Solar array proposed for Skye's Gaelic college
The renewable energy scheme would comprise more than 200 panels and has been proposed for the college's Àrainn Chaluim Chille campus.
Full planning permission has been sought from Highland Council.
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) network.
The college and UHI have been asked for comment on the proposals.
More stories from the Highlands and Islands
News from the Highlands and Islands on BBC Sounds
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig was founded in Skye in 1973 by Sir Iain Noble, a businessman, landowner and Gaelic activist.
It was first set up in a former farm steading, and over the years more modern facilities have been added to the site on the Sleat peninsula.
Today it offers higher and further education, including PhDs, and has been described as the only facility of its kind in the world.
Last year, the first 17 properties of Skye's first new village in more than 100 years opened near the college.
Kilbeg is eventually to have about 100 homes in total.
There is an expectation the village will attract Gaelic speakers, though the development is open to anyone who wants to live or work in the area.
Gaelic boost expected from island's first new village for a century
In pictures: 50 years of Skye's Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI
Highland Council
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Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Yahoo
Solar array proposed for Skye's Gaelic college
Plans have been lodged for a solar array at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI - Scotland's centre for Gaelic language and culture - on Skye. The renewable energy scheme would comprise more than 200 panels and has been proposed for the college's Àrainn Chaluim Chille campus. Full planning permission has been sought from Highland Council. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) network. The college and UHI have been asked for comment on the proposals. More stories from the Highlands and Islands News from the Highlands and Islands on BBC Sounds Sabhal Mòr Ostaig was founded in Skye in 1973 by Sir Iain Noble, a businessman, landowner and Gaelic activist. It was first set up in a former farm steading, and over the years more modern facilities have been added to the site on the Sleat peninsula. Today it offers higher and further education, including PhDs, and has been described as the only facility of its kind in the world. Last year, the first 17 properties of Skye's first new village in more than 100 years opened near the college. Kilbeg is eventually to have about 100 homes in total. There is an expectation the village will attract Gaelic speakers, though the development is open to anyone who wants to live or work in the area. Gaelic boost expected from island's first new village for a century In pictures: 50 years of Skye's Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI Highland Council
Fox News
08-05-2025
- Fox News
First bottle of 'whisky' matured in casks submerged in Loch Ness sells for over $1,000
The first bottle of "whisky" matured in casks submerged in Scotland's Loch Ness has sold at auction for more than $1,000. Domhayn, named after the Gaelic word for "deep," was submerged 702 feet beneath the surface of the legendary Scottish freshwater on Valentine's Day, according to news agency SWNS. The inaugural "Loch Ness edition" bottle, which comes from a 2010 single malt barley spirit with 55.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), recently sold at auction for £850, or about $1,133. ''We're thrilled that someone out there is now going to have that incredible experience of tasting a spirit that has touched the bottom of Loch Ness," founder James Patterson told SWNS. Patterson said he hatched the idea while watching swimmers in Loch Ness. "This is about pushing the boundaries of how we understand spirit maturation," he said. "We know the environment a cask matures in has a huge impact, but no one has explored the application of pressure like this before." The results, Patterson said, were "astounding." "When we retrieved the cask, the difference was undeniable," he said. "The spirit had developed a distinctly different aroma and smoothness – something traditional maturation simply couldn't achieve in the same timeframe." With only six bottles existing, the spirit can't legally be called "whisky" (the Scottish spelling of whiskey) because its submersion in water alters its molecular profile, as SWNS reported. "Submersion causes the cask to compress and decompress, triggering a unique interaction between the wood and the spirit involving both extraction and absorption," Patterson said. "It's a one-off opportunity – each cask can only withstand one dive before the pressure permanently alters it." To ensure authenticity and quality, the spirit from each cask undergoes molecular-level analysis by the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford. "The technique measures differences in the compounds found in samples," Patterson said. "The results showed a different molecular composition in the processed samples, providing evidence that our process alters the molecular level profile of the spirits compared to control samples." Patterson said he expects "collectors and enthusiasts to be very curious about how this method compares to conventional maturation." He said the technique is also being applied to wine, rum and vodka.
Yahoo
15-10-2024
- Yahoo
Did Vikings drag ships across land to avoid dangerous Scottish seas?
Archaeologists are investigating the possibility Vikings used shortcuts over land to help them move warships and smaller boats around Scotland's west coast. Tarbert in Kintyre is among potential locations where boats were dragged over low-lying land to reach different areas of sea and destinations beyond. The practice, called portage, would have saved crews dangerous journeys by sea around the 40-mile (64km) long Kintyre peninsula. Archaeologists said it was possible boats were hauled over split wood covered in slippery seaweed to make land crossings easier. The research forms part of The Norse and the Sea project led by the University of the Highlands and Islands' Institute for Northern Studies. The three-year project is in its final year and involves researchers from Germany. It has been gathering evidence of Viking age communications and other activity that occurred 800 to 1,200 years ago, particularly in and around the Inner Hebrides. Evidence of portages survive in Old Norse place names both in the Northern Isles and Hebrides, and the project team said there were several clues to Tarbert being used as a shortcut between the Firth of Clyde and the Inner Hebrides. The group of islands include Islay, Gigha and Iona, where monasteries were attacked by Vikings. The archaeologists said Tarbert's Gaelic name means "over bringing" suggesting the carrying of boats. There is also a Tarbert on Gigha with a standing stone visible from the sea and believed to have been used as a navigational aid. Vikings reconnecting communities across the River Clyde Viking-age treasure came to Scotland from West Asia A story called a saga written in the 13th Century tells of a king of Norway, Magnus Barelegs, staking a claim to Kintyre by sitting in the back of a boat and being dragged across the land. Dr Shane McLeod, of the Institute for Northern Studies, said: "This saga was written over 100 years after that so we cannot be certain it happened. "But it is the kind of colourful story you would have thought would have been passed down if it had happened." The saga also mentions warships often being hauled over land at Tarbert. Dr McLeod said: "So even if Magnus wasn't dragged across it seems other people had been." Tantalisingly, wood was ploughed up at West Tarbert by a farmer in the 1990s. The longest piece is almost 5m (16ft) long. Archaeologists hope new technology will determine whether it dates to the Viking age, and potentially formed part of a portage system for moving boats. The wood is being analysed by specialist Dr Anne Crone and Prof Derek Hamilton at Glasgow's Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre. The institute's Prof Alex Sanmark said hauling boats over land on Scotland's west coast would have made sense. She said: "The seas can be wild and the boats were rowed or sailed, and in Scotland the tides are very strong. "Even though a portage may have taken a few hours to do and at great effort - you had to get everything out of the boat and then put it back in - in terms of safety and time saving that seemed to have been worth it." The project has also investigated Viking use of inland waterways and where they set up beacons and observation posts along the west coast. The team is to publish its research next year. Related internet links Institute for Northern Studies
