Berneray as a working environment

The island of Berneray as a farm

While Berneray is an exceptionally attractive place to visit and wander around, it is also a working environment. Practically the entire island is worked, in one way or another, as a source of income for residents. Think of Berneray as one large, diverse, farm and that's not far wrong.

With this in mind, here's a few tips for visitors who may not be used to this kind of environment. It's all common sense, really, and can be summarised as "Look, but leave it alone; thanks."

1. Leave gates as you find them (open or shut). Use gates and stiles to walk across the island; don't bend down fences or wire, as they're costly and time consuming to replace (as are escaped animals).
2. Ditto, leave any farming or fishing apparatus alone.
3. If you see an animal apparently in distress, don't go near it. It may be fine, and messing with it may just cause problems between it and its parent. Tell the next crofter/local you see about the animal and where it is; they'll contact the owner.
4. The one exception to leaving animals alone are geese, which are a pain as they damage crops. If you see a flock of geese, feel free to make lots of noise to scare them away.
5. In the same way that you wouldn't want people to walk across your vegetable patch at home :-) stay off crops such as spuds and corn on the machair.
6. Cattle may look cute, but a ton of highly mobile beef is anything but. Several people are killed in the UK by cattle every year. Give them a wide berth - and never get between a calf and it's mother - and you won't add to the statistics :-)
7. The responsibility is with the visitor to be safe and sensible.
8. Bin your rubbish.

Background information

In Scotland the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 codified into Scots law the ancient tradition of the right to access to the land in Scotland. The act specifically establishes a right to be on land for recreational, educational and certain other purposes, but not for all occasions e.g. cultivated crop areas do not have access. By law, the rights exist only if they are exercised responsibly.

These rights are similar to those of Sweden; there the Allemansrätten (lit. All men's right) existed for many centuries only as a customary law. Since 1994 it is part of the Swedish constitution. As in other Nordic countries, the Swedish right to roam comes with an equal emphasis being placed upon the responsibility to look after the countryside; the maxim is "Do not disturb, do not destroy".

Enjoy your stay on Berneray.