Ileach notes cost of loss of Islay-Jura subsea cable

The latest edition of The Ileach reports a break in the subsea power cable between the islands of Islay and Jura.

Power supplier Scottish and Southern is unable to set a date for repair to the cable sicne cable-laying ships are not hanging around looking for work.

All it can say is it hopes, within six months, to contract such a ship to carry out the repair.

In the meantime both islands are being supplied by the generating station at Bowmore on Islay and The Ileach  shares the local wisdom that this is now using two tankers of diesel a day.

As well as this story, our eye was caught by two stunning – and very different – charitable fundraising achievements.

• Islay woman Caroiline Graham singlehandedly raised the astonishing sum of £17,705 for Breast Cancer Cure by taking on a series of sponsored challenges. The Ileach article provides guidance on regular self-examination to improve early breast cancer detection rates.
• Gus Newman of the award winning Islay boatbuilders, Stormcats, turned his skills to building a 12 foot GRP bath-tub for two inspirational madmen to row down the Thames – five days from Wiltshire to Teddington Lock – for charities including the heart-warming Islay and Jura Sick Children’s Fund.

This pays for the parents of sick children from the islands to visit and stay with them during hospitalisation on the mainland.

For Ileachs away from the island and for everyone interested in keeping up with events on this island many of us first learned of from song (Westering Home), The Ileach provides subscription pdf versions of its bi-weekly newspaper, as well as hard copies by post..