[shygirl]

is anyone following the Hebrides programmes on BBC1?
it looks so lovely.
where do you look for farmland / houses for sale over there? is it all croft land? i cant seem to find anything more than 2 acres, whereas i need atleast 20 - or does crofting mean you share the land with everyone else?
does anyone know what the schooling is like for older children?

thanks

BBC iPlayer - Hebrides: Islands on the Edge: Episode 1

[Lesley Silvester]

I must get onto iplayer and watch that. It looks fascinating.

With island life, it depends on the size of the island. Most smaller ones will have primary schools but secondary schools are fewer and, frequently, the older children are ferried to another island on the Monday morning and home again on Friday afternoon. You would need to check with any island you fancied living on.

[Fleecewife]

I've only been to an Outer Hebridean Island once, and then I was so seasick I didn't see much while I was there.  What did strike me though (on N Uist) is that when you're there, it's definitely not some remote place miles from any civilisation - it seems like the centre of the world.  People are no different on the island, there are nice people and unpleasant people, old fashioned people and very modern people, people with aspirations and feelings and hopes and ambitions, just like everywhere else.  There also seems to be lots of gossip and everyone really does know everyone else.
 
I think you would need to be a special kind of person to live on a tiny island with a population of 20 - I would get cabin fever in winter, then hate all the tourists in the summer.  I might manage an island just for the two of us though - until I was taken ill of course............
 
I have really enjoyed the programmes although my one bugbear is that they kept re-using the same bits of film - a bit cheap     But some wonderfully atmospheric photography 
 
Tonight it showed a puffin colony, with the puffins waiting for the tourist boat to arrive in the afternoon so the ravens and hoodies were scared off - the puffins then took advantage of clear runs from the sea to feed their pufflets, and payed by allowing the tourists to film them close up.

[Victorian Farmer]

Benbecula some crofts for sale fantastic place to live everey bodey bartas.

[southernskye]

Morning all,
 
Mad GWoM - Islands on the edge is only on BBC iPlayer Scotland, not the "normal one". Easy enough to find mind. I think this was the last of the 4 parts. Repeated on Sunday evening IIRC. Should be on normal BBC later this year....nicely timed to MISS the tourist season...thanks BBC
 
To the original poster...shygirl.
 
#1 - Pick an Island and rent a cottage for a few weeks in winter. It can be rough over here. Give it a try as it is not to everyones taste. Then, if you survivie that OK, book the place again for a few weeks in summer and tra again . Should give you a reasonable idea of things. There's quite a big turnaround of people moving over this way but, often after a year or two, they sell up and move away to somewhere not quite so "on the edge"   I likes it on the edge....
 
#2 - There are places with larger tracts of land but, like most places, the usually come at a price. Especially when, on an island, land is finite. You say you need 20 acres, perhaps you could ellaborate a little as to why because there my be ways to be a bit flexible.
 
#3 I'll pull together a few estate agent sorts soon and post them up. There are quite a few but, sometimes, a little digging is needed to find them.
 
Rgds
Sskye.

[southernskye]

This one suit you shygirl?
http://www.remax-scotland.com/Small-Holding-For-Sale-Broadford-Isle-of-Skye_748891008-426
 
 
 
Or at the other end of the financial scale...South Uist...
http://www.uistproperty.co.uk/listing/assignation-of-croft-tenancy-17-ormiclate/
http://www.uistproperty.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Schedule-17-Ormiclate.pdf
Rgds
Sskye
 

[shygirl]

i have a small herd of native cattle (5 but expecting to rise to 10) plus a few ponies, so need enough land for them. and i presume i need barns to winter in. plus il need enough land to grow enough hay for them - we usually need 60-70 bigs bales a year. i presume it is difficult to buy in haylage being on  islands?
we have considered orkney and shetland, but the hebrides were stunning. i do like hills and the fact that deer are there (no deer in orkney)
we dont want to spend more than £175k as  we have seen a few for that price up north, with house, barns and 70 odd acres.
a tatty 3-4 bed croft house is fine, not looking for posh.

[southernskye]

we dont want to spend more than £175k as  we have seen a few for that price up north, with house, barns and 70 odd acres.
a tatty 3-4 bed croft house is fine, not looking for posh.

 
Looks like the one on the Uists I posted earlier would suit......
http://www.uistproperty.co.uk/listing/assignation-of-croft-tenancy-17-ormiclate/
http://www.uistproperty.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Schedule-17-Ormiclate.pdf

 
Often crofts come with an allocation of common grazing. Our neighbour has about 10 acres, a big barn and a herd of Limi X cattle. He winters in, early (now) lets them out on the croft, especially Mothers and young, the others go out on the common grazing. So you may not need to have 20 acres if there is enough common grazing rights too. Keep the horses at home, overwinter cattle at home, common graze during the good months.
Others with native cattle leave theirs to outwinter.
Hay etc. No idea for the outer isles regarding availability. my neighbour buys in, large rounds get dropped off in the lay-by and he collects them with his tractor.
 
Rgds
Sskye.

[bloomer]

i like the big posh one


anyone got half a million i can scrounge???

[sabrina]

What may look great on TV is not to be taken lightly. island living is tough. My mother lived on Shetland for 27 years and  I would have moved there in a heartbeat. if OH could have got a job. Not a hardship for me as we are so used to the weather in the North East of Scotland. I have seen Shetland at all times of the year. Hay  this Spring was £90 for a round bale. Friends rent land for their animals which works out well for them. Good grazing though is hard to come by. Island life has lots going for it if you are not a city person. Lots of events go on and I would say its a better way to bring up children,

[shygirl]

Hay  this Spring was £90 for a round bale.

is that the price in shetland? omg, thats an awful lot, that would bankrupt me pretty quickly.

thanks sskye, it would suit actually. being english  i dont quite understand the crofting red tape, will have to resarch it some more.

[in the hills]

Mmmmm ..... so how busy do the islands get in the summer months? 


OH has always liked the idea of living there. We watched the first episode of this and he was quite taken.


We rarely see anyone up here .... other than the locals    and it suits me that way.


Is it like the Lake District in summer    .... wouldn't like many tourists.

[southernskye]

Shygirl.
Crofting - simple overview follows.
Owner Occupied croft is, as it says, a croft (agri land but often can be rough grazing mostly) that is owned outright and you live on it.
 
Tennancy of a croft is where you buy the right to lease from the landowner, often a local Laird. Annual rent is usually buttons, £15 a year or so. The lease has heirloom rights and can be handed down through the family.
 
Usually the part the house is built on is de-crofted. Simply means that is no longer crofted land and is like any other house site.
 
The most important part is that you should use the croft for a genuine crofting activity. cattle, sheep, veg, hay, whatever. As long as you can show it is/will be used and not left to become overgrown.
 
If you do not use the croft for crofting activities the tennancy can be taken from you and the croft let to someone else. Or a tennant can sub-let to someone who will use it.Starting to happen a bit more than it used to.
If it is owner Occ. and you are not using it you can be forced to let the land to someone who will use it correctly.
 
In a nutshell, that's it. I suppose the phrase should be "Use it or Lose it"
 
Rgds
Sskye
 
NB - To those many who are crofters, I know there's a lot more to it and I try to take all the info. from my SCF news letters but, for someone with no knowledge of crofting I hope this throws a little light on the subject....it ain't frightening
 

[shygirl]

and any common grazing rights would be different for each property?
common grazing would per head?
i presume you couldnt put a bull on common land? rams?
i did look on the crofters commission website but couldnt find the beginners guide for english people...lol

[Rosemary]

Try the Scottish Crofting Federation rather than the Crofting Commission - the former is run by crofters.