Part of the magic of working on this book project has come from the people who I have met along the way. It has been no different here on Coll. I was fortunate to spend some time chatting with Alex Maclean-Bristol, the son of the man (Nicholas MacLean-Bristol) who bought and restored Breachacha Castle, and through him a most interesting and companionable woman who, with her husband, owns one of the small houses in the Breachacha Steading. The Steading was built in the 1700’s near the new castle. Caroline and I immediately struck up a friendship and she invited me to meet her at her house this morning. It was most interesting to see the small house she had bought in the Steading and how she was improving it – it would be great for a movie set! The Steading itself is an interesting place and she showed me what had been the dairy barn and also the pig barn which now was converted into three houses. This whole complex is unique and eclectic and right up my alley. Here was an historical yet modern day example of the Kingdom of the Lords of the Isles on Coll in the 21st century and its history since the MacLeans erected Breachacha Castle in the 1400’s. There was a dairy and cheese factory in the steading from the later 19th century with 60 tonnes of cheese exported annually, mostly to London. The dairy industry died down on the island in the earlier 20th century and the related cheese factory closed in 1956. The steading is also thought to have at one time housed a bakery.
After our walk around the Steading we headed into Arinagour (Aran-a-gor) to the local Saturday market before going to lunch. She then took me to see the house Alex Maclean-Bristol had built within a 1700’s ruin. Known as Grishipol House it is a dwelling anyone would want to call home blending modern design while keeping the structure and essence of the ancient building. Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, on their famous trip recounted in A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, stayed at Grishipol in 1753. Additional renovation is underway at this house to enclose more of the original building.
We then walked to a remote beach that I never would have discovered on my own! Our walk led us through a herd of sheep that were not the conventional sheep I was used to seeing. Needless to say, I gathered wool from these sheep to go with what I had gathered on Iona. (I now appreciate the term used in many of the romance novels I read about “wool gathering”) As we neared the beach we could see the isles of Rum and Eigg and parts of Skye and Mull. It was a bit hazy but it was still amazing how many islands were visible. I wish we had had a sunny day instead of the clouds overhead – the photos are simply documents of the day and not the artsy photos I want for the book but I have a record of these places and will always hold them close to my heart.
