ISLAND LIVING
We live on one of UK’s most isolated islands that inspired CBeebies show… the homes are colourful but there’s a drawback
ISLANDERS on one of the UK's most isolated outposts live on the set of a CBeebies show - the houses are colourful but there are a couple of drawbacks.
Locals living on the Isle of Mull, 100 miles west of Glasgow, have to contend with cancelled ferries, second home owners buying up property and crowds of tourists in the summer months.
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Rather than a McDonald's restaurant, islanders can enjoy use of the MacDonald's petrol station - which shares only the sale of ice cream in common with the beloved chain.
And the nearest Tesco Superstore is a 45-minute ferry ride away in Craignure, Oban, with just a local Co-op available to feed the entire 3,000-strong population.
In Tobermory, the island's capital, a stunning line of colourful waterfront homes inspired ' children's television show Balamory.
COLOURFUL
The buildings along the seafront gained their colourful visage after a hotel owner decided to paint the outside yellow.
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Other business owners quickly picked up on the idea and suddenly the entire row of brightly painted buildings was born.
The Mishnish Hotel is yellow, Browns Merchants, established in 1830, is blue, Island Crafts is green and The Tobermory Hotel is pink.
Burnbank B&B owner Greenock-born Robert Crumlish, 48, moved to the island in 2012. He went to visit friends and decided never to return home.
He told the Sun Online he loved the sense of community and stunning scenery on the remote island, which has a population of just 3,000.
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But the island's ferries are irregular, often out of service, and second-home owners are pushing up property prices.
The average home on the island is now sold for £276,345, according to Rightmove.
He added: "I love it here but it's hard to get accommodation. A lot of people come from the south and buy up the properties to use as a holiday home. People getting a foot on the ladder is really hard.
"And the ferries are a nightmare. You'd be trying to get booked on and it was hellish."
Getting off the island is so expensive
Sarah Gibbons
Bar worker Sarah Gibbons, 23, was one of the first babies born on the Isle of Mull in 2000.
She said: "I've been here forever and I do like it. As I've gotten older it's better but 18 wasn't a fun age. There was nothing to do and all my friends moved off the island to go to university."
Taking a ferry back to the mainland costs £40 return with a car or £7 as a foot-passenger.
She added: "To get off the island is expensive. I only leave every couple of months during the winter and stay here during the summer."
Kirsty Newbigging, 27, works as a manager at the Macgochan's Pub and Kitchen.
She packed in her admin job in Glasgow to move to the island after suffering a "quarter life crisis" during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Now she gets to watch the Northern Lights from her bedroom window.
She said: "Everyone in Glasgow was so angry and in a rush and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I came here for a trial in February and fell in love.
"There's a strong sense of community here, and a purity to the place. It's untouched. You get a beautiful night's sky.
"And everyone's beyond lovely. If you ask for a shirt they'll lend you two and won't ask for it back."
She has learnt to knit with the help of locals and spends her days off exploring.
DIFFICULT FOOD SHOP
But it isn't always rosy. When the ferry's don't run, Kirsty can feel trapped.
She added: "The ferries haven't been the most reliable. That's an opinion shared across the island. You feel if they're not running you can't leave."
And the shops don't have a lot of choice, with islanders regularly forced to make trip to the mainland to visit Tesco.
Kirsty, who met her boyfriend Jack, 21, on the island, said: "Co-op is our biggest shop here so that can be expensive. Another local managed to increase the stock to make it more affordable.
"It's hard living up here when Co-Op is the cheapest shop, but we have a cheese farm, a bacon farm, and a distillery next door. The community is big on reuse and renewal. Nothing goes to waste."
Glengorm Coffee Shop worker Nick Brown, 49, has visited the island regularly from the age of 14.
He decided to make the permanent move last May.
You have to have a certain mentality to survive here
Nick Brown
He loved the scenery but warns snowy weather can leave residents cut off very quickly.
"A lot of people might go stir crazy being this far out especially when you can't go anywhere," he said.
"When we get a real cold snap you can't leave your home. I was snowed in for four days last year.
"You can't get the car up the hill. Certainly where I am on the west of the island you'll get stuck, but that's not everywhere.
"Here in Gongargh we're 40 miles out on a single track road. We do get gritters occasionally and it's beautiful in the winter but it's stark.
"You have to have a certain mentality to survive here."
And he said "island chatter" means everyone knows everything about each other.
"Everyone knows everyone else's business. I have to actively try to keep out of it as much as possible."
He echoed that the weekly food shop is tricky.
"You can get a Tesco order but there are restrictions on what you can order and it costs a lot of money.
";You have to be canny on how to get the shopping. A lot of people get the ferry over and get a big shop and bring it back."
'ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL'
Mum-of-two Rona Wilkins, 44, absolutely adores living on the island.
She said the scenery was "beautiful".
Her two sons, Ren, 13, and Yuji, 18, have spent the last two years living within walking distance of the island's capital Tobermory.
Yuji has joined a local rugby team and the brothers regularly walk up to the nearby shops to meet pals.
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She said: "I came to visit my partner's family and the evening we went home to Wales in 2019 I started planning the move.
"It's absolutely delightful here."
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