Miss-Ship, Ahoy!

The Orcadian reports on the arrival of a 'missionary ship' in Stromness. It's the Juvel II from the Faroe Islands and the former patrol vessel will be visiting Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. A group of Christians starting their proselytising work from the ship in 1977 and have usually visited the waters of Greenland and Faroe. Now they are extending their reach.

Scottish Islands Explorer - some deliveries are by boat
Digital Edition: available immediately in Greenland, for instance

Mobile in the Hostile

There is a joint project progressing between EE and the University of the Highlands and Islands to improve the mobile phone coverage in remote areas, which can become hostile when connections either fail or are non-existent. See the BBC website for details.

Scottish Islands Explorer - reveals the isolated
Digital Edition: overcomes the remote

Lifeboat Back to Life

Shetland News has a fine restoration story about a lifeboat from the Oceanic, the White Star fleet liner that was once the largest ship in the world. The wooden boat was salvaged after being grounded east of Foula in 1914; put into service on the Bressay - Lerwick ferry in the '20s and '30s; used from transporting sheep in Yell Sound during the '60s and '70s before being finally abandoned at Ulsta.

Scottish Islands Explorer - restoration takes place on an eight-week cycle
Digital Edition: can be brought to life almost instantly

Old in New

If you can get there - Lews Castle, Stornoway - next Saturday - 30 April at 19.30, then do. Bella Bathurst will be talking about her work on The Lighthouse Stevensons and the Hebrides for The Islands Book Trust. The family's history is embedded with creative and enduring building projects. The venue may well be comparable - for it's the new museum facilities at a castle that is undergoing significant changes.

Scottish Islands Explorer - casts light on the Hebrides in most editions
Digital Edition: now part of cutting-edge technology

Time to Go Crazy?

The London Evening Standard featured the design of a proposed crazy-golf course in Trafalgar Square in yesterday's edition. On Saturday last, a 12-hole comparable course was officially opened on Burray, Orkney, and a report appears in The Orcadian. Londoners are being asked to raise £120k for the former while the latter is part of a £74k community park development for free use by the public. It is unlikely that the proposed capital attraction will be free!

Scottish Islands Explorer - enjoys occasional crazy notions
Digital Edition - not free, but so inexpensive

Boom, Boom, Boom

The three most northerly isles in the UK - Yell, Fetlar and Unst - have been enjoying something of a tourist boom with the screening of the BBC programme - An Island Parish. The trend is analysed by Shetland News.

Scottish Islands Explorer - should there be a programme on this publication?
Digital Edition: available for longer than iPlayer

Skye? Heavens Above!

This Parish Church - at Bracadale, Skye - will soon be very different. It will have the first female minister to be appointed in the Hebrides by the Church of Scotland. The responsibilities of the Revd Janet Easton-Berry (see the BBC website item) will also include the congregation at Duirinish. However, it is highly unlikely that she will be welcomed to take part in services at the Duirinish Free Church - pictured below - or its Free Church (Continuing) which meets in the nearby building of the Free Presbyterian Church, as female ministers are not part of their theological concepts. If you are puzzled, it is understandable.

Scottish Islands Explorer - has no competition
Digital Edition: essentially straightforward to acquire

Jutland Commemorated

Thousands of the ceramic poppies that were part of the Tower of London display are now incorporated into St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. They are part of the anniversary commemoration for the dead of the Battle of Jutland, one hundred years ago. See the BBC website item.

Scottish Islands Explorer - commemorates many events
Digital Edition: always on display

Not So Welcome

The Uists are straight-forward islands for roads. The North has a fairly direct run from Berneray to Lochmaddy and on to the Causeway for Benbecula, with a loop in the north taking in Solas; the South has a linear road with a fork at the foot, with one prong going to Lochboisdale and the other to the Eriskay Causeway. However, some residents are concerned that the bus routes and times are not helpful. The Stornoway Gazette has the details. The now permanently-provided CalMac service from Mallaig to Lochboisdale does not appear to be met on any of its 14 weekly sailings by public transport. It is not a welcome indicator for visitors.

Scottish Islands Explorer - enthuses about integrated ships and buses
Digital Edition: cover all contingencies for accessing the magazine

Tep Wireless

It's a small device that covers large distances. When creating your own wireless hotspot, which can be accessed by five devices for 15 metres around in remote locations, you are being truly independent. Scottish islands could be useful places to try Tep Wireless, but then it can be used in most destinations ... globally. Click on and find out about the company's rental arrangements that are ideal for holidaying.

Scottish Islands Explorer - here's another way of making exploration possible
Digital Edition: also in the forefront of technology