News : Naidheachd
Well done to Chris Spears on raising over £1,000 to support research into prostate cancer. See article in The Stornoway Gazette.
Berneray Litter Pick, April 2013
Happy litter pickers, poised to set off from the ferry terminal for the annual island litter pick, organised by Berneray Development Group, which this year focussed on the causeway and the area either side of it and up to Borve.
Oidhche Challuinn
Berneray is one of few places which still celebrate the Old New Year, according to the Julian Calendar. Oidhche Challuinn 2013 was celebrated on Saturday 12 January. For anyone who would like to find out more about this tradition, copies of the Oidhche Challuinn DVD which was produced in 2007 are still available from the Historical Society for £7. info@bernerayhistorical.co.uk.
New Community Skip Service Gets Underway
Berneray has become the first site in the Uists, and only the third in the whole of the Western Isles to host one of the new lockable community skips. These are being introduced to address health & safety concerns surrounding the old "open all hours" skips, and also to assist with the Comhairle's requirement to reduce the amount of waste going into landfill, and eliminate the possibility of trade waste being deposited in household waste skips.
Trade waste and other items which are not accepted by the new community skips need to be taken to the nearest waste recycling centre (Rueval/Market Stance in our case). There is a full list of what is considered acceptable waste and what isn't at the skip itself. Guidance on what types of waste are acceptable in the new skip is also available here.
The new skip at Berneray harbour is to be open during certain specified hours only and staffed by volunteers working on a rota. At other times the skip will be shut and unavailable. The Comhairle takes an extremely dim view of flytipping and will be eager to prosecute anyone caught doing so - that includes dropping waste at the skip outwith the official opening hours.
The opening hours are ONLY 10am - 12 noon each Wednesday and 10am - 12 noon on Saturdays.
Berneray Development Group has managed the community skip and bottle bank for a number of years. The fact that the community is able to have the new arrangement, albeit that it is possibly less convenient than what went before, is only possible because of the good management of the area that we have practised in the past. In partnership with the Community Council, we have put together a rota to staff the skip during opening hours.
Please be nice to the volunteers when you bring stuff to the skip (cups of coffee and biscuits will no doubt be most welcome!) - they are not standing there in the rain for the good of their health, but because they want to try and make the new arrangement a success.
Trade waste and other items which are not accepted by the new community skips need to be taken to the nearest waste recycling centre (Rueval/Market Stance in our case). There is a full list of what is considered acceptable waste and what isn't at the skip itself. Guidance on what types of waste are acceptable in the new skip is also available here.
The new skip at Berneray harbour is to be open during certain specified hours only and staffed by volunteers working on a rota. At other times the skip will be shut and unavailable. The Comhairle takes an extremely dim view of flytipping and will be eager to prosecute anyone caught doing so - that includes dropping waste at the skip outwith the official opening hours.
The opening hours are ONLY 10am - 12 noon each Wednesday and 10am - 12 noon on Saturdays.
Berneray Development Group has managed the community skip and bottle bank for a number of years. The fact that the community is able to have the new arrangement, albeit that it is possibly less convenient than what went before, is only possible because of the good management of the area that we have practised in the past. In partnership with the Community Council, we have put together a rota to staff the skip during opening hours.
Please be nice to the volunteers when you bring stuff to the skip (cups of coffee and biscuits will no doubt be most welcome!) - they are not standing there in the rain for the good of their health, but because they want to try and make the new arrangement a success.
The new lockable skip arrived at the harbour in early December
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A few of the volunteers
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The first day of operation!
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Successful Historical Society book launch
Alison Dix, chair Comunn Eachdraidh Bheàrnaraigh, Peter Kerr, project worker, and Sue Wilson, project manager
The Nurse's Cottage hosted a big crowd on Saturday 1 December for the launch of the Historical Society's latest publication The Story of Emigration from Berneray, Harris written by Peter Kerr. The book represented the culmination of the Society's most recent project, 'A' tilleadh ar n-eachdraidh dhachaigh', which has run for the last 18 months. The project also included a conference held in the Community Hall in August.
Copies of the book are available for £5 + postage. Please contact the secretary of Berneray Historical Society at The Nurse's Cottage, Berneray, Isle of North Uist, HS6 5BD or email info@bernerayhistorical.com
The Gaelic version of the book available on online as a free download.
Copies of the book are available for £5 + postage. Please contact the secretary of Berneray Historical Society at The Nurse's Cottage, Berneray, Isle of North Uist, HS6 5BD or email info@bernerayhistorical.com
The Gaelic version of the book available on online as a free download.
Waste bin news
The leaflet which accompanied the arrival of the new blue bins recently is available here as a download (Page 1 and Page 2). We are told that there are a couple of amendments: corrugated brown card CAN now be put in your paper/card bin. Also the correct link for the composting guide is: www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/guide-home-composting
Very rare blue lobster caught by Berneray fisherman
Blue Lobster. Photo: Ian Hoyle
It is said that only one in every two million lobsters has this genetic mutation which causes it to be blue, rather than black.
2 Islands Half Marathon - Berneray to Lochmaddy
Results are here. Photo gallery here. The event has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/2IslandsHalfMarathon
Dolphins in Bays Loch, Berneray
Wednesday 22 August saw the pod of dolphins which had been offshore from the hostel for a couple of days move into Bays Loch and establish itself for the whole day very near the harbour jetty. There were nine, mixed sizes, so some of them were probably calves. All feeding but very relaxed, with no injuries. By the afternoon the state of the tide would have made it difficult for them to leave, but they were still fine. The Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society were made aware, and they confirmed that these were common dolphins, either long or short-beaked. Although harbour porpoises have been seen here before, for dolphins to congregate at this particular location is unusual and was a big treat for the small crowd that gathered for much of the day at the jetty!
Photos: Sue Wilson
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Berneray Historical Society Conference a great success
Berneray Historical Society held a one-day conference on Friday 3 August. It represented the culmination of over a year's work by Peter Kerr on the A' tilleadh ar n-eachdraidh dhachaigh project. An appreciation of the day's proceedings by David Powell, project manager & archivist with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, can be see here.
Michael Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, visits The Nurse's Cottage, 25 July
Mike Russell visited The Nurse's Cottage to view the Historical Society displays, to meet with the volunteers and also to meet Gaelic learners. The Cabinet Secretary was accompanied by Douglas Ansdell, Head of
Gaelic and Scots Unit at the Scottish Government.
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Berneray 10K Road & Cross-Country Race - 21 July
A tale of Uist kindness
Thanks to the two local men who recently reunited me with my camera.
I caught the 8 o'clock bus from Berneray towards Benbecula. After I had been dropped off at the foot of Beinn Mhor behind Port na Long, I realised that I had left my camera in the bus. This was probably because I had banged my head on the door lintels at Berneray Hostel too many times.
On my return from Beinn Mhor, a nearby crofter who had recently retired, was parked up. He asked me if I had left my camera on the bus. When I said that I had, he phoned the bus driver, who was from Solas, and drove me round towards Solas and reunited me with my camera.
These two kind gentlemen epitomised the helpfulness and friendship I was met with throughout my all too brief six-day tour of Outer Hebridean Grahams and lesser hills. The return of my camera enabled me to capture some good memories of the ridge from Hecla to Beinn Mhor behind Howmore, and I will certainly be back soon to do more of the fine Marilyns I saw in the Outer Hebrides.
Mr S., Hyndland, Glasgow
PS. 65 minutes from Benbecula Airport to my flat in the West End of Glasgow takes some beating - and you should publicise it more!
I caught the 8 o'clock bus from Berneray towards Benbecula. After I had been dropped off at the foot of Beinn Mhor behind Port na Long, I realised that I had left my camera in the bus. This was probably because I had banged my head on the door lintels at Berneray Hostel too many times.
On my return from Beinn Mhor, a nearby crofter who had recently retired, was parked up. He asked me if I had left my camera on the bus. When I said that I had, he phoned the bus driver, who was from Solas, and drove me round towards Solas and reunited me with my camera.
These two kind gentlemen epitomised the helpfulness and friendship I was met with throughout my all too brief six-day tour of Outer Hebridean Grahams and lesser hills. The return of my camera enabled me to capture some good memories of the ridge from Hecla to Beinn Mhor behind Howmore, and I will certainly be back soon to do more of the fine Marilyns I saw in the Outer Hebrides.
Mr S., Hyndland, Glasgow
PS. 65 minutes from Benbecula Airport to my flat in the West End of Glasgow takes some beating - and you should publicise it more!
