Now Here

1. The Perfect Possession


Listen Later

Over the years, Scottish islands have become collector items for the rich and famous. The Isle of Ulva has always been considered the perfect possession and it’s suffered more than most. Once home to 600 people, just five were left in 2015. Can this tiny community bring their almost-deserted island back to life?

In this episode, we meet those living on Ulva who tell us how they decided to buy back their island from its millionaire owner and run it themselves. Academic and land reform campaigner, Alastair McIntosh, shows us the links between Scotland’s violent history of dispossession and the most concentrated pattern of private land ownership in Europe today.

Writer, producer and presenter: May Robson

Supervising Producer: Emily Esson
Sound Designer: Steve Urquhart
Theme Music: Contours
Executive Producer: Elizabeth Clark
Now Here is a BBC Scotland Production for BBC Sounds Audio Lab
Commissioning Editor: Khaliq Meer

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Now HereBy BBC Sounds