Uninhabited island looks for new occupant
A remote and uninhabited Scottish island is looking for a live-in caretaker.
With no full-time residents, Isle Martin, near Ullapool, needs someone to keep the island in good condition for visitors in the summer months.
The island’s community trust is inviting individuals and couples to register their interest.
Isle Martin offers visitors several hours of things to do, with two beaches, a micro museum (in a hut) and a hill that serves as a top spot for birdwatching.
The island also hosts Scotland’s first seaweed festival from September 6-12, with volunteers sometimes running a pop-up café during the festivities.
The chosen caretaker will be the first full-time resident living on the island in 30 years, as the trust looks to generate more interest in the island.
When it comes to the actual duties the caretaker will need to do, it amounts to about three hours a day.
“It is a bit of housekeeping. They need to keep the three houses on the island prepared for guests, clean the public toilets, welcome visitors and make sure they are sticking to COVID safety measures,” Trust director Becky Thompson told the BBC.
In return, the volunteer caretaker will be provided accommodation, earn £150 ($AUD 275) per week, and get to enjoy all the perks the island has to offer.
Isle Martin is located at the mouth of Loch Broom and about 1.5km away from the mainland.
The island is just 400 acres in size and sits below the cliffs of Beinn Mhor Coigach and opposite the Viking fort of Dunn Canna.
Now recognised as a bird sanctuary, it has been home to a monastery, a herring curing station and a flour mill in the past.
The position would suit someone who enjoys the outdoors and does not need creature comforts, with no running hot water and only a small electrical charger on the island.
The trust is also looking for a candidate bringing specific skills they want to share to benefit the community while living on the island.
Becky Thomson said: “If someone enjoyed the land, they could revive our vegetable garden if they wanted.”
She also explained why people are likely to fall in love with the place.
“The sense of escape and peace and quiet,” she said. “It is so near the mainland but as soon as you land on the island it’s lovely and peaceful. There are no cars, no roads. Just quiet. That’s what people like - the feeling of restfulness.”
Image credit: Isle Martin Trust