by former Erraid member Britta Schmitz

Arriving back on Erraid was such a wonderful thing! After being cheerfully greeted by the curious chickens, the first person I saw was Hester, part of the Dutch family Van der Sluis who has owned the island since 1978. There she was, vigorously chopping off the overgrown brambles along the path leading to the row of old lighthouse keeper’s cottages. It felt like a mirage from earlier this year when I visited and a whole group of Dutch women, led by Hester, were helping in the organic gardens, getting them ready for the new growing season.

It was beautiful to see Hester again and to hear from her about all the activities over ‘Dutchtime’. (Each year, the Van der Sluis family come over for their summer holidays – called Dutchtime. The Erraid community takes care of the island, cottages, gardens, animals and guests for the rest of the year.)

At the moment, the Dutch are in the process of starting a new charity, as the Findhorn Foundation is withdrawing from its role as custodians of the Erraid community. Their plan for the future is to hold the island and its small community in alignment with the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Findhorn Foundation, the lighthouse keepers and the crofting lifestyle of the Western Isles, whilst bringing in innovative artistic and ecological inspiration from their neighbours on Mull and beyond, boosting the isle with new creative energy.

Arriving here to this new phase feels like a fresh wind has blown over the island and cleaned out some cobwebs of the past. Hester showed me three places which got a lot of attention over the summer: the Byre, Stevenson’s and Mother’s Pride.

‘What do these names even mean?’, you might wonder, just the way I did when I first set foot on the island. Let me tell you…

The Byre is possibly the most obvious one. When I arrived on Erraid in 2008 we had a lot of chickens, two cats and three cows happily sharing this space. The cows got milked in the mornings and we were grateful to have fresh milk, cheese and yoghurt on a daily basis. Since then the cows have long gone, new cats happily moved into the community cottages and this summer, the chickens moved into their new hen house, built by community member Magnus and long-term guest James. So the Dutch transformed the byre into the most beautiful, clean and organised workshop I’ve ever seen on Erraid.

Byre and hen house and renovating pictures

We went on to Mother’s Pride, a cottage up in the back gardens which used to be the place where the lighthouse keepers’ wives did all the washing whilst their husbands were out at sea (guarding the lighthouses Dubh Artach and Skerryvore). You can still see the big bowl on top of the fireplace where the women boiled their sheets. Over the past few decades, Mother’s Pride had become a workshop and storage space for all the things ‘one might need one day’. It was crowded, to say the least. When Hester opened the door for me it was…….. empty. Wow! Such a big space! The plan is to get the roof insulated, shelves built etc. so that it can be used for themed workshops: yoga, art, spinning, reforestation, birds, permaculture and much more. A wonderful group space opening into the new.

Mother’s Pride pictures, before and after

The third one: Stevenson’s. Another back-garden cottage. The first building completed on Erraid by the ‘Lighthouse Stevensons’. This is the place where the family’s most famous member, Robert Louis Stevenson, wrote ‘Kidnapped’ when he visited his relatives who were building the lighthouses on the rocks out at sea and the row of cottages for the lighthouse keepers’ families on Erraid in the mid 1800s. The story of ‘Kidnapped’ is based on the Isle of Erraid. In my days, Stevenson’s was another place of storage. Again: transformation has hit this summer! It is a beautiful Erraidian version of a pub now, called ‘Stevenson’s Crafts and Drafts’. Not dissimilar from the pub on the neighbouring Isle of Mull, it features a fireplace, board games, tables, chairs and a bar made from an original door of one of the old Stevenson’s lighthouses! Wow! Again!

Stevenson’s pictures

What a productive Dutchtime it has been this year, sweetened by sunny, calm days, for weeks on end. Congratulations to all involved for making this transformation happen!

With Love, Britta

PS. I lived on Erraid from 2009 – 2014 and keep returning several times a year as the island is a truly magical place, which will hold a piece of my heart for the rest of my life. So from time to time, I’ve just got to go and visit; and I know I am not the only one who feels like this…