Eigg, the Natural Environment and Landscape History
(date to be announced)

Course content:

Under the guidance of wildlife warden John Chester and community historian Camille Dressler, discover the incredible diversity of the island's natural environment set in the context of human occupation going back to the Mesolithic.

The landscape, fashioned by millennia of human occupation encapsulates the agricultural evolution of the Highlands. Eigg displays examples of each stage of that evolution: from early farmers, and the Norse influence, to the joint farms, tacks and townships in clan times, to Post Improvement farming and the Clearances, followed by the use of the island as a sporting estate.

Course schedule:

Monday: Presentations at the Glebe barn: overview of the island history and introduction to the island's bio-diversity. Evening: a short walk at dusk to the forestry to discover the sounds of mating Long ear owls and displaying woodcocks.

Tuesday: Explore the Sgurr - the territory of the Golden Eagle - and the Moorland environment, and see the old peat cutting grounds, 18th century shielings and Iron age fortifications, coming back through Laig.

Wednesday: Discover the Cleadale crofting system and its associated landscape. Optional: walk to Talm to see the tern breeding grounds, seal island, Clanranald Cave and shieling enclosure.

Thursday: Visit to the Massacre Cave and the Clearance ruins of Upper and Lower Grulin.

Friday: Kildonnan: the early Christian site, 18th century mill and associated features, the tidal bays, and the natural scrub and mature woodland through to the Lodge.

NB. The course schedule may be altered depending on the weather, to make the best use of the terrain. Transport back from location will be available for the Tuesday and Wednesday walks. Please note that because of the rocky terrain and steep access to some of the locations, this course is only suitable for participants who are reasonably fit and used to walking in uncertain weather conditions. Older children are welcome but are the responsibility of their parents of guardians at all times.

Tutors:

John Chester, resident Scottish Wildlife Trust warden on Eigg, has an unparalleled knowledge of the island's wildlife, flora and fauna.

Camille Dressler, French born resident island historian and anthropologist has carried out extensive research into the history of Eigg and the western Highlands, recently publishing the much acclaimed 'Eigg, the History of an Island'.