Local development officer Mali MacLennan, with Dunvegan Community Trust chairman Jason Bold With moves to create new crofts in north Skye progressing to the next stage, residents in the Dunvegan area are also being urged to fill in a housing needs survey before the deadline tomorrow (Friday). Last month at the Dunvegan Community Trust’s AGM, there was unanimous support among the 20 resident members present, in addition to the board, to press ahead with the creation of two woodland crofts in Orbost, at Cruachan Wood (8.7 hectares) and Cnoc nan Craobh (0.6 hectares). The current owners are Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the DCT will now submit a Community Asset Transfer request. Local development officer Mali MacLennan thought that HIE would “look favourably” on the request for the woodland transfer. She told the Free Press: “With the land that HIE own in Orbost it was always the plan for it...

Photographs by Willie Urquhart A craft-loving group of ladies got into the festive spirit last week by putting their creative talents to the test and raising funds for charity. The group showed-off their artistic flair at a wreath-making workshop in the Skeabost Hotel on Wednesday morning. Amid piles of moss, festive foliage, baubles, bangles and beads, they snipped, shaped and decorated their iconic Christmas decorations under the able guidance and technical expertise of workshop leader and florist Lyndsey Clark. The event was one of two workshops organised by Kate Cholerton, secretary of Skeabost for Skye, a satellite committee of the Broadford-based Lochalsh, Glenelg and Skye branch of Macmillan Cancer Support. The workshop raised almost £800. Kate, a chartered surveyor and a person who lost her best friend to cancer, set up Skeabost for Skye last year. She is joined on the committee by Jen Gracie of the Sonas Collection, who...

Bridget Horne from the Balmacara trust, pictured at the recently acquired campsite in the township A wood and former campsite in Lochalsh will be bought for the local community thanks to an award of £162,130 from the Scottish Land Fund. The cash boost means Balmacara Community Trust can now progress its long-held plans to acquire the 16-acre site from Forestry and Land Scotland. The site was at one time used as a camping site and the trust believes this activity could potentially be revived to provide an income for the community, while preserving the much-loved recreational aspect of the land.   The trust plans to keep the woodland and paths which are enjoyed by the community for walking and also create gathering spaces for recreation and community events. The group will also upgrade the derelict office building. Mike Shucksmith, chairman of Balmacara Community Trust, said: “The trust is thrilled to be...

Teonaidh Chailein with Dr Andrew Wiseman in 1995. (Credit: Dr Mairi MacArthur) Dr Alasdair C. Whyte discusses songs in the recordings on the Tobar an Dualchais website and immersion in Gaelic song culture with reference to Johnnie Campbell (Teonaidh Chailein). My focus in this piece is on the recordings of a man still known and referred to locally in his native Iona and the Ross of Mull as Teonaidh Chailein (Tobar an Dualchais, Person ID: 5658). Teonaidh would be Seonaidh in many other districts but Teonaidh is the form of this personal name found in this part of the Hebrides. Our Teonaidh was usually Johnnie Campbell in an English-speaking context. Teonaidh’s mother was Oighrig Chaimbeul (Effie Campbell) and Teonaidh was born in Culdamh in Iona on 7 March 1905. The Cailean in Teonaidh’s patronymic is his stepfather, Cailean MacAonghais (Colin MacInnes), a tailor from the Ross of Mull. The family...

Alastair MacPherson and Nick Ferguson Broadford’s annual Christmas tree and light display celebrated its third decade of donations from a local club this year.  The tree and accompanying lighting and festive decorations are each year selected, decorated and erected by the Broadford and Strath Community Council alongside a team of volunteers aiming to bring the Christmas spirit to the village – and it is in large part thanks to donations received from the local ‘Whist Drive’ group that this has happened. The group of card-playing enthusiasts meet through the year to play whist, and as well as enjoying the social and competitive elements of the club, they have been raising money for the local Christmas light displays since the 1990s.  The idea surfaced 30 years ago when Seonaid Nicolson and Fiona Mackay, along with their husbands, were on holiday in Canada during Halloween.  Seonaid and Fiona saw that the towns...

LochShiel – the winning squad A fine turnout of 12 teams assembled at the Portree High School pitch on Saturday 28th December for Skye Camanachd’s annual John MacKinnon memorial sixes tournament. A dry day made for a very enjoyable competition, which brought together junior, senior, veteran and female players from Skye, Lochalsh, Lochcarron, Strathglass, Glasgow and Inverness. Ali Nixon in full flight as he attempts to stop John Gillies After a keenly contested round robin stage involving two groups of six, the four semi-finalists were World’s Seven, LochShiel, GMA All the way and Moch’s the word. The semi-finals were both closely contested, but it was World’s Seven and LochShiel who won through to the final. The ladies player of the tournament, Christina MacDonald, keeps a close guard on Lexie MacKenzie LochShiel set the early pace and goals from David Falconer and Ali Nixon put the mainland side in a commanding...

Achnashellach Lodge Pic Future Proerty Auctions A 19th century former shooting lodge in Wester Ross is set to go under the hammer next month. Achnashellach Lodge in Glen Carron, near Lochcarron, will be offered for sale at an online auction, with an opening bid of £293,000. The 15-bedroom property, which dates from the 1860s, sits in 18 acres of woodland and has its own hydro-electric power scheme. Future Property Auctions, which will conduct the auction on 6th February, describes the property as in need of full restoration but with the potential to be a “stunning family home/guest house/holiday retreat/boutique hotel/spa”. The grand building with a royal past Pic Future Proerty Auctions The agents say: “The front section of the property is in reasonable order, however the rear is in a state of some disrepair and non-habitable condition. “A hydro-electric power system from the river was installed in 1927. This was...

Elgar and Rachel with Gordon and Gareth, who came to the rescue What began as a romantic post-engagement getaway turned into a tale of heartbreak, hope, and heroism for Rachel Stephenson and Elgar Finlay, who recently visited Ullapool to stay at the Wreck and Ruin holiday accommodation for Rachel’s birthday, ten days after getting engaged. The couple, who live in Portree, were keen to embrace the winter charm of the area with their dogs Reggie and Flo, and arrived on a snow-covered Thursday evening with temperatures plummeting to minus six degrees Celsius. On the Friday they explored Ullapool’s coastline before enjoying lunch at the Bothy Café. The day’s highlight was a walk through Corrieshalloch Gorge, Europe’s deepest gorge, blanketed in a foot of snow. However, joy turned to despair on the drive back to Ullapool when Rachel discovered her engagement ring was missing. She had no idea where it could...