An Eye on the Hebrides by Mairi Hedderwick

Author:Mairi Hedderwick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Birlinn

Yet Tiree is the administrative headquarters for both islands and that is where the elected councillor responsible for both islands lives. Coll’s population is only one sixth of Tiree’s.

There has always been a kind of country cousin attitude by Tiree towards Coll. During the Second World War, Tiree was one of the bases for the Halifax Bombers of Coastal Command. Peacetime inherited the diesel-powered electricity, a good pier, an extensive military airfield which provided the basis for the present daily air link to Glasgow. Eventually Coll was connected to Tiree’s electricity supply via the Sound of Gunna. A faltering dependency at times.

Now, the Collachs, if they so chanced to think on it, are in the advantage. Mains electricity, underwater from Mull, reaches Tiree by coming overland on Coll. Another set of skyline poles so quickly lurching at an angle away from their initial upright position in the bog and sand terrain. A hallmark of the Outer Isles. Somehow Coll and Tiree belong more to those islands than they do to the Glasgow-centred region of Strathclyde.

I had once lived on Coll for nearly ten years and known it since I was seventeen. For the purposes of this project I found it very difficult to be objective. The five days allocated were filled with visiting – de rigueur – and all thoughts of in-depth soliloquies on deserted beaches were denied.

Coll people are very hospitable. And it takes a long time for the kettle to boil.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.