Some 30 photographs of abandoned crofthouses appear at the Deafening Echoes Exhibition at the FotoSpace Gallery at The Rothes Halls in Glenrothes, Fife. They are the work of Ian Paterson and somehow bring to life the deserted and derelict. These two examples are from Harris, with the image above reminding us that the opening hours at the Gallery are 10.00 - 17.00 on Mondays - Saturdays, until Wednesday 8 May. 'Free admission' comes to mind in connection with the room below where, despite the obvious passage of time, the former owner's choice of colour for the stove still makes an impact.
Scottish Islands Explorer - the past to life; the present in perspective
6 comments:
Always find abandoned crofts very emotionally charged locations. There is a line of old crofts on Colonsay. I visted it some 10 years ago but for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the place. Its on the eastern side of Colonsay. Anyone know its name?
Perhaps it was Riasg Buidhe.
Riasg Buidhe will be featured tomorrow, thanks to a provider of photographs today.
The former occupants, brother & sister of Isle of Swona Pentland Firth were persuaded to cross the turbulent waters to the mainland for a family party never to return in 1974. Due to the difficulty of manning the sole boat, ill health and advancing age was enough to keep James Rosie & his sister from returning to their island home. The well stocked kitchen & table were laid out ready for the next meal.
It's amazing what you can find in old deserted croft houses - a 1955 Daily Express was interesting and some old bottles embossed with a shop name from Bowmore (Islay) looked nice once cleaned up. Sometimes just peeping in through old windows can be an experience to remember - the old stove, cans of baked beans and a pile of dusty tin plates. On Coll I recall some cooking facilities/rusty gas cooker were in an outhouse where the roof had long since fallen in. On Eriskay what I thought was an old house turned out to be the former island stores complete with empty wooden shelves and bits of redundant packaging.
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