Dualchas Building Design

We find out on the 19th of November if Raasay Hall wins the 25k Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture.  I will be in London at the time at my brother's stag.  If we are victorious I may take a wee drink to celebrate - if I can fit one in.

Winning would be a fitting tribute, not just to the architecture, but the tremendous effort put in by the consultants, the Raasay Hall Commitee and the wider community over many years. Building a hall of this quality was a herculean task.  With the contractors going -either burst and/or back to Poland -  fundraising had to continue long after the project should have been completed. The Herculean task now felt Sisyphean .  But we kept rolling that ball up the hill and the community are still doing it.  Soft and hard landscaping is required, including top soil for the slopes and tarmacing for the road - donations are gladly received.  Below is an article I wrote for an Expat newspaper which I hope gives an uplifting (your wallet) account of the struggle.

Raasay  - The Fighting Island

Looking out onto the red hills of Skye, Talla Ratharsair (Raasay Hall) is a stunning piece of architecture.  As a new hub for the social and cultural life of the island it is more than a building;  It is a monument to a people and a determination that their community will not die.

Unlike the Macleods of Dunvegan on neighbouring Skye, the people of Raasay rose to support Bonnie Prince Charlie in the uprising of 1745.  After the defeat at Culloden the Young Pretender was hidden on the island.  For their loyalty to the Stuart Cause every house on Raasay was burnt by government troops.  In 1843, the last clan laird John Macleod, deep in debt, emigrated to Tasmania.  The new ‘owner’, with no connection to the clanspeople, brought the Clearances, turning over much of the best land to sheep.

Depopulation continued into the 20^th century.  After the Great War, the returning soldiers, promised ‘a land for heroes’ found that their land was still forbidden, still stolen.  Five men and their families built homes on their ancestral crofts.  The people rallied but they were arrested and imprisoned. A succession of new owners of Raasay brought little change.  Despite the island being bought by the government in 1922 the population – and with it the  Gaelic and culture – kept declining.  The land raids had not succeeded but they had inspired the next generation to fight for survival.

The raids would have been witnessed by Calum Macleod as a boy.  In the 1960’s his village of Arnish has no road and he knew this meant its death.  After years of petitioning the council without success he took a pick, a shovel and a wheelbarrow and set about building the road himself.  It was only after his death that the council adopted the road he had built;  Calum’s Road.

By 1981 the population has sunk to 152 from a high of almost 1000. It then began to climb.  Raasay House, the seat of the Macleod’s of Raasay, became an outdoor centre; tourism and enterprise were encouraged. Some families moved back.  Calum’s effort were not in vain.

Success was challenging.  The islanders embanked on three daunting projects to ensure that Raasay had an economic, social and cultural future.

The first was a new pier , vital for a reliable ferry service.  The second was the refurbishment of Raasay House, former seat of the laird. This £4 million development was to be the centre for employment and tourism, a fantastic, historic building at the heart of the island. Just before completion it was burnt to the ground.

Raasay House will be rebuilt .  It may take a while and its destruction has been a severe blow.  The setback has added steel to the people’s resolve to continue the fight.

With the population again falling it is now more important than ever that the third great project, Talla Ratharsair, succeeds.  Costing nearly £1,000,000 the effort has been immense. Committee members such as Roland Stiven and Sadie Macleod are heroes for what they have achieved.

Yet at almost the final hurdle the contractors went out of business.  New contractors are now completing the building but the upheaval has meant a funding shortfall.  The relatively small amount of £15,000 now seems like a mountain for  the people of this tiny island.  They are looking for some help from the world-wide Macleods – in fact from anyone who wants to be part of this heroic struggle.  Those who donate will have their names inscribed on a plaque in the hall.  Names that will be remembered alongside the legends of this little fighting island.

Go to www.raasay.com to donate directly to the Raasay Community Trust.