Stills

Virtually no rain. Never wore my thick jumper or my thick coat. I got dehydrated on the walk that had this croft!

It looked like it had been abandoned in the 60's, one room had an old 60's TV in it! There were many buildings in disrepair, this one was easy to get into.

No midges, not one. We were told that they didn't arrive until mid-June or later.

I couldn't explain the exact history of the crofts but they were removed and then replaced.
 

Looks a bit like some of the properties we viewed when we bought our current house. One went even further with the absence of floor in some rooms.

I presume that you know that 'crofting' is a form of legal ownership of the land rather than a specific statement about the occupancy or use. In our area the crofts are quite large, but we've seen areas on the Western Isles where the crofts are not much more than single fields (albeit very fertile). One of our two nearest neighbours is an upland hill farming crofter with a few valley fields which get cut for hay. He supplements his living through working as a carpenter and decorator. The other is a mixed market garden and engineering business.

And before I forget....the photo....an interesting documentary shot. The chair makes it all seem very real. This was somebody's home.

The objects bottom right are distracting though. There needs to be either more of them or less.
 

Like the Welsh chapel, I find this picture fascinating because it is a mystery with so many questions and a story to unravel with ones imagination. Why was that chair left there? Who dug out the fire place? Why was it abandoned. So much to let the imagination run wild.
 

I did not pay as much heed to the history of the crofts as I now think I should. I have a recollection that some of the areas of Harris are 'unique' in that the crofts became the property of the crofter if rent was paid for a certain length of time. They would then own the freehold.

The clearances were initiated by the landowners bringing in sheep that were able to earn more money and be minded by less folk. Further problems occurred with the potato famine and whole communities where shipped abroad (Nora remembers that the church paid for the shipping).

I also recall that the Hebrides supplied a higher proportion of its men folk to the war than any other community.

There is also a nice story about how Harris & Lewis raised the money to buy a spitfire in one week!

Oh how I wish I'd taken notes or read the museum notes more carefully.
 

Crop about a thumbnail width off the right hand side. The edge of the shelf, object bottom right and lack of detail in the wallpaper add nothing but detract some of my focus. This is a fine photograph of abandonment. This once well used room has been left to pass away quietly. Lovely muted colours, supurb textures and a fireplace just itching for one final flame. The chair, though obvioulsy centre stage, should be calmed down a little - two hot spots on the back cushions and horizontal seat support - so it blends in better with its surroundings.
 

I'm gathering from what I can find on the web that a croft is some sort of squatter's farm. Is this right?

As far as the picture goes, I'm bothered by the highlights on the chair. I think this might work better with the exposure dropped down a few stops.
 

You ought not to feel guilty about not having a whole lot of facts at your fingertips: you were on holiday, after all!

I suppose that one is going to find abandoned houses whever one goes but at least on Harris there are unlikely to be squatters to move in! It is still a shame when a building ends up like this. The photo is a fascinating slice of building techniques and decorating fashion; visual archaeology. The bits to the right don't worry me but, now that it is mentioned, there is a touch of brightness; on the other hand, one could say that it represents light flooding in from outside rather well.

I admire your stalwart march through the archives. It's also interesting what you say about similarities: I think there are some but there are also quite a few differences!
 

"I'm gathering from what I can find on the web that a croft is some sort of squatter's farm. Is this right?"

I think that you would cause a riot by saying that in the wrong place, but dressed up a bit that is one way of thinking about it. I don't know the history, but by the end of the 20th century crofts were land owned by the State (literally by the Secretary of State for Scotland) over which the current tenant had rights, but also obligations (such that the tenant could be moved on if they let the land fall into disuse).

When our house was built in the 1990s the land it is on had to be decrofted - a judicial process - and was sold to the builder by the Secretary of State for Scotland with the permission of the crofter. It is all a bit of a tangle, especially when a croft has a residence on it. The house has value but the land often doesn't.

I'm not sure whether crofters have ever had the right to buy their land as Rex suggests. I can't see what the point would be as the land has little value and the crofter already appears to have the right to pass it on across generations. Certainly tenants on private estates can buy their land in certain circumstances, including against the wishes of the land owner. We are not far from Knoydart which is now owned by some form of community trust (I don't know the exact legal form).

I don't know about Harris, but some part of the Highlands (and the Islands to the south of Harris) are re-populating at the moment with people like us. Our local community is probably about 50:50 incomers and, er, natives.

As to the sheep, the clearances and the potatoes, I'll let the historians argue over exactly what happened.
 

Without researching it, I do recall moves to allow crofters to buy (but I'not sure whether that was country-wide or in specific locations). I'm sure that people would want to buy: one's own land is a dream for many, however agriculturally or commercially useless. It is also a slow march towards freeing up Scotland's land from ownership by others (even if the state, in this case, is relatively beneficent); but very large estates owned by 'absentee landlords' from abroad might prove slightly more difficult to break up. In some ways enlightened state ownership is preferable to private fragmentation when addressing large areas of such stunning landscape. Difficult - as Scotland's history always has been!
 

This was once someones home now reduced to the discarded and unwanted with the tell-tail violence of the removal of the desirable which is now probably gracing someone elses home. A sad photograph I think that reminds me that nothing lasts forever. Or very long at all really.
 

Thanks for the explanation of crofts. It sounds like an interesting situation.
 

another museum shot of an art installation? interesting how the previous viewed 'Victoria and Albert' shot biased my association. seems it blocks all other thoughts about this. anyway I like the idea of an art installation :)