purplerobbie
Well-Known Member
I have a friend who fancies a trip to St Kilda but i remember reading somewhere that you are not allowed to go ashore now?
Is there any truth in this?
Cheers
Rob
Is there any truth in this?
Cheers
Rob
St Kilda
- Thread starter purplerobbie
- Start date
stephenh
Well-Known Member
no there is no truth in this - you can go ashore and check in with the warden as a courtesy however what you cannot do is buy a drink in the Puff Inn (an ex Naafi bar) - it has now been privatised and you (joe public) are not allowed in the bar for H + S reasons.
I preferred it when 'Nanny State' - I think it was some Engineers - ran it.
Smashing place - I would love to go back there.
Good luck
I preferred it when 'Nanny State' - I think it was some Engineers - ran it.
Smashing place - I would love to go back there.
Good luck
KenMcCulloch
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
I have a friend who fancies a trip to St Kilda but i remember reading somewhere that you are not allowed to go ashore now?
Is there any truth in this?
[/ QUOTE ]
Dear Rob
No truth whatsoever. See National Trust for Scotland website. If you've not been I thoroughly recommend a visit. I was last there in 2002 and I vividly remember the passage between Stac Lee and Boreray. The Stac is so steep and high that one's normal sense of scale is unable to make sense of it, and a strait half a mile wide seems like a very narrow channel!
I have a friend who fancies a trip to St Kilda but i remember reading somewhere that you are not allowed to go ashore now?
Is there any truth in this?
[/ QUOTE ]
Dear Rob
No truth whatsoever. See National Trust for Scotland website. If you've not been I thoroughly recommend a visit. I was last there in 2002 and I vividly remember the passage between Stac Lee and Boreray. The Stac is so steep and high that one's normal sense of scale is unable to make sense of it, and a strait half a mile wide seems like a very narrow channel!
purplerobbie
Well-Known Member
Is the anchorage sheltered?
What is the best time to go? June?
So who has the pub been privatized for?
Cheers
Rob
What is the best time to go? June?
So who has the pub been privatized for?
Cheers
Rob
stephenh
Well-Known Member
Village Bay on Hirta is the only anchorage as such and is very protected apart from the East from which direction there is no protection at all ( there is another by the Glen open to the N E but the holding is deep and poor).
Weather conditions are very local I cannot reccomend a time - summer I suppose.
Whilst I was there a helicopter took off from Lewis(?) only 20mins away by air, by the time it arrived the cloud had come down and it could not land. It took me three visits before the weather allowed me to land. In the 19th C some locals were marooned on one of the islands for over 6 mths - it's a wild place.
The radar and electricity station is looked after by some private company - cannot remember, they clean hospitals as well !! - I think those chaps and the National Trust people are allowed in the bar - no-one else..
Wikipedia has a good entry - St Kilda is, apparently, the most written about island in the world, try Abebooks.com - you will not be short of information.
Weather conditions are very local I cannot reccomend a time - summer I suppose.
Whilst I was there a helicopter took off from Lewis(?) only 20mins away by air, by the time it arrived the cloud had come down and it could not land. It took me three visits before the weather allowed me to land. In the 19th C some locals were marooned on one of the islands for over 6 mths - it's a wild place.
The radar and electricity station is looked after by some private company - cannot remember, they clean hospitals as well !! - I think those chaps and the National Trust people are allowed in the bar - no-one else..
Wikipedia has a good entry - St Kilda is, apparently, the most written about island in the world, try Abebooks.com - you will not be short of information.
Niander
Well-Known Member
50 miles west from me!
Watch the weather!
Watch the weather!
oldharry
Well-Known Member
As a taster read Hammond Innes 'Atlantic Fury'. Or perhaps not - the account of the storm at St Kilda might put you off trying!
Heckler
Well-Known Member
Sodexho i think they are called, have taken over all the naafi outlets for the forces, we used to employ them to do work for us, when the contract came up for renewal we didnt!
Stu
Stu
Haven't-a-Clue
Well-Known Member
An' I wish our hospital would do the same! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Seagreen
Well-Known Member
I remember a very long night at the "Puff Inn" years ago. Why are no visitors allowed in? Surely this aid the bar profits? What if I was a member of the National Trust for Scotland, would that work. I bet its some damn silly "licensing" thing- probably can only now function as a private club or works canteen, rather than "stealth n gravy". Can anyone enlighten me?
Oh yes, St Kilda very much worth a visit. Anchorage fine. Having a long stretchy rode will help in the swells, as well as a form of roll-stopper. Even on a "quiet" night, I was thrown out of my bunk. Be very careful of the weather, as the sound of Harris and the Washington Reef are no places for small boats in bad weather.
Oh yes, St Kilda very much worth a visit. Anchorage fine. Having a long stretchy rode will help in the swells, as well as a form of roll-stopper. Even on a "quiet" night, I was thrown out of my bunk. Be very careful of the weather, as the sound of Harris and the Washington Reef are no places for small boats in bad weather.
EBoat126
Well-Known Member
The radars and I'm afraid the Puff Inn are part of the MoD Hebrides Range run by QinetiQ.
http://www.qinetiq.com/ix/defence/test_a...operations.html
I suspect it's an insurance issue which stops them opening the bar to visitors, if you manage to get out there you deserve a wee drink.
http://www.qinetiq.com/ix/defence/test_a...operations.html
I suspect it's an insurance issue which stops them opening the bar to visitors, if you manage to get out there you deserve a wee drink.
Seagreen
Well-Known Member
Shame. I wonder if enough people whinged at them, they'd relent. I know its just a very small bar, used by the handful of techies that work there, but it is very mean spirited.
stephenh
Well-Known Member
When I was there a couple of years ago Qinetiq had made the radar completely remote controlled from Lewis, there was a couple (or was it just the one ?) of Sodexho chaps looking after the electricity station, no military in residence at all.
Rumour had it that it was not to do with licensing regs. as such but the fact that there was only one lavatory in the bar - there should be two !!
National Trust was there in abundance - sheep counters, botanists, volunteer builders, archeologists you name it....
Well worth a visit - I met a Frenchman there, single handing back to France from Iceland , said it was his 4th time there, loved it but he always brought his own wine !!
Rumour had it that it was not to do with licensing regs. as such but the fact that there was only one lavatory in the bar - there should be two !!
National Trust was there in abundance - sheep counters, botanists, volunteer builders, archeologists you name it....
Well worth a visit - I met a Frenchman there, single handing back to France from Iceland , said it was his 4th time there, loved it but he always brought his own wine !!
