Scottish Islands Explorer - November-December 2016

4 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORERNOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016

Editor’s Welcome / Guest Columnist

W

hat do we mean by ‘the real world’, anyway?

In 2013, I le London for an unknown wilder-

ness, having abandoned job, income, friends and family

to live with my wife in Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rum,

one of the wildest places in Britain. We shared an island

with just 42 other people, plus eight eagles, 900 deer and

100,000 Manx shearwater.

During the two years that we lived there, my encounters

with Rum's vast wilderness and its tiny community at

first led to depression, even fear; but Rum was also

beautiful, comical and, ultimately, life-changing. And

when I wanted to run away, I was inspired to stay by the

story of Lady Monica Bullough, the Edwardian beauty

who once owned both castle and island.

Here I was able to find my own voice and to write - at

first a blog - then a whole book, Twelve Months with

Lady Monica - A Beginner’s Life on the Isle of Rum. One

reason for writing it was to tell the story of an island. But

I also wanted to communicate that change is possible -

but not easy. Living inescapably close to nature is not a

romantic dream. It's more like a surgical intervention

that changes you, body and soul.

Even though we are now back in the ‘real world’ - which

sometimes feels far less real than Rum - I am still stronger.

My senses are sharper, I sleep more deeply and I know

how to walk without footpaths; I used to feel cold all the

time, now I feel warm. I am not passive in the way I used

to be; I do not rely as much on other people;

I have learnt what it means to feel free. is is what Rum

gave me.

So what happens now? Islands are not places where you

can run away from life. Instead, if you take them

seriously, they make you confront their realities.

My challenge now is to put what I learned on Rum to

use - to bring some of its freedom and wildness to my

own life and, maybe, to other people’s too.

Emily Richards

Guest Columnist

Emily Richards on the

Isle of Rum’s effect

T

here is again something that feels new about this edition

of the magazine. We are with Buxton Press which, of course,

applies different production techniques. Alas, the family-firm of

Hastings Printing, was taken over and closed. Sadness was felt

because the company knew how to handle our commercial

needs in both a friendly and professional manner.

We felt an association with them for they owned two

magazines, which like our title, encouraged those with a passion

• in their case for ships and aircraft. One of the features of the

British, and its males in particular, is a liking for an activity that

creates a bond of common interest. Obviously on a large-scale

this can involve soccer or, with its full title, Association Football.

Fans (and sometimes fanatics) can be drawn to mass

movements which are sporting, political, religious or social. Yet

the appeal is to find those enthusiasts who focus on the often

unnoticed and the unexpected. They derive pleasure from

exploring, sometimes collecting, but always looking at structures

or topics that demand a certain meticulousness.

I had the privilege during the summer of spending time with

members of the Relative Hills Society in the Isles of Scilly. Before

you start contacting me about a group of Marilyn-baggers

(dedicated climbers of certain hills of over 1500’ in Britain and

Ireland) being on low-lying islands, you should know that here

was a group interested also in SIBS - Significant Islands of Britain.

I now urge you to google your way out of ignorance and then

to listen to my account of how I was impressed by 20 individuals,

male and female, who visited small islands, climbed to their

highest and photographed, if there, the relevant trig points and

then proceeded to search for and identify one or more of the

Ordnance Survey bench-marks, of which there are some half-

million nationwide.

So let us rejoice that our heritage is being preserved for future

generations, efforts are being made to enthuse others, individual

passions are aroused and a ‘good time had by all.’ Those of us

who are associates on this magazine - editor, contributors,

publisher, designer, proof-reader, circulation-manager and

printer - have a common cause that demands meticulous

attention to creating a publication.

John Humphries

Editor

John Humphries

on associates