Since the last newsletter, we have seen two resignations from the Board: Meryl Carr and Julia Ridgman. We are very sorry to have lost them but wish them both well in their new enterprises. Meryl is running her own company organising walks in the area and Julia has just opened The Troll Yard, a small shop selling Fairtrade and other organic goods. However, we are delighted to have secured the services of Murdo Mackenzie, ex-Harbourmaster, who has agreed to join the Board and we are already benefiting from his wide marine experience and general good sense…! Murdo has also joined the rota for operating the ferry which is a great help to us. But, we still need to increase our Board Members, so if you would like to get involved please do not hesitate to contact any of the Board members listed on the back page of this newsletter.

This year we have employed Cat Logie from Dingwall and she has been on the island since May, living in the Boa House. Cat is a most willing worker and has managed to endure not only the gales and torrential rain storms, but also survive the midges which have been prolific this year. She has taken the boat training course (as have some other members of the Trust) and so has been operating the ferry when the weather has permitted. She, and her partner Gordon, have been working away at removing the elder from the ruins of the old houses on The Street, beach cleaning, painting and decorating, looking after the tenants of the Croft House and all the other jobs that need to be done on a regular basis. They have planted veg in the garden of the Boa House and are very happy on the island.

THE PONTOON has been installed and has been in use since May. This is a great achievement for us and we are all delighted with it. The Summer Queen can land safely beside it and tenders from the Hebridean Princess will use it in 2008. There is a list of charges for the use of the pontoon (we have to try to get back some of the cost!) so please, if anyone does use it, can you give the money either to Cat, our Warden, or put it in the Honesty Box which will be in place early next year. Thank you.

On 18^th July, members of the committee visited Isle Martin on the Summer Queen. The Big Lottery Fund had been most generous in financially supporting the installation of the pontoon and they wanted to see it in place. Along with several board members, the Committee, which included ex-Highland Council Conveners Alison McGee and David Green, spent time on the island and were very impressed at what has been achieved so far. They particularly liked the fact that the pontoon will open up the island, not only to local people but also for visitors.

In August we had a visit from Claude Siroy from Lyon in France who had lived on Isle Martin 29 years ago while working for the then owner Mrs. Monica Goldsmith. We were finally able to get Claude and his partner Mireille over to the island between showers of heavy rain and gusts of gale force winds and he was delighted to be back. They stayed overnight in the Croft House and then came to see Sheila who recorded some of his memories for the Isle Martin archives.

Claude is a keen bird watcher and mentioned that he had seen a purple heron while staying in the Croft House this time. This is a European bird and must have been blown off course as it appeared exhausted when he saw it.

HISTORY WALKS/TALKS

Board member Joan Michael had managed to obtain grant funding from Highland 2007 for a series of history walks to be held on the island throughout the summer. The colour leaflets, designed by her son Duncan, were distributed throughout the area and eye-catching boards erected on the Shore Street railings and on the gate at Ardmair. Unfortunately we were let down badly by the weather as, Saturday after Saturday, the rain poured down and gale force winds blew. We also had a problem at one point with the engine of the ferry, the Catriona Rose, but this has now been fixed. However, on the days we did manage to get across, everyone who came had a brilliant time. Joan and Sheila led the walks and Derick, Fraser, Paddy and Murdo were on hand to help. The walks took about an hour and a half, starting at the graveyard, then the new school, stories in MacLeod House, more stories in front of the Mill House and photographs of the Flour Mill and its workers, up to the Croft House and across to The Street – the ruined row of houses where the Herring Curing Station workers had lived. Finally, down John’s board walk to the old school then back through the woods to enjoy hot tea and coffee and home baking. People who came thoroughly enjoyed it and gave very generous donations.

Although there won’t be any grant funding for next year, Joan and Sheila had such a good time they are happy to repeat the experience next year …!

On Saturday 11 August we were delighted to welcome a very special visitor to Isle Martin for our History Walk and Talk. He was Chris Woodhouse, great, great, great, great grandson of John Woodhouse, the Liverpool merchant who had established the herring curing station on the island in 1775. The sun shone and the midges stayed away in celebration of this event. It was a significant occasion – it felt that something had come full circle.

As John Woodhouse was the first to ship Marsala to Britain we felt that there was only one way to celebrate Chris’s visit – and that was with a glass of Marsala. So a bottle was produced after the walk and everyone who had come over for the day duly toasted John Woodhouse and welcomed Chris to the place of his ancestor’s venture.

Joan and Sheila exchanged information on their research with Chris and we hope this exchange will be ongoing. In the meantime, we welcome Chris and his sister as life members of Isle Martin Trust.

We are continuing to bring the Mill House up to scratch and hope next year to be able to use it for small groups who wish to stay on the island. We have removed the carpet in the upstairs lounge – fouled by a family of stoats who took up residence in the house during the winter ..! – and varnished the floor… it looks really good. The bedroom walls and ceiling are waiting to be painted and that floor, too, will be varnished. The kitchen has been equipped with all the really nice cutlery, kitchen utensils and crockery that has been donated so it is nearly ready for further use.

The Croft House has been equipped with a comfy sofa and chairs and we have got new duvets and duvet covers for the beds, some of which have also been replaced. Re-decoration is on-going.

All the archive material and photographs have been removed from the Display Room in MacLeod House and we hope to have the walls, ceiling and floor painted in time for next season. Our archive files are constantly growing, mainly thanks to Joan Michael and her visits to the National Library of Scotland whenever she is in Edinburgh!

The Sub Aqua Club held their annual BBQ on the island and stayed overnight. All reports were that they had a great time…! This year we did a deal with them, instead of charging our usual fee we asked them to collect various items of donated furniture that we had stored around the village and bring it over to the island…. And this they did with great enthusiasm. Consequently, the group who were listening to a History Talk that day were treated to the sight of an Ullapool fishing vessel arriving and a trail of people carrying a settee, armchairs, sofa bed and a host of other items up from the pontoon and into the Mill House and the Croft House..! There was a problem getting the bed settee into the upstairs lounge as it was too big to go up the stairs. So it went through the upstairs window..! Thanks to Malcolm MacLeod (Raigie) for the photo of it on its way in.

Ullapool Book Festival was held in June and used Isle Martin as one of the venues. The highlight for many at the festival was the poetry morning on Isle Martin. The Summer Queen sailed from Ullapool and landed 57 people on the new jetty. Two poetry reading sessions were held in the upstairs lounge of the Mill House. The first had Valerie Gillies (Edinburgh’s makar) and Donny O’Rourke both in sparkling form and the second featured leading Gaelic poets Meg Bateman and Kevin McNeil. There was a short break between the two sessions so people got a chance to catch a wee flavour of Isle Martin.

Without exception, they were captivated.

The idea of holding the event outside had to be abandoned in the face of drizzle and cold winds but we managed to seat everyone upstairs and the atmosphere was electric. A festival review in Northwords Now said "The visit provided a brief moment of connection with that ancient search for spiritual enlightenment in remote places, especially on small islands."

Someone said to me on the Summer Queen on the way back to Ullapool "Four of Scotland’s best poets in a wee room without electricity on an uninhabited island; it doesn’t get much better than that!" J.M.

Reforesting Scotland is holding its Annual Gathering in Ullapool this year and has asked to visit the island on Saturday 29 September. They have hired the Summer Queen and will spend time learning about the woodland restoration project there which they were involved with at the very beginning and to see how it is progressing. Members of the Board will go across with them.

LOOPALLU: Our next task is the Loopallu Festival due to take place on 21/22/23 September. A rota has been drawn up of twenty volunteers (including the 11-2am shifts!) and again we are very grateful for all the support we get. Another healthy cheque for Trust funds, we hope!

the hat has been put on to the gravestone to protect it from the frost and rain during the winter and the Catriona Rose will be taken out of the water at the end of September and lashed to the side of the storage shed there. So ends another season – awful weather-wise but certainly this year has brought lots of activity and interest for all involved with the Isle Martin Trust.

You can now donate all or part of your tax repayment to the Isle Martin Trust by entering charity code number CAD40NG on your Self Assessment tax return at question 19A.3. You should also complete 19A.1 (pr 19A.2) and tick 19A.4.