An Island Parish

An Island Parish is a programme currently running on BBC2 television.

It is telling the true story Fr John Mackinnon settling into his new parish at Castlebay on the island of Barra. It can be found on Friday evenings at 7.30pm.

It has brought back memories of a holiday spent on Vatersay, a tiny island just off Barra, around about 1969.

I had gone there with Fr Edward Higgins who was leading a camp for some schoolboys from Royston. I was there as a helper, along with a few others of my age.

In those days it was a 12 hour crossing from Oban via Coll and Tiree and Mull I think. And the Minch is not one of your smoother crossing.

We stayed in the school on Vatersay as it was the summer holidays. It was a gloriously warm and sunny summer too.

At that time, the only across to Barra was via small ferry that ran at certain times of the day. Today there is a causeway.

It was a wonderful holiday, far away from Glasgow. There were two large sandy beaches, one facing the Atlantic, one facing Barra. We could play there for hours.

Electricity was just reaching some of the houses. And I vividly remember making my way back to the school one evening and coming to a point on the island where we met a curtain of mist. In the mist was cool. Step out of it, you were in warmth. I believe it was where the Gulf Stream passed across the island. Amazing!

We had many adventures. There was a wrecked World War II flying boat on the island. There was a telegraph pole just outside the school. One of the boys ran into it and broke his leg!

He has to be taken across to Barra and flown home to Glasgow. The runway there is the beach, so aircraft can only operate at low tide.

And it was Barra and Castlebay that was used for the filming of "Whisky Galore", a film telling the story of the shipladen with whisky for America that ran aground during the war. The islanders "salvaged " some of the cargo. Well, it was difficult to come by alcohol in the islands during the war........

I bumped into Fr Higgins a month ago. He was supplying at the Church at Glenfinnan. Nice to find someone older than me still alive!

If you have not read "Whisky Galore", or seen the film.....get both! A great wee treat. Ans watch the BBC programme while it still running.

I have no photos of Barra. maybe it is time to go back and get some. Always wanted to land on that beach.

So here are some of my photos from Turin.