An sgeir. Ásgeir 2020-01-14

Hirta

Ultimately, his repairs saved us and the film. However, sea can also land for a break on a small boulder beach backed by cliffs in the north of the island, just before the northeast side where the highest summit in the island, Conachair, forms a precipice 430 m high 1,410 ft. It then lists areas in and around Lewis and pokes gentle fun at the places and people. The location posed a logistical nightmare. No easy task in the wild, choppy conditions. I was living on a boat at the time, moving from place to place in the Western Isles, carrying out film research.

Hirta

Due to this migration, English is increasingly spoken in place of the native Gaelic, especially amongst younger people. Sula Sgeir Very few people have ever set eyes on Sula Sgeir, let alone set foot on it. I first heard of the guga hunt while researching a film on. The men live on the island for two exhausting weeks, sleeping in stone bothies, which were first constructed by monks over a thousand years ago. Apart from these two places, the cliffs rise sheer out of deep water.

North Rona and Sula Sgeir 1 Day Adventure Tour

For the hunters themselves, going to Sula Sgeir is like taking a journey back through time to a land without mobile phones or internet, where Gaelic is the dominant tongue. Preparing to return home from Sula Sgeir a rocky island 50 miles west of Lewis in the North Atlantic the men of Ness village on Lewis load guga from their harvest of young gannets onto a fishing boat Sula Sgeir is inhabitated only by sea birds except for 2 weeks each year when men from the village of Ness arrive to cull 2 000 young gannets knwon as guga. A lighthouse is located at the south end. This gave the film a rich cinematic look. Matt flew back from the Far East, where he was serving on a ship as an officer cadet, to help with the film.

Ásgeir

I found that the people of this remote community, known collectively as Niseachs, take great pride in their homeland and traditions. Subject to suitable sea conditions we will land on North Rona allowing approx 3 hours to explore the island. The established a base on Hirta for tracking missiles fired from the station on. Once inhabited by a small population it was thought to be more difficult to build a sustainable life here than even in St Kilda. Gaining permission was a challenge in itself. It was clear my own boat wouldn't stand up to the pounding seas of the North Atlantic. After leaving Sula Sgeir we make the return journey to Kylesku.

Western Isles' Sula Sgeir guga hunt 'sustainable'

Following in the footsteps of countless generations, they leave their normal lives behind, journeying through storms and high seas to reach this most remote hunting ground. For 3 weeks it is inhabited by the men of Ness from the Island of Lewis The Guga Hunters of Ness who are permitted to harvest 2000 guga young gannet , a tradition that is some hundreds of years old. It is possible to visit the island. On 29 August the 36 inhabitants were removed to on the Scottish mainland at their own request. Intrigued by this, I immediately headed to Ness to try and film this unique venture.

BBC

The present village was set out in the 1830s above Village Bay; in the 1880s some of the population left for Australia, with the remaining inhabitants being evacuated in 1930. Lying 44 miles north-west of Cape Wrath the island lies untouched for the majority of the year. St Kilda was part of the , then a property of the MacLeods of from 1498 until 1930. They work ceaselessly, catching, killing and processing 2,000 birds, using traditional methods, before returning home with the rare guga meat so cherished by the people of Ness. Ness has never been an easy place to reside or from where to glean a living. Guga are gannet chicks and about 2,000 are harvested on Sula Sgeir, a small island about 40 miles 64km north of Ness on Lewis, in August.

Gannet hunting on Sula Sgeir island, Scotland Stock Photo: 3385528

The only real landing place is in the shelter of Village Bay on the southeast side of the island. I'd been interested to discover that the average age of a crofter in the Outer Hebrides is reported to be 70. The morning of the evacuation promised a perfect day. He was responsible for getting me and the camera equipment onto Sula Sgeir in a dinghy. Constantly changing the lenses was not easy in the extreme conditions of the North Atlantic, but I think it was worth the effort. Lying 44 miles north-west of Cape Wrath the island lies untouched for the majority of the year. The fact that it was my directorial debut only added to the challenge.

Ásgeir

It has an area of 6. The islanders had a tough life, and survived by exploiting the thousands of sea birds living on the islands. Following departure from the fishing hamlet of Kylesku we cruise north for approx 3 and a half hours 2 hrs 30 mins on fine days. The old world of the crofters appears to be in terminal decline as younger generations abandon the smallholding tradition. Once inhabited by a small population it was thought to be more difficult to build a sustainable life here than even in St Kilda.

Gannet hunting on Sula Sgeir island, Scotland Stock Photo: 3385528

. This wasn't an easy film to make, on any level. Observing tradition the islanders left an open Bible and a small pile of oats in each house, locked all the doors and at 7 am boarded the Harebell. Indeed the provision to license it through the Wildlife and Countryside Act reflects this. During discussions with the hunters, I agreed to three conditions: not to film the killing, that it would only be me and not a film crew on the island, and that I would be there in my own boat and not stay on the island. Against this backdrop of change, the guga hunt has even more symbolic value; it has come to represent Niseach pride and embody their sense of identity.

Western Isles' Sula Sgeir guga hunt 'sustainable'

Raising funds from investors, we chartered a sailing vessel which would allow us to stay out at sea for long periods and provide a place to sleep and an offshore production office. The island slopes gently down to the sea at Glen Bay at the western end of the north coast , but the rocks go straight into the sea at a shallow angle and landing here is not easy if there is any swell at all. The Guga Hunters of Ness: creating the programme By Mike Day Director Mike Day takes us behind the lens of his debut film, , an extraordinary account of an ancient Hebridean tradition. When ashore on the very remote island, every customer is required to take extreme care and to be responsible for their own actions. The team I was the first person to be allowed to film the hunt in 50 years.