In 1924 the Meteorological Office proposed to establish an official telegraphic weather reporting station on Tiree at Cornaig School.
However, they first needed to bring a telegraph line to the post office at Cornaig which the GPO would only do if it was guaranteed an income of £60 per year. The Treasury offered to pay more than half of this and the line was installed in 1926 when five local people put up a guarantee of £5 a year each.
The headmaster Donald O. MacLean agreed to become the Met. Office Observer on Tiree for the sum of £52 a year and John MacPhail of Cornaigmore, was appointed Deputy Observer. The first report was filed in September 1926.
Black and white postcard of the Met Station at Cornaig School.
Postcard showing the Meteorological Station at Cornaigmore. Built by Hugh MacKinnon, Crossapol in 1926. The Headmaster of Cornaig School, D. O. MacLean first took charge of it, followed by Headmaster Mr. Morrison until he left in 1938. John MacPhail, crofter at Cornaigmore, took charge of the Met Station during the war years and, after his death, his wife Marion MacPhail took over responsibility. In around 1945 the Meteorological Office opened at the Reef, Crossapol, and the Cornaigmore station was closed.
Audio cassette recording of Angus MacLean of Scarinish interviewed by Maggie Campbell on 3/4/2003.
Angus MacLean (Aonghas Dhòmhnuill Eòghainn Mhòr) of Scarinish talks to Maggie Campbell about Tiree’s plane service from 1934 to the present day, about the various companies that flew to the island, the routes and aircraft used, his work and colleagues at the airport fire service, the fuel supply and runways, the Met Office and Captain David Barclay.
Photocopied letter dated 9/9/1942 to John MacPhail, Assistant Observer at the Cornaigmore Met Station.
Letter dated 9/9/1942 to John MacPhail, Assistant Observer at the Cornaigmore Met Station advising him of the opening of a Met Office at the RAF station and the closure of the Cornaigmore station.
Scan of first report about the Met Station at Cornaig dated September 1926.
First report dated 15-17/9/1926 made by J. J. Somerville about the site, outfit, exposure and observer of the Met Station at Cornaig School and the possibility of installing a phone line.
