EIGG Island Going Green

Well spring was almost in the air as the temperatures rose and thoughts of working out in the garden were becoming more appealing but this last week has put a stop to that as the temperatures plummeted and snow is lying on the hills again! Apologies for the lack of news but really there hasn’t been much to write about, folk have been catching a bit of winter down time after the festive period with the last month starting to work up to getting accommodation ready for the summer season and generally geared towards visitors returning to the island. On the community side of things the main developments have been catching up on the paperwork side of things and a lot of discussions over the past few months to ensure a clear focus for the our future green activities. But in saying that this month has seen a welcome bit of activity up at our PV panels. Finally after many failed attempts of getting to our wee isle since November, Wind and Sun have managed to return to install the additional panels to Eigg Electrics PV panel array. This brings our PV array from 10kW to 30kW providing we get the sunshine, so we are all hoping for a sunny summer this year to test them to their full capacity! The Wind and Sun team didn’t have it easy, they might have had a better crossing on the boat this time but the weather conditions throughout the installation was far from ideal as the wind blew along with snow, sleet and even a bit of hailstones thrown in there for good measure!! Our own Eigg Electric team braved the weathers also and assisted and learnt the process of a large PV installation along with a lot of holding the panels in place to prevent them blowing away (!) before they were fixed into place. I only went up to the site to take some pictures and the combination of wind and snow was quite fierce and absolutely freezing – our full compliments goes to the team for working above and beyond the original contract! More activities are planned for this weekend with the previously mentioned post of our Eigg Electric Day on Sunday and also on Saturday weather permitting will be another Orchard Day planting a further 30 or so fruit trees expanding on the very successful newly created Orchard. Preparations are also being made as a shed has been made to go onto the site, as we all know all the best things come from the shed!!

Watch out for this weekend Lunar Perigee on March the 19^th as the moon is at it’s closest to earth since 1993! Enough madness occurs on a normal full moon who can tell what this one will bring, the mind boggles!!

Just in time for a snow shower!

"Hang onto that panel before it blows away!"

And again!

The full array is now to large to fit in one shot!

And of course the sun shines once the work is complete!!

Our Solar PV panels were funded from with some of our NESTA Big Green Challenge award and from our Ashden UK Gold Award.   THANK YOU.

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As part of Climate Week, we’re having an Eigg Electric Day!

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Kicking of 2011 with a few incredibly worthwhile campaigns for you to sign up to….. 

Half of all fish caught in the north sea are thrown back overboard dead! Go to www.fishfight.net for more information and sign the petition.

Along with campaigning to look after our fish, we do need to look after our fishermen too…!

The stornoway coastguard is under threat of being closed! A new consultation has been proposed to reduce the stations around the UK coast  if you go to www.stornowaycg.co.uk to find out more and how you can help support the campaign.

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NOLLAIG CHRIDHEIL AGUS BLIADHNA MHATH UR

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support throughout 2010 and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011….!!

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Damian Helliwell has been the first to take on the challenge of building a straw bale house here on Eigg. It is a welcome sight for a born and bred to come back to the isle and with him he has single handedly built an amazing building. There has been many a challenge for Damian along the way but one of the biggest problems was trying to get a supplier of straw close enough to Eigg, (it had to come from Aberdeen in the end) emptying the lorry in the hour between boats, storing, keeping dry and preventing the rats from nesting in it!! As a straw bale build is like no other it has to be build roof first to allow the bales to be kept dry, along with this Damian wrapped the whole outside with plastic. As we like to celebrate everything in this part of the world he decided to have an unveiling ceremony!! It has been to great excitement and anticipation as to what it was going to look like under that plastic, well… it is gorgeous! Well done Damian, this is not only a warm eco friendly home built by his own hands but he has also designed the layout integrating a music studio.

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Thank you, to everyone who voted for us – on Thursday evening, the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust won the Environment category of the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards.

This is the 13th year of the Awards, so it felt somewhat fitting that 2010 marked 13 years since the community buy out of our island.  What a lot has changed in those 13 years.  Without the hard work, vision, stamina and determination of many people, on and off the island, Eigg Electric and all the other ‘green’ projects that brought us the nomination in the first place would not have been possible.

It was an amazing feeling to win the Spirit of Scotland Award.  This time there were no judges, no questions to answer, no reports to write; simply the good wishes and appreciation of people who had taken the time to recognise what we’ve achieved by registering their vote.   So thank you for voting for us.  Your belief in what we’ve done, and will continue to do, means a lot.

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Well, snow snow and more snow… in November too, all very unusual for us on Eigg but oh what fun it has been! School has been closed, so a long weekend has been had sledging to our hearts content, building snowmen and wiping the tears away when through the fun we suddenly realise how cold the fingers and toes actually are!! On day two I actually had to take a day of rest as my enthusiasm for snowman building and seeing how fast we could get on the boogey board which has doubled up as a sledge for the time being was obviously to great as I could hardly move the next day with every muscle in my body aching, there is nothing like the snow to bring the inner child out in us! Other than the kids having an absolute ball (and a few parents too!) minimal cars have been on the roads with most folk walking everywhere but despite the weather the Royal Mail van has managed through the icy conditions but if you were to hand him any post on passing it really did have to be on passing as whoever the passenger might be that day would stick their arm out the window and grab the letters to avoid stopping, skidding and chance of not getting the momentum to set off again! Well I have had as much as I can take sitting at the computer for now and need to get moving, get the blood pumping again, bring more logs in and get eating the daily soup for warmth!!

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I have managed to resist the hibernation… just.. as the weather has been stunning throughout the short daylight hours we get. We had extreme gales which stopped the boat sailing on a couple of occasions but when the weather calmed it was replaced with the first frost! It was only a light frost, on the first morning I tried to catch a picture of the beautiful sparkle on the grass but needless to say it just doesn’t come out the same as you see with your own eye. Every day seemed to get better and better as the next morning the mainland mountains had a fine covering of snow and with the added bonus of the winter clear and crisp light, the views have been, well, spectacular. Even Rum had a, may have been small, but did have a sprinkling of snow on its peaks which seems all a bit soon for that kind of freeziness but all the cold weather has gone in favour of our very own wood team! The orders for fire wood have been non stop since the arrival of our fancy new woodfuel processor which is unbelievable to get a load of logs delivered already chopped no less, saving a few back aches this winter!!

The system seems to be working well so far with regular monthly deliveries available from now on which is great news! Other than that exciting developments other projects have gone into winter pace, slowly filtering away with the official paperwork for the volunteers house and the new PV panels have had various set backs but both projects are coming along at their own pace. A couple of us are trying to dig out suitable attire to attend the Spirit of Scotland awards being held at Prestonfield in Edinburgh on the 2nd of December which should be a great evening where we might even rub shoulders with stars like Paolo Nutini or Biffy Clyro and the like quite inspirational the variety of talent that has been nominated for awards this year! Not much else to report for now only I will share this picture which I am so pleased I managed to catch of a shrimp! You may wonder why I have been taking pictures of shrimps… I am putting together childrens trail packs for the summer season so have been crawling around after beasties, bugs and sea creatures to try and capture their best side although the rock pools have got to be the coldest place ever to be plootering around in at this time of year but was worth it as I did catch these shots….

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It has been all go here despite the fact that the clocks have changed and the automatic feeling kicks in of wanting to hibernate until April. We have had to fight hibernation for now whilst voting goes on for the Glenfiddich awards and deciding who will take the risk of attending the ceremony with the possibilities of being stuck away for days at this time of year! Action has been seen on the hillside rain, shine or severe gale with the cementing team laying the bases for the upgrade of an extra 20Kw of PV panels to our existing array of 10Kw on Eigg Electric.

 This will be a welcome addition to our existing system throughout the summer months. This has been the first expenditure of our prize funds from the Big Green Challenge so I feel it is very exciting project with the added bonus of a visual result from community spirit at its best. The other exciting addition to the island this month has been the purchase of a woodfuel processor to enable the wood team to start supplying chopped wood to households. All working in the process of setting up a woodfuel business for the future but by the purchase of this wood processor now it enables us to have a trial phase to see how all the practical issues pan out. All very exciting and look forward to the first load of logs being delivered! The only other thing that has to be mentioned and is certainly spectacular everywhere is the autumnal colours. The hardy surviving leaves that have managed to hang onto the trees are a range of colours that cannot even begin to describe or capture in a picture and can only be experienced by simply going for a walk! I did take this picture of the carpet of leaves that just couldn’t hang on any longer but it is nowhere near the real colours or delight of kicking your way through them! On the wildlife front, October was active in the sea as a huge pod of dolphins were spotted feeding and playing around just off of Eigg and a week later porpoises seemed to be spotted on a few occasions maybe making the most of the last mackerel who knows but very beautiful to see the water so active. On land Waxwings have been spotted last week feasting on the berries before travelling on.

Programmes of interest this week was last nights What the green movement got wrong and the following debate.Really you have to watch it to make up your own mind!

One to watch on Sunday is the Making of Scotlands Landscape. It is a very factual series packed full of wonderful scenery and presented very well by Dr Iain Stewart. This week the series looks into our oceans which will hopefully come out with a more optimistic outlook in comparison to David Attenborough’s last programme!  In the first programme in the five part series Dr Iain Stewart reveals how Scotland’s unique landscape was shaped. Here, he uncovers the devastating impact of mankind and the climate on the nation’s trees. In this first programme, he uncovers how, over thousands of years, the actions of mankind and the climate nearly led to the downfall of Scotland’s trees and forests. It was only in the 18th century that man realised the extent of the damage to timber stocks, and measures were taken to re-populate the landscape. The impact was profound, but not everyone agreed with the results. Last week the programme looked into the land. For centuries, the beauty and drama of Scotland’s landscape has been regarded by most visitors as natural. But in 1950, an eminent ecologist concluded the Highlands had been devastated. Once it was rich and diverse he said, but humans had destroyed it and in the process created what he described as a wet desert. Dr Iain Stewart discovers how man made the proverbially beautiful Highlands of which Eigg featured. Programmes well worth catching up on iplayer and continuing with the series.

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We’re very chuffed to have been nominated for a Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award.  If you’d like to vote for the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, or maybe suggest to a friend or two that they could, just click on the link below

The Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards gives the public the opportunity to vote for the Scots who aim to exceed all expectations in their chosen fields and are pioneering new developments across Scotland’s rich cultural spectrum. 

If you vote YOU might win a prize too!  A luxury break for the winner and bottles of Glenfiddich Special Reserve for 20 runners up.

http://bit.ly/voteEigg

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