West Word - July 2025

July has been a busy month for Canna this year. The month seemed to fly past and at the same time take an age and has been punctuated by a series of events that had us all flying by the seat of our pants! There has been an air of mild hysteria which is slowly starting to dissipate……we’re having a breather, but not for long! 

The island gathered to say farewell to our oldest resident, Norah MacKinnon, who passed away in June. A much loved lady, known as “Granny” to pretty much everyone on the island who could whip you into shape by uttering expletives in Gaelic. Even if you didn’t understand what she said, you got the message. As Caroline put it, she was the Queen of One-Liners! The service was beautiful and incredibly moving with family and friends attending from the area and Ireland, her birthplace. The family raised £1000 for the Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance Retiral Fund and wishes to thank everyone for their support. 

We had our official opening of our brand new Visitor Hub during a Wednesday stopover. The sun shone and everyone enjoyed sandwiches and prosecco whilst chatting down by the hub. Gareth and Hector were our official ribbon cutters while Clea from NTS thanked everyone who had contributed and funded the project. The facility has toilets, showers, a laundry and a community GP room for visiting medical professionals. It also serves as a base for our Ranger, Tom. We absolutely love our new building! 

The island’s sheep got their annual haircut in July. It was a busy three days with no small amount of rain so at one point the shearers were shearing in their waterproofs and the fleeces had to be dried out before they could be rolled. Phoebe from Muck joined us this year and proved that she’s made of strong stuff with some pesky, wriggly sheep being brought under her control! 

Ranger Tom and Vicki hosted the first ever Naturefest last week. Please see Vicki’s report on the event. It was a great success and my personal highlight was snorkeling while minke whales and dolphins swam close by! It was absolutely epic to watch them from in the water. 

Next up is the Small Isles Games on Saturday 9th August. Canna is hosting the games this year and we look forward to welcoming folk to the island to take part and enjoy the day.