There is a set of spectacular photos of the marine world under St Kilda, over on the new Ionad Hiort website. Many thanks to the photographer Paul Kay.  Click on the fish to see more. St Kilda has been inscribed as a World Heritage Site under both natural and cultural criteria; in 2004 the WHS designation, at the time only for its natural attributes, recognised also the “complex ecological dynamic in the three marine zones present in the site” which was extended to included the surrounding [ » read more ]

From the National Trust for Scotland website: The National Trust for Scotland is recruiting for an Archaeologist based in Inverness and on St Kilda. St Kilda has an outstanding historic environment dominated by 19th & 20th century remains with a time-depth that belies the archipelagos remote North Atlantic position and it is the only mixed heritage site in the UK. Working with volunteers and visitors, this is a rare opportunity to work on a remote and spectacular island archipelago. The post holder will be required [ » read more ]

This is the final section of an interesting and detailed piece on the Pygmies Isle (first mentioned by Dean Monro in 1549 as having been inhabited by “little people”) near the Butt of Lewis , published by WC Mackenzie in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities of Scotland, 13 March 1905 (vol XXXIX, p257).  It’s of no particular relevance to Uig but see what you make of it, in spite of its rather dated tone (and for Lapp, read today Sami – the Sea Sami [ » read more ]

Press release from Buidheann Leasachaidh Ionad Hiort (The St Kilda Centre Development Group), 3 February 2010: A public meeting in Uig, Lewis, this week formally established an organisation to pursue the remit of creating the St Kilda Centre/Ionad Hiort as a major visitor attraction for the Western Isles. The initiative follows the selection of a cliff-top site at Mangurstadh, Uig, as the preferred location for the centre after a keenly-contested competition involving several island communities which bid for the centre. The choice of location has [ » read more ]

St Kilda, one of only 24 dual-status World Heritage Sites, is management by the National Trust for Scotland, which is revising its five-year Management Plan for the islands and seeking input from stakeholders on a number of issues. Responses are invited from anyone with an interest in St Kilda: you don’t have to live in the Western Isles. For more detail and to download the (non-taxing) consultation documents in English or Gaelic, please see the National Trust website. Paper copies are also available in Uig [ » read more ]

Winter was always a difficult time for the inhabitants of St Kilda, but the winter of 1876-77 was unusual.  From the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, 1878: When the factor, Mr M’Kenzie, with MacLeod’s vessel, did not put in an appearance in autumn last year [1876], as usual, the inhabitants at once began to make preparations for the winter’s store. Last harvest was very bad with them, and they knew they would be short of meal; and from the first they [ » read more ]

Thanks to Murray and Seatrek for this collection of pictures around Uig and St Kilda.

A statement from the Uig St Kilda group, 17 Nov 2009. More on the issue here and Uig’s vision here. We are very pleased that the Working Group has confirmed its recommendation of Mangurstadh as the location for Ionad Hiort/the St Kilda Centre. It is particularly welcome that Jura Consultants have responded so robustly and comprehensively to the criticisms levelled at the consultation process and its outcome. Our own belief in the integrity, fairness and professionalism of that process has never wavered and that would [ » read more ]

From the Press & Journal, 16 February 2009: An image of a bygone era on the Hebridean island of St Kilda features on a banknote which enters circulation today. The picture features ancestors of father and son Norman and John Gillies. They appear on a new Clydesdale Bank £5 note, sitting outside a row of cottages on the island, which was last inhabited in 1930. Read more »

The press release (3 November 2009) from the Uig community on the announcement of the St Kilda Centre decision.  Detail of the Uig vision for Ionad Hiort is now on its own page, where updates will also appear. The community group in the Uig area of Lewis which has promoted the area’s claim to host Ionad Hiort/the St Kilda Centre has said they are “honoured and delighted” to have emerged as the recommended winners. Last week, the Working Group set up by Comhairle nan Eilean [ » read more ]

This short video by Ged Yeates was part of Uig’s proposal for the St Kilda Centre – spectacular even in the face of Youtube compression.

After months of consultation, Mangurstadh in Uig has been recommended as the preferred site for the proposed St Kilda Centre.  From Hebrides News: Following an independent feasibility study, funded by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and LEADER, the St Kilda Centre Working Group has announced the recommendations made by Jura Consultants in an independent feasibility. After an intensive assessment process, Mangurstadh in Uig has been identified as the preferred location by the consultants for the proposed St Kilda Centre.  Read more » [ » read more ]

Uig is vying with North Uist and Harris to be the site of the proposed St Kilda Centre.  Our Uig location is the Geodha Sgoillte, between Mangurstadh and Islivig where the road is closest to the cliff edge, on a brownsite bearing the scant remains of a wartime radar station. Written proposals have been submitted to Jura Consultants, who are leading the feasibility study, and on 7 October representatives from the three teams made short presentations to the working group, comprised of members of the [ » read more ]

Uig has been bidding for consideration as the site of the proposed St Kilda Centre, and we’re pleased to hear that Mangersta in Uig is one of the shortlisted sites, along with Leverburgh in Harris and Cleitreabhal in North Uist. This press release outlined Uig’s vision for the Centre. The Uig area of Lewis is “the vantage point from which the story of St Kilda can best be appreciated, understood and made accessible to the greatest number of people”, according to a report presented to [ » read more ]

As Hiort Weekend continues, here’s a piece contributed by Alasdair Shearer (Aird/Australia) from the Celtic Magazine.  The BBC programme An t-Hiortach, about the last surviving evacuee Norman Gillies and his return visit to the island, is available on the iPlayer now (UK only and until 5 Sept), and for those who get BBC Alba, there are more programmes on St Kilda to watch today and Monday (see below).  There was also a piece in the Guardian magazine yesterday about Norman Gillies (thanks to Alison for [ » read more ]