TWO STEPS FORWARD—FIFTY YEARS AGO
It feels as though Tiree is taking one step forward and one step back at the moment. But the 1970s saw Tiree take two big steps forward, through the community working together, outside expert help and encouragement, and government funding. We are still feeling the benefits today.
Both projects were led by a body called the Tiree Council of Social Service, which was set up in 1968. This was, essentially, the community council and the Tiree Trust rolled up into one. Councils of Social Service began to be rolled out in Scotland from 1943; by 1983, their umbrella group was re-named the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), which is still going strong.
But back to Tiree.
The first chair of the Tiree Council of Social Service was the island’s factor Major Iain MacLennan, with the vet at the time Robert Beck elected as chair of the Agricultural Sub-Committee. The council lobbied for lower ferry fares and set up a youth club. But its first major project was the eradication of brucellosis from the island.
Brucellosis is a devastating and highly infectious disease that causes abortion and reduced milk yields. It not infrequently spreads to humans. In 1969 the Tiree crofters applied to the Divisional Veterinary Officer for registration under the Brucellosis (Accredited Herds) Scheme. They knew that this would only work if all—100%—of the crofters and farmers on the island agreed to take part.
CO-OPERATION ON TIREE
‘There is a good chance that the whole island of Tiree will shortly be declared free from brucellosis. So said the chairman of the Crofters Commission, Mr J. S. Grant, in an address to the conference. It had come about simply because all the crofters and farmers on the island had gone forward as one.’ (Inverness Courier, 11 November 1969, p. 3)
TIREE FREE OF BRUCELLOSIS
‘Mr Norman Buchan, MP, Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, has congratulated the islanders of Tiree on their island becoming the first self-contained district in Great Britain known to be free of brucellosis (contagious abortion in cattle).’ (Inverness Courier, 19 May 1970, p. 4)
And there was another announcement at the 1969 conference.
‘”There is more than a chance,” [Mr Grant] added, “that within the next few months Tiree will have a knitwear factory, which will eventually give so much employment to young girls as to alter completely the demographic picture and the future prospects of the island”’ (Inverness Courier, 11 November 1969, p. 3). ‘This, said Mr Grant, had come about because people in Tiree stacked their money on buying an empty church building [the disused Kirkapol Free Church] to prevent it from going as a holiday home, and then went looking for someone willing to use it for industry. Mr Grant said he was proud that the Crofters Commission, through its Area Commissioner Dr Alasdair Fraser, had lit the fuse which ultimately set the powder keg alight.’ (Stornoway Gazette and West Coast Advertiser, 15 November 1969, p. 7)
By 1970: ‘Knitwear factories on the island of Tiree and North Uist, which will employ up to 120 girl machine operators within the next few years, will go a long way towards arresting de-population, Mr John Rollo, member of the Highlands and Islands Development Board, claimed yesterday. “If we can keep the girls on the islands, we can keep the men,” he added.’ (The Scotsman, 15 April 1970, p. 8)
NEW HEBRIDEAN KNITWEAR FACTORIES
‘It was announced by the Highlands and Islands Development Board on Tuesday that a new company, Hebridean Knitwear Limited, had established two factories on the islands of North Uist and Tiree, providing, by 1974, anticipated fulltime employment for up to 120 women operatives and about ten male and female supervisory staff. The company is headed by Mr Kenneth H. MacKinnon, chairman and managing director of a well-known Scottish public company [MacKinnon of Scotland, Coatbridge], and one of the leading figures in the Scottish knitwear industry. In its initial projection, the cost of the development is estimated at £56,000. It is to receive grant and loan assistance totalling £33,200 from the Highlands and Islands Development Board.’ (Inverness Courier, 17 April 1970, p. 7)
At first, the machines were set up in the disused Kirkapol Free Church building, but the purpose-built factory in Crossapol was opened in 1977 (Stornoway Gazette and West Coast Advertiser, 9 April 1977, p. 2).
Sadly, the company was set up just as the Scottish knitwear industry was declining due to competition from the Far East. Operations closed in 1982; they were revived briefly, but the factory closed its doors for the last time in 1984.
Tiree cattle are still brucellosis-free. And the old knitwear factory is now home to Tiree Community Business offices, the Tiree Trust and the office of the Croft House Grant Scheme, part of the Rural Payments and Services (RPID) directorate of the Scottish Government. In total, today around twenty people work—full or part-time—from the building.
The Tiree Council of Social Service, which ran until 1972, was the first island-wide organisation to take on years of economic decline. The fight-back had started.
Community councils were established throughout Scotland in 1975. The first record of a community council on Tiree that I can find comes from 1979. There have been spells when there were not enough councillors to keep it going, but it has been running continuously now since 2014. The Tiree Trust was set up in 2006.
We now have three jerseys from the Tiree Knitwear factory (the most recent one sent from New York), but we only have one picture. We would be interested to hear about any more memories, stories and photographs.