A NEW PAGE A NEWS PAGE

With things changing at a pace we thought it best to add a dedicated NEWS page that principally will be where you can find the latest on what is happening on (and off) the island with regards the Community Trust. The welcome page will be confined to just that and a few bits of general information.
The website is attracting around 7000 page hits every month which is amazingly good and we hope you have us bookmarked to visit again, either to find out the latest news or as a general resource about the island.
There will be an upgrade and change to the site in the not to distant future.

 

Castle Hostel

The Castle Hostel and Bistro are now open year round (except between 20th December and 28th incl.)

From 5th January onwards we will operate a normal full service in the hostel and bistro.

Although the hostel is fully open, castle tours are by prior arrangement only until the "season" reopens in March 2008.
See 'places to stay' page for contact details.

Two cautionary words for those visiting over the Winter months: Wild Weather.
Remember that the village shop is very well stocked with supplies.

 

Orchestrion on YouTube

Guido Blokland from Stornoway visited the castle recently and recorded the Orchestrion. One minute and twelve seconds of pure sonic delight (honestly) can be found on the YouTube clip: Here

 

Isle of Rum 2007 Music Festival

Report by Fliss Hough

We got a 5* review in the Scotsman - Here

Everything went well, the sun even came out which wasn't forecast, the bands were all great, especially Daimh and Bombskare -who excelled even their lively selves this year.

The solar cinema was popular as were the workshops also revolving around a renewable energy theme. The BFG was back and Henry Fosbrooke's woodland orchestra simply didn't stop playing... you could hear them drums 24 hours a day...

Organisation was better this year, in that nobody was running around like a blue arsed fly, at least not all the time. We had Stuart Thomson from Eigg running the bar - strange to get someone from Eigg to stay sober enough to run a bar but Stuart was exemplary, did a great job.

We managed to get the site down and sorted by the end of Monday, despite a bit of rain. Calmac completely messed up the boat bookings on the Monday in that they completely overbooked the boat and then decided to let the first 190 odd on without checking tickets. Needless to say, the boat was full with a lot of angry festival goers, who had booked months in advance arguing with the crew on the slip. However, the boat crew proved themselves more professional than the calmac booking office and offered to come back to pick up the rest of the folk later, which they did. Full marks lads.

Pictures of the festival can now be found here on Louis deCarlo's website

images © Louis deCarlo 2007

 

For those wishing to enter the very low tech world of YouTube excerpts of the festival can be viewed here, a visual and audio assault - you have been warned.

 

Castle and Island Development Update

Plans are still ongoing with regards restoration of the castle and development of the new activities centre and hostel. Presumably there will be accommodation for castle staff and visiting SNH employees (castle staff are currently employed by SNH but this will almost certainly be transfered to any future trust looking after castle interests).
Historic Scotland have objected to the proposals for the hostel to go where the old greenhouses were and want the The Prince's Regeneration Trust (formally Phoenix Trust) to find a new site, they are now suggesting on the track behind the walled garden, just around the corner, near to the squash courts. While HS are supportive of this there is still much work required in developing plans and further consultation with local planning and building authorities.
Also in preparation are substantial emergency works to the rear oriel window of the castle and a replacement castle water tank.
An upgrade to the water supply and and waste water infrastructure is planned to provide the needs of current and future residents of the island.
SNH are also exploring options for a renewable energy supply, looking at a range of technologies, such as solar (like Rum gets lots of sun or even a regular sufficient light level) and geothermal power, to support the castle redevelopment proposals and other possible community initiatives. Perhaps it should be noted that several years back a substantial upgrade and sustainable hydro power scheme involving a new dam (engineering in part supplied free by the army) was rejected.
 

 

The Community Spirit

The splendor of the Isle of Rum* with its dramatic outline and its welcoming bay of Loch Scresort helps make Rum one of the most interesting and unique islands, not just as part of the inner Hebrides but amongst all of Scotland's many west coast islands.
It has an ancient and interesting history, from evidence of neolithic habitation, the earliest in Scotland, through to what has become its glittering (and somewhat distressed) jewel - that of Kinloch Castle built in 1900.
Today it is also known for being one of Britain's finest National Nature Reserves, with an important colony of Manx Shearwater and the location for reintroducing the magnificent Sea Eagle. A long standing Deer research program has brought it international attention and its Feral goats don't go unnoticed with a research initiative of their own.

But what is most important of all is the small population of people who live and work on the island. Making the most of life and addressing those difficulties that living on a small fairly remote island can bring. These difficulties through work, family or general remoteness invariably mean that the population frequently changes from year to year, season to season. Many have to leave due to their work contract, some may simply wish to experience other places. However, they maintain a great sense of community, not inward looking but embracing of those who come prepared for the challenge and also those just wishing to visit, for the day or longer.
* In the past Rum was spelt Rhum, this was an incorrect spelling and the 'h' (added by the Bullough's) has officially been dropped.

This website is a community website, serving the inhabitants of Rum in promoting the place where they live, work and enjoy the islands unique character - the Isle of Rum.

click on image for larger view

 

 

WHATS IN A NAME

A recent correspondent enquired after the correct spelling of Rum, believing the removal of the 'h' a Scottish Natural Heritage conspiracy. The fact of the matter is that from the earliest maps Rum (picture below, Ortelius, Abraham, 1527-1598 ) was spelt RUM. Have a look at online copies of these early maps at the National Library of Scotland 'Here'. SNH merely reverted the name back to its proper spelling.

The first map to include the 'h' in the spelling was the Ordnance Survey Maps One-inch "Popular" edition, Scotland, 1921-1930. This is almost certainly through the intervention of Sir George Bullough.
The Wikipedia entry for Rum has a very interesting discussion on the correct spelling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© National Library of Scotland

 

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to all those who helped with this website - The people of Rum - Fiona Talbot especially with the website, Julie Buggy for additional info, the wildlife experts for text and images, those who appear in the photographs and especially to Scottish Natural Heritage for permission to use their copyrighted images (inc. Laurie Campbell commissioned work - great pics Laurie).
ALL Photographs, Illustrations and Text are copyright and governed by international copyright laws. They must not be copied and used whole or in part for any form of reproduction without permission.

Website design and realization, text (except where indicated) and photography (except where indicated) © George Logan 2008

The website has been checked for any inaccuracies but there will almost certainly be some, please let me know george@scottish-photography.co.uk

Ongoing

This website is an ongoing project for the benefit of the Isle of Rum community and island, it will have regular changes made, especially during its inaugural period.
If there is anything you wish to see, wish to have changed or wish to contribute, please get in touch. And if you spot any mistakes please do let us know.
The wildlife section will be expanded, there is still information to come in.

Walks and routes around the island will hopefully be added at some stage. Also a geology and plant-life sections would be of interest and shall be pursued. (click 'Here' for a link to the Scottish Natural Heritage Rum geology pages)
Another Geology link can be found on the links page.

Validation

This site validates with W3c XHTML and CSS standards or at least it would except the anti spam code (on pages with a mail-to link) does not conform to the standards. While it is nice to demonstrate high level web standards the protection against spam was deemed more important at this stage, in all other ways the site is web standards compliant.

If viewing on a PC the best results are achieved with Firefox, Safari or Opera browsers.

illustration of Rum © scottish natural heritage