WEST WORD
Community paper for Glenfinnan, Lochailort, Glenuig, Arisaig, Morar,
Mallaig, Knoydart and the Small Isles

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February 2001 Issue Contents of the online version: New Mallaig Lifeboat Monthly reports from Eigg, Muck, Rum, Arisaig Moidart Local History Group A Backward Glance Letters, e-mails and comments are welcome. Contact Details & How to Subscribe Sign our Guestbook

MALLAIG TAKES DELIVERY OF ITS NEW SEVERN CLASS LIFEBOAT

After what seemed months of waiting and keen anticipation, Mallaig's new £1.8 million lifeboat, Henry Alston Hewat, arrived at the port on Tuesday 23rd January. The new lifeboat was escorted into harbour by the Davina and Charles Matthews Hunter - the Arun class lifeboat which has served the Minch waters well for the past 18 years - and with the skirl of Lachie Robertson's bagpipes in the air docked safely at noon. A large crowd of wellwishers and interested members of the public was gathered on the fish quay to greet the new vessel and it was good to see a 'show of solidarity' by the other Rescue and Emergency Services - the Coastguard Landrover, the Ambulance and the Fire Brigade tender were all lined up on the pier, lights flickering and flashing to welcome the Severn. A nice touch and one greatly appreciated by the RNLI. When Lifeboat Coxswain Michael Currie stepped ashore, he was met by Highland Councillor Charlie King, who presented him with a bottle of whisky on behalf of the Mallaig Harbour Authority, and Sir Cameron Mackintosh was on hand to add his congratulations to the coxswain and crew. The Vice Chair of Mallaig Harbour Authority presenting the Chairman with a bottle of Mallaig Harbour Water.

The new lifeboat had left Poole on 20th. January, with Coxswain Currie, Mechanic Jeff Lawrie and crew members Kevin McDonell, Arthur MacDonald and Helena MacMillan tasked with delivering the new vessel to its homeport via lifeboat stations at Newquay (Cornwall), Howth (Eire) and Tobermory. On the run from Howth to Tobermory a Force 9 SE gale was encountered and Coxswain Currie said that the way the boat handled the beam sea was 'impressive'. 'I'm very impressed by the sea-keeping ability of the boat,' said Mr. Currie, 'and although I would never knock the Arun, there's no doubt that the Severn Class vessel is streets ahead.' As well as being equipped with all the latest navigation and communication equipment and electronic throttle management, the speed capability of the new boat is worthy of note. The Henry Alston Hewat is 17m (55ft 9in) long and capable of 25 knots with a range of 250 nautical miles. RNLI Lifeboats are able to reach virtually any point 50 miles off the coast within 2½ hours - a 33% improvement on the previously declared facility. This was illustrated by Michael Currie: 'A passage to Rum Harbour would be just over 30 minutes compared to the 50 minutes it took previously,' he said, 'and once the quayside berth is in situ at the harbour it will improve response times further.' Six months of intensive crew training will now occur, to get all crew members totally familiar with the boat and its capabilities. The Henry Alston Hewat took up official duties on Tuesday 30th. January and the following morning at 5 am the Davina and Charles Matthews Hunter under the command of Second Coxswain Bruce Watt slipped out of Mallaig for the final time en route for Kirkwall.

NEWS from the ISLE OF EIGG

The Hogmanay party was a great success despite none of us being sure until mid-afternoon on December 31st (when at last the snow and ice began to thaw) whether we would be able to get to the tearoom to celebrate or not, but we managed to get it together and hold a brilliant party with plenty of food, music and liquid refreshment. It was good to see the large group staying in the Barn, and other visitors helping us to welcome in the New Year. All our usual resident performers did their bit and one member of the Barn party borrowed a guitar, and entertained us with songs and music not usually heard on Eigg, but which made a pleasant change, and Ben and Joe followed with more very unusual (to some of us!) entertainment! One great friend of Eigg, who forswore alcohol several weeks ago, must be congratulated for surviving the festivities without a drop passing her lips. Brilliant!! Looking back on the events and activities of the year 2000, it becomes apparent that much has happened on the island during the past twelve months. We remember some delightful occasions such as the double wedding and several other weddings, which took place in the summer, and with much sadness, the deaths of two of our important islanders at the middle and end of the year. We said "Good-bye" to Robert and Heather and to our Project Officer, Jacqueline and "Hello" to her successor, Andrew, and his wife Sheryl from New Zealand. We also welcomed Pascal and Catherine. A great many improvements have been achieved during the year, all of which will benefit Eigg in one way or another. Among them, the total refurbishment of Miller's Cottage and the partial completion of Hill Cottage which, it is hoped will be finished by Easter. One important building, rescued from deterioration during the year was the Old Mill. This has been transformed from a complete wreck, to a very comfortable wee Bothy without destroying the ancient machinery, and which will eventually include the reclamation and use of the old water wheel. Duncan & Eileen have worked long and hard on Craigard to provide a more comfortable home. Much Forestry work has been done and a large barn is about to be erected at Sandavore, for the storage of forestry machinery. Good strong fencing has replaced miles of rotten posts and tangled wire. The Lodge Hydro has been reinstated and a new shed built in a less exposed position for the An Laimhrig generator, this hopefully, will prolong its life. Several private Hydro systems have been installed or are still at the planning stage, by those residents with suitable water supplies. Planning permission has been applied for to build a staircase outside the pier building, This will provide access to the roof space above the Craft Shop, where an office is to be constructed for Trust's use and which will make life much easier for a number of people, not least, our Project Officer. As everyone will know by now Caledonian MacBrayne has recently provided the Small Isles, with the doubtful pleasure of the Lochnevis and also, for Eigg's exclusive use, a new flit boat, the Laig Bay. Another wee improvement, the old Coastguard Shed has been replaced with a brand new one. The playground area surrounding the School is now fenced, the schoolroom modernised and the schoolhouse and schoolroom given new windows, much to Morag's glee, although it was a big hassle for her at the time - school was moved to the day centre for several weeks and she nearly got blown out of bed before the new windows were properly fitted! We now have an all singing, all dancing computer in the tearoom for Island and public use, and an Eigg web site has been created. Last, but by no means least important, Sue has been able to bring the shop freezer into use again!

Well those are the plus's but there are always minus's!!! On 12th January a party of Highland Council and Cal Mac employees, came to Eigg for a meeting with the residents to try to thrash out the ongoing problem the proposed new pier. They must have left the island with no doubt whatever in their minds about our feelings on the subject ! Immediately afterwards our pier Steering Committee put out a press release to various newspapers, some of which you may have seen. However Cal Mac have agreed to try to prove, to our satisfaction that their Skippers can safely and successfully get the Loch Nevis inside the Perches in a variety of seas. If this is found to be feasible we are in danger of not having much of a leg to stand on, but there are still many who do not believe that it will be possible or to provide a reasonable service. One Council member has promised to do his best to set up a meeting with the Scottish Executive so that we may try to persuade them not to spend the £5/6 million of public money on a causeway and a new pier on Sgeir nam Bagh, but to use a lesser amount on two small boats, one passenger and one freight, and to refurbished our present pier to suit these crafts. There is a fear on the island that if we were to achieve this, Cal Mac may wash their hands of us and many Eigg residents do not wish for that to happen. My personal feeling is that if Cal Mac will not or cannot accede to our requirements we must find someone else who will ! As was pointed out at the meeting, the Lochnevis will only last for 20 or 25 years but the pier and causeway will be there for hundreds, can we really countenance this or would it not be better if we found the courage to face life without Caledonian MacBrayne? Furthermore, it is not only Eigg residents who object so strongly to this potential eyesore, a significant number of the kind and generous people who donated their hard earned cash to the purchase of Eigg, aren't too happy about it either. Their intention was that we should preserve the Island’s beauty and it's wildlife habitats and not deface a lovely bay with huge concrete edifices. If Cal Mac could be persuaded to site the new pier in the deep water of the South Bay, there would be no further argument, plans and building could then go ahead and the Lochnevis would be acceptable to Eigg. When this was suggested some time ago Cal Mac's main objection was that the prevailing S.W. wind blows straight into the bay but now admit that they are using wind charts compiled for the TWENTY YEARS PRE 1995. The strong conviction on Eigg is that the prevailing wind has moved away from the South West in the past FIVE YEARS! At the very least we think there should be another and, this time, a really serious look at this option and do whatever investigations are necessary to prove the South Bay's present viability one way or the other, before it is too late. There was much activity on Eigg Pier last Saturday when the Gallus Grafter brought tons of freight of various kinds but most important of all, tanks full of diesel. This was pumped into dozens of barrels, gleaned from all over the island, because Cal Mac can no longer bring fuel on the Lochnevis, and individuals cannot as hitherto simply order one or two barrels when required, but must depend on the Gallus Grafter to bring bulk supplies, possibly at infrequent intervals. Hopefully this is only a temporary situation until a couple of large storage tanks are made available to us but meanwhile it is highly inconvenient for all users of these fuels.. Enough! Joy Williams

ISLE OF MUCK

Highlight of the month has been the visit of Lamont Howie of Radio Scotland. Lamont had come to help us in our search for a family to replace the Haighs and the Smiths whose departure will reduce the school role to two. As the danger of the school closing was the main theme in the recent TV series ‘2000 Acres of Sky’ Lamont lost no time in coming to the island and conducting hours of interviews. The result should be on Radio Scotland at 8 am on Saturday 3rd. of February. On the 8th January came Stephan from Vergnet to service the wind turbines which are now turning much more freely at low wind speeds. Coming soon are a team from Scottish Power. They will be servicing the control equipment and they have a lot to do to create a robust system. Even Barnaby with his ability with computers has been struggling to keep the system going in recent weeks.

On the farm the fine weather in the middle of the month made movement by sea easy and it was time to stock up on cattle and sheep feed from North Eastern Farmers, and some unusual animals were crossing the water as well. Six orange and black piglets left Muck on the 11th. January bound for Tobermory and Sgroil Ruadh farm. They will be fed largely on whey from the superb Isle of Mull cheese and the pork will finally be sold direct to the public on Mull. Seamus the Muck Stud Stallion and father of Eilidh the Castaway also departed on the 4th. He was bound for Michelle Milligan’s stables at Cross Farm. Stallions are often temperamental and hard to handle but not Seamus. He just walked onto Wave and at Arisaig walked straight off. If temperament is inherited then Seamus could father some very placid riding ponies. Lawrence MacEwen.