West Word - April 2026

The start of April was pretty miserable with non-stop rain and a snow storm; this week has been the opposite. The sunshine has brought the real Spring. The grass has started to grow which means the dulcet sound of lawn mowers and strimmers will soon be echoing around the bay again. The sheep and cows are happy for the new shoots and are munching away. 

There has been a slow drip of visitors starting to arrive. The first yachts of the season have appeared and we are now meeting new faces on the road to say hello to. The community shop is now stocked for the season ahead and Cafe Canna is delighting everyone with their tasty food. It’s nice to be able to go and enjoy a drink sitting in the sunshine again.

The community polytunnel has had a revamp. We’ve replaced all the rotted wood and we have re-covered the entire tunnel. It was all hands on deck to get this done and we had to wait for a non windy day. The digging of a new trench around the outside has replenished the beds with rich dark soil. Earlier in the year, a tree was removed as it was overshadowing the polytunnel and nothing was growing well. All in all we’re hoping for a bumper year in the polytunnel! Our thanks to Nathan for organising and managing the repair work. 

And, of course, April means lambing time has begun. The fields around the bay are full of sheep gathered down from the hills and lambs are appearing at a steady pace. The farm team is working round the clock and a steady stream of baked goods and treats are being delivered to keep them going. 

It also means that the Zwartbles are teaching their lambs the long tradition of marauding around the island, going wherever they want and trying to sneak through gates with attitude. I must make special mention of Caroline’s Badger Faced sheep who are lambing for the first time in Canna. These lambs are unbelievably elegant with their swishy tails that look like feather dusters and their moonbow ears. 

We had a community beach clean down at Tarbert Beach last week. We collected and bagged a lot of hard plastics, fishing gear and general rubbish. This beach is the site of one of the snorkel trails so it was important to get it cleared ahead of the season. We have two snorkel trails here in Canna as part of the Small Isles Snorkel Trail and you can find out information in our Shearing Shed on the Snorkel Board.

We wish all the communities a successful Summer season ahead and we’ll have a good catch up at the Small Isles Games in August!