What We Do In The Winter

In this episode Catherine Evans talk about her life in Tobermory as a child, the shops along the main street and the many characters of the town.

She then goes on to talk about student life in Belfast at the dawn of the troubles, and where her adventures took her later in life, leading to coming back home to Mull.

At the end of the episode we return to the past to talk about Catherine’s grandfather’s shop in upper Tobermory and the Drama festival and its importance to the communities of the island.

Thanks for listening!

Episode links:

whatwedointhewinter.com

Short film about the podcast https://youtu.be/sBLvdc8hhZw

www.sarahbauhan.com

There’s a fine level of detail in this episode, I think it will really help flesh out life in Mull for listeners in the future.

This is a special episode in this series of podcasts which normally comes from the Isles of Mull, Iona, Ulva, Gometra.

In this episode you’re going to hear from some of the people who attended the Bunessan Show on the 2nd of August 2019.

The Bunessan Show is an agricultural and cultural show which is held in the fields around Bunessan Primary in the Ross of Mull.

I was invited by the show committee to go along and record the memories of participants old and new as they talk about the show, what it means to them and the community.

As I was recording outside in a field the sound is somewhat erratic. It may be best to listen to this episode through headphones, but I’m not sure. I’ve tried my best to even it out, but there are some times where it’s just a bit full of noise. Be prepared for some commentary in the background when you hear Nigel talking…

Photos and more can be found on www.whatwedointhewinter.com

Thanks for listening!

In this episode I talk with Netta Titterton of Colonsay.

I’ve known Netta since I was a wee boy, as she’s a relation, so it’s an absolute delight to have gotten a chance to speak with her.

We talk about Netta's family, and how her Dad's work with the Strathcona family, who have owned Colonsay for over 100 years, brought the family to Colonsay. The story of the Strahcona family and how they came to own the island is also explored. Then the conversation moves on to her school life in Colonsay and Oban and a little about her working life. We didn't get a chance to talk about her work as the telephone exchange operator though, which I must try and ask her more about when next we meet up! We also talk about the characters of the island, including my great grandfather. The village halls of the island and their characteristics are also explored.

Thanks so much for listening!

Episode links and more can be found on https://whatwedointhewinter.com/2019/08/09/36-netta-titterton-colonsay/

In this episode I talk with Carol and Donald (Peedie) MacNeill of Drumclach, on the Western Side of Colonsay.

As you’ll hear, Carol is originally from Edinburgh and came to Colonsay as a young woman to work at the hotel for a summer job. It was there that she met Donald, who was born and raised on the island at Garvard, opposite Oransay.

Our conversation covers a wide range of topics. Both Carol and Donald trained as teachers, and their life and work has taken them from Colonsay, to Thurso, back to Colonsay, Wick, and then back to Colonsay again.

We name check characters from the past, talk about the challenging nature of being the teacher in a small rural school, and we talk about Peedie’s musical career.

We also identify the harsh realities of life at Oban High, which include a particularly brutal form of punishment that many people from that generation will recall with a shocking degree of clarity.

You’ll hear quite a lot of background noise in this episode, for which I apologise. I’ve tried to tidy it up as best I can, but I didn’t want to push it too far, otherwise we sound like we’re inside a fish bowl.

Donald has very kindly provided the music for this episode. Throughout the main body of the interview you’ll hear instrumental sections from his song “My Mother Rode Her Motorbike” and then at the end of the episode you’ll hear the song “The Hall in ‘59” in its entirety.

You can purchase Donald’s music by following the link to his bandcamp site, https://donaldmacneill.bandcamp.com/music. His music is available through iTunes, Amazon and Spotify, too.

For more information and episode links, please see https://whatwedointhewinter.com/2019/08/01/35-carol-and-donald-macneill-colonsay/

In this episode I talk with Gordon Connell, originally from Blairmore near Dunoon, Gordon moved to Tiree to teach History in 1962.

Gordon is an accordion player and one of the most significant teachers of accordion, the list of his pupils is rather impressive.

We talk about growing up in Blairmore, going to school in Dunoon, university life in Glasgow, how it was to move to Tiree in the 60's, and more about his life as a teacher of History, Modern Studies and towards the end, his work as an accordion teacher. We also talk about the character of Tiree and why it is so appealing.

If you’re interested in his considerable musical legacy I suggest checking out some of the links in the episode notes, which can be found on: www.whatwedointhewinter.com

There’s a really good programme from BBC Alba in there which is well worth a watch.

Thank you for listening!

This episode takes you away from Mull and over to Tiree where I talk with John Holliday. John was the doctor on the island for 30 years and is often known as 'Doc'.

Originally from the England, John lived in Australia before settling on Tiree. We talk about his work in Australia with the Pintupi people, the choice of coming to live and work on Tiree, the nature of rural locations, his engagement with local Gaelic culture, the place names of the island and the remarkable Ringing Stone, a feature of the island which has had 6 thousand years of continuous human use.

There’s also a section in Gaelic, in which we talk about characters of the island, which then leads us into place names.

Throughout the episode you’ll hear a tune that John wrote for his son, called Michael John’s Reel. The tune was recorded in 2018 at the Tiree Fèis Tutor's Ceilidh. It features the wonderful Màrtainn Skene on the box, Dr John Holliday on flute, Kenny Rankin on guitar and Anna Garvin on keys.

John's daughter Sarah has a podcast, too, it's called Utopia Dispatch. It "takes on the small task of radically reimagining the future of human society, while somehow managing to keep our spirits up at the same time. [They] talk to thinkers with ideas that break the mould, and to citizens taking radical action for a better future, to bring you closer to a vision of the future we actually all want, and we might even have a few laughs along the way." It can be found here: http://utopiadispatch.com/

I was across on Tiree to work with https://feis-thiriodh.com/ Check them out, they do great work!

Episode links and more can be found on www.whatwedointhewinter.com

Thanks for listening!

This episode features a return to Iona, where I chat with Joanne MacInnes.

A proud Dundonian, Joanne has lived on Iona for many years now, where she and her husband John are raising their family.

We talk about Dundonian cultural identity, college life, work life and what it is like to move into a small community and make your life there.

We also mention the Iona Village Hall Music Festival, which I’ve always wanted to go to, but haven’t yet managed to.

Our conversation was recorded in Iona Village Hall.

Iona are in the process of fund-raising to build a new hall, which you can find out more about here: https://www.justgiving.com/ionavillagehall

At one point in the episode you’ll hear a new version of the podcast theme as recorded by Hamish Napier. You can find out more about his wonderful work on https://www.hamishnapier.com/

More links and other information can be found on whatwedointhewinter.com

Thanks for listening!

In this episode I chat with Iain Thomson. As you’ll hear Iain’s had a long association with the Isle of Mull, and now divides his time between the island here and Sweden.

Iain has been involved in farming and the land since he was a young boy.

Our conversation goes into some detail about his life and work and fascinatingly, the relationship between farmers and their dogs. We also talk about Iain’s work as a singer songwriter.

Iain is perhaps better known as The Singing Shepherd.

You’re going to hear two pieces from Iain’s album Fields of Dreams in this episode, too.

Half way through you’ll hear the instrumentals Musician & Ulva Boatman.

Episode links can be found on https://whatwedointhewinter.com/2019/06/12/31-iain-thomson/

Thanks for listening!

This episode is a little bit different in that it’s a conversation I had with two people who I’ve previously spoken to individually for the podcast.

After I released Alasdair MacLean’s episode last year Nick Turnbull said to me that I could have got deeper in on some of the fishing things, so I thought it would be a good idea to put the two of them together and see what happened when they chatted.

We cover a huge amount of ground in this episode. It’s very local, and if you know the areas that they’re talking about, it’s great to hear their pasts brought to life.

Some of the tales are quite remarkable. I was particularly amused by the section where we start to talk about mines washing up and being tangled in nets.

We do go into depth about fishing at certain points, too. I’d like to hear the perspective of a younger fisherman on this as well, to offer another perspective on the current state of fishing and its sustainability. That’s another episode for the future.

the whole What We Do in the Winter project has been sponsored in kind by the Island Bakery, and everyone who takes part in it gets a complimentary packet of Lemon Melts.

This map may be of use: https://www.google.com/maps/@56.6176713,-6.2502726,6414m/data=!3m1!1e3

Thanks for listening!

This episode is a conversation between Mhairi Killin of Iona and myself.

Mhairi and I met in her office at Aosdana, on the Isle of Iona at the start of this week, half way through May of 2019.



We talk about a whole host of topics, a lot relating to our cultural identity and sense of place.

We even talk about Mhairi and her sister's plans for what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.

We go into some detail about the life, ethos and work of the Ritchies of Iona, whose metal work is of significant cultural importance.

This episode is sponsored by Treshnish and Haunn Cottages. Check out their wonderful eco friendly properties at https://treshnish.co.uk/

Thank you for listening!

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Episode Links

http://mhairikillin.com/

https://aosdanaiona.com/

Rhythmic Records, Greenock

https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/14003382.end-of-era-for-music-store/

Duck and Cover

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_and_Cover_(film)

Taigh Chershabhagh

https://www.taigh-chearsabhagh.org/

Iain MacCormick

http://www.alexander-ritchie.co.uk/maccormick.htm

http://www.alexander-ritchie.co.uk/maccormick2.htm

http://www.alexander-ritchie.co.uk/maccormick3.htm

http://www.alexander-ritchie.co.uk/maccormick4.htm

Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie

http://www.alexander-ritchie.co.uk/history.htm

Arts and Crafts movement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement

Jessie Newberry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_Newbery

The Glasgow Girls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_School

Charles Rennie MacKintosh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Rennie_Mackintosh

V and A Dundee https://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee

National Museum of Scotland Celts exhibition: https://www.nms.ac.uk/celts

Art Pewter https://artpewter.co.uk/

Joanna Caskie https://www.joannacaskie.co.uk/

Sponsor in kind:


http://www.islandbakery.co.uk/

(Lemon melts… Lemon melts…)