Pairc School in Gravir was packed out once again on the evening of Thursday 25 October for the annual Angus Macleod memorial lecture – an event which has really put South Lochs on the historical map of Lewis, attracting people from all over the island and further afield. This year the speaker was journalist and former Government Minister Brian Wilson, who was a friend of Angus Macleod’s and who has with strong Lewis connections. His title was ‘The Future of Crofting – the Case for Crofting Tenure’, a highly appropriate theme given Angus’s key role in revamping the Scottish Crofters Union in the 1980s and current issues under consideration by the Shucksmith Committee of Inquiry into Crofting.

Brian Wilson

Brian’s basic argument, the text of which is available in an attractively illustrated booklet published by The Islands Book Trust and Comunn Eachdraidh na Pairc, is that crofting has been highly successful in retaining population in remote rural areas, and has great potential for the future: ‘It is a system which is uniquely equipped to underpin the retention of culture and values as well as the existence of dynamic communities. We should be exporting crofting to the developing countries of the world rather than acquiescing in its decline’. But for this to succeed, regulation - properly enforced - is essential in Brian’s view: ‘Retain and enforce, or neglect and abandon – there is no middle ground’. He argued moreover that regulation should be administered not from Inverness but at a very local level – ‘I do not mean Stornoway but South Lochs – decisions that affect crofting communities should be taken within crofting communities’. He rejected the idea that crofting communities cannot be entrusted to make their own decisions on the basis of law about such matters as assignations and de-crofting proposals because of vested interests and personal feelings – ‘I believe there is an acute awareness within crofting communities that they also need new people, new ideas, new forms of land use.’

Earlier, the audience had heard an update on the Angus Macleod Archive project, and a contribution in Gaelic from Donald Mackay of Gravir, the former Convener of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. A website www.angusmacleodarchive.org.uk will be ready by the end of the year containing large parts of the archive, and a start will be made early in the New Year with a development project looking at how best material from the archive (and from other historical sources in Lewis) can best be developed for educational purposes. This project is being supported by the Education Department of CnES and will enable the archive to be kept open to the public and the annual lecture to continue for another year. In the longer term, the future of the archive will depend on the plans for the redevelopment of the Ravenspoint Centre in Kershader, where it is currently housed. Co-Chomunn na Pairc’s plans envisage a major improvement of community facilities, including an expanded shop and relocated tea-room, and the attraction of more visitors based on the history, culture, and wildlife of South Lochs.

The evening was rounded off by a prayer from the Rev Iain T Campbell of Pairc Free Church, and a Gaelic psalm. Refreshments and home-baking were then available as local people and visitors mingled, with many old friendships being renewed. The Islands Book Trust and Comunn Eachdraidh na Pairc would like to thank all those who made the evening such a success: our funders (Heritage Lottery Fund, CnES, HIE), staff and volunteers, the school, Lews Castle College, the speakers, and everyone in the community who contributed in so many ways. The booklet based on Brian Wilson’s talk can be obtained price £5 from the Angus Macleod Archive at Ravenspoint (tel 01851 880737).