1930s binoculars given to Archie MacLeod, Carrachan, Kilmoluaig, by one of the officers of the destroyer HMS Sturdy, which was wrecked on rocks at Sandaig in 1940. Archie (Erchie Charrachain) was home on leave from Gourock where he was skipper on one of the troop tenders based there during WWII. He was present at Sandaig during the rescue and carried ashore on his shoulders one of the Sturdy’s navigating officers who, in a show of gratitude, placed the binoculars around Archie’s neck. Archie’s son, also Archie (Gilleasbuig Carrachan), played with the binoculars as a boy. The binoculars remained in Carrachan until they were passed on to An Iodhlann in 2019.
Includes handwritten history of the binoculars by Gilleasbuig MacLeod.
Colour photographs of the thatched houses at Sandaig in 1988. The row of houses and barns was renovated by the Hebridean Trust, using traditional marram grass, and opened to the public as a museum. It closed in 2010 and was sold into private ownership. It has since been renovated again and the roofs replaced with reed thatch and black felt.
Black-painted, iron balance beam scales from the Thatched House Museum at Sandaig. The museum closed in 2010 and many of its display items were passed on to An Iodhlann.
Three paper tri-fold leaflets promoting The Glassary restaurant and guesthouse, Sandaig, when it was owned by Mabel and Donald MacArthur. Printed around 1985.
Large, scale model of the thatched house at Sandaig that was once a museum. Made by Ron Stirrat and Edward Rose in 2004, and now on display at An Iodhlann. Perspex cover and rotating stand.
Framed memorial poster commemorating Captain Donald Sinclair, Sandaig, who was instrumental in saving the crew of the destroyer HMS Sturdy, which ran aground at Sandaig in 1940. He died during a U-boat attack on his merchant ship SS Empire Eland a year later.
Hardback book ‘Sailors on the Rocks’ about famous Royal Navy shipwrecks, by Peter C Smith, 2015. Chapter 14 (pg 217) is about HMS Sturdy, which was wrecked on rocks off Sandaig in 1940.
Colour photograph of the captain of the Queen Mary cruise ship preparing to drop a wreath commemorating the wrecking of the destroyer HMS Sturdy at Sandaig during WWII.
Organised by Commander Michael Gibson of Plymouth, the wreath was thrown overboard in the summer of 2015 as the Queen Mary cruised past the Hebrides. HMS Sturdy foundered during a storm in October 1940. Five lives were lost, but were it not for the actions of Tiree folk, in particular Captain Donald Sinclair, the toll would have been much higher. The dedication on the wreath reads: “Dedicated to the bravery of Captain Donald Sinclair and those who helped in the rescue effort of HMS Sturdy and in remembrance of all those lost on Empire Eland in 1941”. Captain Sinclair was on the Empire Eland when it was torpedoed by a U-boat in the Atlantic.
Colour photograph of a wreath commemorating the wrecking of the destroyer HMS Sturdy during WWII. It is being held by the captain of the Queen Mary cruise ship.
Organised by Commander Michael Gibson of Plymouth, the wreath was thrown overboard in the summer of 2015 as the Queen Mary cruised past the Hebrides. HMS Sturdy foundered on rocks at Sandaig during a storm in October 1940. Five lives were lost, but were it not for the actions of Tiree folk, in particular Captain Donald Sinclair, the toll would have been much higher. The dedication on the wreath reads: “Dedicated to the bravery of Captain Donald Sinclair and those who helped in the rescue effort of HMS Sturdy and in remembrance of all those lost on Empire Eland in 1941”. Captain Sinclair was on the Empire Eland when it was torpedoed by a U-boat in the Atlantic.
