West Highland Free Press

BY KIRSTY WATT A founding member of the John Muir Trust - a major landowner on Skye - has been expelled from the board of trustees after raising concerns about the charity's governance. Denis Mollison, former chair of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust and the Mountain Bothies Association, is yet another person to be forced out of the Trust in what has become a three-year mass exodus.

This September sees the return of the celebration of Gaelic culture, language and music across the Highlands as Blas Festival returns, with two new strands which will see young creatives get the chance to experience life on tour and an evening of conversation and music, delving into the lives of some of Scotland's, and Canada's, top traditional musicians.

BY KIRSTY WATT HebNet, the Small Isles' community-interest broadband company, has just reached a major milestone this month celebrating 15 years of providing the area with fast, reliable internet. Based in Eigg, HebNet CIC's origins began in 2010 when Simon Helliwell launched an experimental pilot scheme to see if usable broadband could be wirelessly transmitted to Eigg.

BY KIRSTY WATT Skye teenager Archie Law saved the lives of two men last Saturday after they got into difficulty on an inflatable toy dinghy in Broadford Bay. 15-year-old Archie was praised by the RNLI for his 'quick thinking' as he took his own boat out to rescue the men after seeing them floundering on an inflatable dinghy between Scalpay and Pabay around 9pm on Saturday night.

A new community harbour building in north Skye is proving an aromatic hit with local people and visitors. Coffee beans sourced from all over the world are being roasted at Staffin Harbour and enjoyed by customers in the premises by the very first tenant, Corran Coffee. The new café and coffee supplier, run by Andi Dunkel and Paul Milne, has taken on a five-year lease of the harbour facilities building which includes much-needed public toilets and showers.

BY KIRSTY WATT The Skye community have started rallying to help a beloved Broadford coffee shop which is set to lose its home as their leased property hits the market. Broadford's Coffee Bothy, formerly Creelers, opened in March 2022 when Andrew Jones and Rich Murray took on a five-year lease of the building to open their 'dream coffee shop'.

South Skye's Torafest 2026 brewed up another festive atmosphere in the Torabhaig Distillery courtyard last weekend. Music by Eilidh Cèilidh, the Breakish Cèilidh Band, and pipers from the Isle of Skye Pipe Band all provided an excellent soundscape to showcase the whisky made there as it was served up, simply as your local dram, or in delicious cocktails devised and created by the Torabhaig team.

BY DANIEL CULLEN A Broadford teenager is helping to raise awareness of Tourette syndrome after receiving a diagnosis that finally provided answers to years of unexplained tics, misunderstandings and challenges both in and out of school. Krista Nicolson, who is 15 and attends Portree High School, has been selling awareness laces (part of Tourette Scotland's 'Teale for Tourettes' campaign) during Tourette's Awareness Month, which runs from 15th May until 15th June.

BY MICHAEL RUSSELL Photos and newspaper articles and attendance registers from the 19th century were among the exhibits on show last weekend to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the old primary school in Kyleakin. It was a particularly emotional day for two families from the southern hemisphere, the Mansells from New Zealand and McColms from Australia.

BY JACKIE MACKENZIE A Skye woman is on top of the world after successfully completing an epic 1,000-mile Land's End to John o' Groats cycle challenge - and raising an amazing £16,000 for a cancer charity. Marsaili MacLeod, who lives in Kyleakin, spun off from the Cornish headland on 11th May and reached the tip of Caithness 15 days later, bang on her target time.