At the end of February 1987, a major award was announced for a scheme to preserve traditional thatched cottages in the islands.
Mr Jim Souness, an official with Argyll and Bute District council, won the Heritage Award from the Conservation Foundation. Mr Souness received the award — £2,000 — for his part in the Cairdean nan Taighean Tugha (Friends of the Thatched Houses).
Efforts in this scheme have focussed on the Isle of Tiree, where there were at the time about 15 thatched buildings. However, living in a bit of history is not always ideal, with few of the modern conveniences that most people take for granted. Most of the existing thatched cottages are category A listed buildings. But because of the threat that the buildings could deteriorate through neglect, Argyll and Bute District Council, with other bodies, started the Cairdean to protect the traditional buildings.
The organisation was formed at a public meeting in Tiree in 1985. There is a committee of six, all Gaelic speaking — the chairman is District Councillor Alex Mac- Arthur. Mr Souness, who travelled to London that week to receive the award, was secretary. But living in a thatched cottage — with no bathroom, few modern conveniences and limited cooking facilities — is not as confortable as some people would make out. Mrs Joan Mackinnon, has lived in such a cottage on Tiree with her husband John Hector for 31 years.
She said to reporters at the time that “life in a traditional thatched cottage was not as easy as people sometimes said.”
Reporters commented “the MacKinnon’s home has two bedrooms, a kitchen and a small porch — but no bathroom, only an outside toilet. The couple are now in their 60s. Mrs MacKinnon said: “From the beginning, there was no modern conveniences that other people have in their houses. It’s not just as comfortable as people make out on the television — there is a lack of space. Modern women have automatic washing machines, things like that. I cook on two rings and a Raeburn, and there is no space for anything else. “
She continued, “The cottage is nice and warm, certainly. If you keep the roof thatched then you don’t get water coming in. Doing the thatching itself is not so much a problem, but cutting the material can be. My husband has always done the work himself.”
“We have no bathroom, just an outside toilet. That’s how comfortable they are! I find that more of a problem now I am getting older, but it didn’t bother me so much when I was younger.”
Mrs MacKinnon pointed out that everyone in the Highlands lived in thatched houses at one stage — the reason they do not do so now is that the cottages are not as comfortable and practical to live in as more modern houses. “None of the people who say how pretty and nice they are want to actually live in one,”
Mrs MacKinnon pointed out. “I wonder who they are preserving them for —is it for the people who live in them, or is it for the tourists?”
Reporters 1987 further added, “Mrs MacKinnon said that she thought that the award winning scheme had been a help for those people who could not manage to gather materials and thatch their own cottages. The award was presented to Mr Souness this week by naturalist David Bellamy in Lambeth Palace. The Cairdean’s part in preserving thatched buildings concentrates on maintenance. Its main aims are to ensure the supply of thatching materials and to encourage the passing on of traditional skilis, and to obtain maintenance grants for owners who need them. The Cairdean also encourages the continued use of buildings and tries to find uses for redundant ones. The project has received help from the Historic Buildings and Monuments Directors and a grant from the Historic Buildings Council. “
