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BBC Radio 4 - 92 to 94 FM and 198 Long Wave

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OPEN COUNTRY

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	PROGRAMME INFO

	Saturday 6.10-6.35am Repeated Thursday 1.30-2.00pm


	From Shetland to the Scilly Isles, Open Country travels the UK in search of the stories, the people and the wildlife that make our countryside such a vibrant place. Each week we visit a new area to hear how local people are growing the crops, protecting the environment, maintaining the traditions and cooking the food that makes their corner of rural Britain unique. Email: [email protected] Postal address: Open Country, BBC Radio 4, Birmingham, B5 7QQ.


	LISTEN AGAIN


	Listen to Open Country for 4 June 2005


	PRESENTERS

	HELEN MARK and RICHARD URIDGE



	More about Helen Mark




	More about Richard Uridge


	PROGRAMME DETAILS

	Saturday 4 June 2005
Last March Open Country visited the Isle of Gigha just in time for the biggest party in the island’s recent history. Seven miles long and some 3,400 acres Gigha is home to around 121 residents and is the southern-most island in the Hebrides. Until three years ago Gigha was a private estate but life changed for ever on 15 March 2002 when the Gigha Heritage Trust secured the funding to buy the estate and the islanders landed their own destiny. The money for the buyout (£4 million) came from the Scottish Land Fund and Highlands and Islands Enterprise on condition that 25% of the money was paid back in two years. So the residents of Gigha began fundraising frenetically and managed to raise £1.4m which they paid back on 14 March 2004. Richard Uridge witnessed the payback and the amazing party. He returns a year on to find out what changes the islanders have made now that they are in charge. 18 new homes for rent and shared ownership are now being built, a fudge business has moved onto the island, an empty dairy farm now has proud new tenants and the school roll has increased from 6 to 15. All major decisions are put to Trust membership for a vote, ensuring inclusive management of the island. Richard meets up again with John Martin, a joiner employed by the island Trust, as he fashions a corner post for a holiday cottage. The Trust wants to modernise it’s holiday cottages and is also completely refurbishing homes on the island. John Martin says there is a buzz among the population, a new spirit of optimism. Young people have returned to the island to take up new jobs, among them Lorna Andrews, administrator for the Gigha Heritage Trust, Joe Teale and Lindsay Sheriff who are now running the Boathouse café. Lindsay and Joe are two friends in their early twenties who grew up on island and have just finished university. Joe, Lindsay and Lorna welcome a second bar opening up- “ we can now have a pub crawl” and the new homes being built . At 85 Vie Tulloch is the oldest woman in the island, but she runs everywhere and Richard joins her on an energetic walk to one of the beautiful bays. A trained sculptor, Vie is an excellent observer of nature and shows Richard how to catch newts. She recounts how she first heard of Gigha 50 years ago from a posh sounding lady at her daughter’s dance class and fell in love with the island so much she was willing to “live in a cave “ to stay on it. A sprint across the beach leads to a trunk of wood she would love to sculpt and a story of how she obtained her graveplot on the cheap. Gigha only has about a dozen working people so to ensure it is financially sustainable in the future three wind turbines have been erected on the southern tip of the island. The electricity is sold into the National Grid and will earn around £46,000 per year for the island rising to £150,000 in 8 years time. Richard views the three turbines named Faith, Hope and Charity with Willie Mcsporan, chairman of the Trust board . Gigha Heritage Trust Email Open Country: [email protected] The BBC is not responsible for external web sites

	RELATED LINKS Stour Valley Arts BBC Holiday Category BBC Country file