West Word - July 2026

Oh July, you were glorious! We finally received some of the heatwave that the rest of the UK was enjoying with long, sunny, warm days. This resulted in an explosion of wild flowers including the fragrant Bog Asphodel which sends up wafts of a honey scent as you walk through it. The purple clover has also made an appearance. 

The start of July saw the annual sheep shearing take place. Phoebe from Muck joined us again as well as the team from Skye. Three intense days of shearing, rolling and bagging fleeces. There were some days of heavy rain so the fleeces had to be dried out first. 

A small group of us went for a snorkel around the back of Sanday. We discovered a huge kelp forest, explored a cave, spotted a European Common Eel as well as underwater cliffs covered in Winged Kelp and colourful encrusting algae.

We had a visit from Transport Scotland to discuss the current ferry service as well as Canna’s hopes for a new vessel to eventually replace the Lochnevis. It was a very useful meeting with lots of community members coming along. Thanks to Transport Scotland for taking the time to come out and visit us. 

Our various projects are moving on steadily. The building warrants for the new community houses have been approved and we are now waiting to hear about the last bits of funding. The Rhu Church feasibility study is complete and we are now waiting for the final costing of renovating the church and bringing it back into use. The Coroghan Barn redevelopment is going through the final design and technical design and it is hoped we will submit the building warrant application in September. 

The Marine Group has issued a poster alerting the public to the presence of seagrass meadows off Sanday Beach and in Coroghan Bay. We are trying to protect this precious marine species from damage from anchors by raising awareness and talking to people about the seagrass. 

July saw an increase in our visitor numbers. The island suddenly seemed busy again with visitors from various countries. One Dutch family were having a picnic at a beach along Tarbert Road and decided to do an impromptu beach clean. As always, marine litter is a constant problem so we are grateful to visitors who choose to spend an hour or two helping us keep on top of it. There is a DIY Beach Cleaning station at the shop for anyone wanting to help out.