Colonsay Whisky

On 18 December, Colonsay Village Hall Committee held their first sale of a special edition "Colonsay Whisky". There are only 2000 bottles of this special whisky available, which is being sold to raise funds for the new Village Hall. It is a superb product and provides a painless way to render practical support to the committee in its efforts.

Puss in Boots

On 20 December, the pupils of Kilchattan Primary School gave an excellent performance of Puss in Boots at the Village Hall. The hall was filled with locals and visitors, and a very entertaining evening was had by all.

The cast was:
Puss... Hamish Grant;
The King... Chris Robinson;
Colin... Sean Swift;
Dame Trott... Morag Grant;
Princess... Jasmin Brown;
The Fairy... Caitlin McNeill;
The Giant... Angus Howard.

Even the pre-school children, Liam McNeill, Calum McNeill, Glen Brown and Millie Howard appeared on stage as various animals.
Congratulations to Carol McNeill, the headteacher, and Diane Clark, Lucy McNeill and Esme Marshall for putting together such a wonderful pantomime.

Clay Pigeon Shoot

On 29 December Colonsay and Oronsay Gun Club held a clay pigeon shooting competition. There was a huge turnout of locals and visitors alike, and the prizes were presented by Lady Strathcona.
1st Prize: Nigel Grant;
2nd Prize: Angus McFadyen;
3rd Prize: Brian Usher.

Hogmanay

In a break with tradition, a Hogmanay party was held in the Village Hall. This was a great evening and the hall was packed with locals and visitors who wanted to make this a New Year to remember!
There was live music from Donald MacAllister jnr., Mhari McDougall, Ellie Cornford, Sandy Abrahams and Jen McNeill. Songs from Hughie McNeill and Angus MacFadyen had everybody in the building singing at the top of their voices.
Just before midnight, the raffle was drawn for the bottle of Colonsay Village Hall Whisky numbered 0001 - the winner was a local lady, Fran Patrick.
On the stroke of Midnight an almighty cheer rang out as everyone celebrated the start of the new Millenium. Outside, there was a brilliant firework display which was thoroughly enjoyed by children and adults alike, and then it was back into the hall to continue dancing and singing through the wee small hours.

Church Services

The Watchnight Service at the Church of Scotland was attended by about 20 persons, all in good voice, and the congregation was later welcomed for refreshments at the hotel, through the generosity of Christine Reysenn.
A special Millenium Praise was held in the Baptist Church on January 2nd. The story of the life of Jesus was told in songs and readings. There was a good turnout of people as both the Baptist Church and Church of Scotland joined together to praise the Lord.

Caledonian MacBrayne

From Easter 2000, Caledonian MacBrayne are introducing a new "Island Hopscotch" ticket, giving unlimited travel between Kennacraig, Islay, Colonsay and Oban. The ticket is valid for one month, but does not automatically assure a place on any particular sailing, therefore advance booking is strongly recommended. Price is £18.15 per person, £92.00 per car. This is an excellent opportunity for folk who usually restrict themselves to the "Queen of the Hebrides" to spread their wings and sample "Lonely Colonsay".
Another innovation is the Passenger Registration system, which has been imposed on certain routes including Oban/Colonsay/Oban. In a nutshell, intending passengers MUST register at the port no later than thirty minutes PRIOR to sailing time, and be on board no later than ten minutes PRIOR to sailing to time. Passengers must complete a registration card for each individual member of their party (including babies) and must surrender the card as they go aboard the vessel. There have been no problems to date, but each person needs to look after their own card. If part of the family go up the gangway, they must be careful that they have not left their cards inside the car.

Building Works

There has been a great deal of activity this winter. The new £350,000 hall is nearing completion, built by Alexander Black of Oban; Messrs. Barr are at work on a £1.05 million improvement to the island water supply; and housebuilding includes two new houses at Kiloran Bay, one for Donald and Kirsty MacAllister, and the other for Angus MacFadyen and his bride-to-be, Jenni Whitfield; Kevin and Christa Byrne are at work on a new house at Uragaig; and Rupert is building at Balerulin.
In addition, Messrs Woodrow of Islay are building a new manse in Scalasaig for the Church of Scotland and, down at Poll Gorm, Andrew Abrahams is completing a new Honey Store.
Charlie and May MacKinnon will shortly unveil an extension to the pantry and there are firm plans for at least four additional private houses to be built in the near future, plus four additional Housing Association homes and two workshop units.
All of the new buildings fit snugly within their settings, and are an encouraging sign of confidence. The island population is currently at 115, with nine children enrolled at the school.

Telecommunications

The mobile telephone mast - which was completed last Easter - is close to being commissioned. It is hoped that mobile phones will be functioning in Colonsay within the month - they will be particularly useful for people at sea and for the island doctor.
British Telecom have also been busy just recently, and have laid about two miles of underground cabling. The elimination of so many poles will be welcomed by all, although a suitable number have been left standing for the convenience of the buzzards.

Otter Sighting

On Wednesday morning, February 2nd, passengers on the school bus had an excellent close encounter with a beautiful otter, on the Laonaridh Brae. It had a coat of russet brown, with a very heavy drooping tail; it was close to the road and, as it moved away, could be seen clearly for some sixty metres. The morning was calm and dry, and its fur looked very snug; as it went away, its magnificent whiskers could be seen protruding bushily on either side of its head. Otters are plentiful in Colonsay, but this was an exceptionally good sighting.

The late Catriona MacFadyen

Islanders were saddened on January 17 when they learned of the passing of Mrs. Catriona MacFadyen, nee McNeill, daughter of John ("Johnnie Muillear") and Margaret McNeill. The funeral service was conducted by Rev. Bradley and took place in calm and sunny conditions; the large attendance was tribute to the esteem and affection of all who knew her. Mrs. MacFadyen was predeceased by sons Duncan ("Dondie") and Donald, and is survived by her sister Flora, by her husband Finlay and by sons John and Finlay, to whom sympathy is extended. Gus am bris an la.

Iomairt aig an Oir

In the winter of 1998 the Community council was asked to sponsor an audit and, in the light of its findings, to establish a group which would include the community council members, to become a local steering group for Iomairt aig an Oir.

So in the spring of 1999 the Colonsay steering group of Iomairt aig an Oir was established. Colonsay along with other isolated areas Uig and Bernera, Lochboisdale, Bays of Harris, Eriskay, Westray, Papa Westray & Ardnamuchan became part of a Scottish Office Initiative called "Initiative at the Edge", a programme to assist areas which needed regeneration.

Colonsay's steering group was asked by I.a.a.O. to identify those problems specific to the island that made progress difficult. They were asked to make suggestions as to what would be of greatest benefit to the island to secure and indeed increase its population, in order to move forward as a vital growing community.

Two fundamental issues were identified by the audit.
Firstly, there were the problems arising from the ferry/transport system on which the island is totally dependant.
Ferry fares were high, freight charges were a burden, the timetable was clumsy and importantly it left the High School children with no opportunity to come home at weekends except during the summer months (and this not a certainty).
The steering group felt that the rate of charges was off-putting to businesses, and that the timetabling in the winter actually led to families quitting the island when children came to High School age.

The second identified problem was housing.
The lack of choice in terms of rented accommodation, and the fast sale of the few properties that get onto the open market into holiday housing, left building as the main option (grant assistance being available). High freight costs made building extremely difficult and, while grant aid was available, the conflict between planners and Scottish homes made accessing these grants a complicated and frustrating process.

So the steering group put together what they saw as solutions.
Address the ferry timetable or find an alternative way to get the high school kids home at weekends.
Build new housing association houses; speak to Scottish Homes and the planners and see if their difficulties could be resolved.

There are currently feasibility studies underway. One is looking at the possibility of a regular air service to the island, and another is assessing ways to get more housing association houses built. The Community Land Unit is negotiating the purchase of land as sites for houses and/or workshops, to be held until a mechanism is established for building and the community is ready to go ahead. Argyll & the Isles Enterprise are looking at building workshop space.

A constitution is being decided for The Colonsay Community Development Group that will allow funding for any community programme to be dispersed. The Working Group has for some time been organising a rhododendron clearance scheme and it will be one of the first projects to get funding through the development group. Also to be funded in this way is the post of secretary to Colonsay I.a.a.O.

And so progress is being made.