leg out then.
Erraid is about 1 mile square. In the UK miles are still used – can easily understand this method of measurement. Erraid was settled as a source of stone for both the engineers’ houses here and the lighthouses which were being built by the Stevenson brothers back in 1800s. I love the place because of the rocks, the grasses growing all over them so snugly and short it is like being covered by a brilliant green carpet. Sheep belonging to a crofter on the island graze in amongst the tufts of grasses, bog and heather. These sheep are not organically farmed as are the 5 or 6 sheep belonging to Erraid are, heir coats are long and when they are drenched or in any way dosed up, are marked with different coloured paints. But fully yellow, mustard, sheep are that colour to show they are rams. The colour washes out before the next year’s shear.
Today 2 December ::
I am in lovely Scotland still on Erraid and here until Friday 21 December when I will go by 24 Dec to an animal sanctuary at a farm at Lockerbie in Dumfriesshire – I remember the name Lockerbie very well. That’s sort of central Scotland.
I had been here before as you know and I was offered to return from 1 to 21 december which I most willingly accepted. It is still a WWOOFing position which means that my primary task is the gardens. There was another group from FH here the week I was away, about 22 of them, this group about 11, and the former group dug a lot of gardens to prepare for winter. When it is either too wet or cold to garden then I am offered other jobs to do and participate in eg candle making, kitchen, cleaning out ‘mothers’ pride’ a stone building in which the early women used to do the washing and to which the men were not welcomed where now is stored gardening equipment and where soap is made.
Erraid is about 1 mile square. In the UK miles are still used – easily understood. Erraid was settled as a source of stone for both the engineers’ houses here and the lighthouses which were being built by the Stevenson brothers back in 1800s. I love the place because of the rocks, the grasses growing all over them so snugly and short it is like being covered by a brilliant green carpet. Sheep belonging to a crofter on the island graze in amongst the tufts of grasses, bog and heather. These sheep are not organically farmed as are the 5 or 6 sheep belonging to Erraid, their coats are long and when they are drenched or in any way dosed up, are marked with different coloured paints. But fully yellow mustard sheep are rams. The colour washes out before the next year’s shear.
Erraid grows lots of vegies and now and then slaughters a calf or sheep for its freezers. The food is mostly vegetarian but they cater to all diets. Food is a feast every meal. Breakfast we get in our own cottage which has a fully equipped kitchen, and bathroom. So breakfast we make ourselves and lunch is cooked most days of the week, and dinner provided every night.
The Island has an observatory above the settlement which looks out onto two lighthouses, one almost never seen but on a clear night, about 26miles away. This was built to communicate from here to the lighthouses. There is plenty of Island to walk around, lots of beaches, lots of hills, and some of the course people went in swimming today – now that has to be crazy – the water temp must be icy.
This is life for me now.