Alec arrived on Britain’s most inaccessible inhabited island of Foula at a critical time, the last cattle had been sold, the shop was due to close and several young people had left. With no mains water or electricity, it was relying on the tenacity of the 28 islanders to survive.
This spectacular island with the second highest sea cliffs in Britain was often isolated for months due to the stormy weather and had relied on peat, fish and birds for its existence. For six years Alec became absorbed into the island ways and he gives a unique insight into a disappearing way of life on a remote island that was clinging onto the past as it faced inevitable change. Alec’s life is a moving and liberating experience as he falls in love and marries on the island, adapting to the change with warm humour and hard work offering clear sighted observations on the colourful characters encountered. But eventually he has to make a decision whether to stay or leave.
Alec Crawford has been based on many islands during his work on shipwrecks as a diver. He later operated around the world using remote equipment to recover deep water cargoes and remove oil from shipping casualties. Alec and his wife Moya’s work has been recorded in both the Timewatch documentary ‘The Lost Liner and the Empire’s Gold’ and his first book Treasure Islands.
Alec Crawford
Paperback
240pages
240 x 165mm
