Fianuis Shuil to be broadcast on Grampian and Scottish Television

The third programme of the Gaelic series 'Fianuis Shùil' - which looks at how technology changed people’s lives - will be broadcast on Sunday July 10 on Grampian Television and Scottish Television.
This week’s programme will look at the effect the introduction of car ferries had on island communities.
It is difficult to imagine life without modern transport links in the islands now, as car ferries sail to most Scottish west coast ports. However, the introduction of car ferries gave unprecedented access to the islands and radically changed tourism, travel and business across the Highlands and Islands.
In the programme Uisdean Robertson from North Uist reminds us how comfortable today’s car ferries are in comparison with the early ferries. Donald Black from Lismore and Alasdair Nicholson from Raasay recall how their respective islands benefited when car ferries were first introduced. Some contributors tell how they used to travel to the mainland on cargo boats, while others remember some of the old boats that serviced the islands – the ‘Lochmor’, the ‘Loch Seaforth’ and the ‘Lochearn’. John Angus Murray from Stornoway discusses how they used to take building materials home before the arrival of the car ferries.
Filming for the series took place in the Western Isles, Skye and Lochalsh, Raasay, Argyll, Lismore, Islay and Tiree. The programme features some fascinating film-footage from the archive belonging to HH Mills – material that was filmed in the islands in the 60s.
(CD/KMcA)