Miscellaneous

2007 will see my handover of the general running of the island to the next generation of my family, daughter Deirdre and son Patrick and their respective families. We sincerely trust they will have as much happiness and satisfaction in the years to come as Shirley and I have had in the last fifteen years. Geluk.

Our new arrival

July 2007 saw the arrival of Fern, our three months old Springer Spaniel, a companion for Oscar now ten years old. He is now busy teaching her all about life on the island and hunting rabbits.

Building for the Future

Their first projects are the completion of the habitat enclosure (for REPS 3) and the refurbishment of Fallow Cottage with timber flooring donated by our stalwart benefactor Paddy Barry.

Left and right: Two shots of the haggard garden , July 2007

August 2006 saw the arrival of Sally and Alan McEachern who had bid for a weekend on the island in a charity auction. We were lucky with the weather and we think they enjoyed their stay with us and had many tales to tell afterwards. Shirley brought them ashore and they were greeted by Fern.

The New Generation

Deirdre (Dee Dee) and Patrick took to the skies and landed by helicopter in March 2008. It was easy to count the stock as they circled overhead with not one animal taking fright. Glad to report that all were in fine health and plenty of new growth of grass was evident. They stayed on the island for a few hours and checked out everything. Water holes were all overflowing. Some damage from the incessant storms over the winter months had lead to leakage in Soay Cottage. Some new roof panels will be required and this work will be carried out as soon as good weather permits.

Flying time from Dublin to landing - forty minutes. What a joy they said.

WARNING:

Landing on the Little Saltee is treacherous as there is no pier or jetty. Declan Bates, tel: 087-2529736 will confirm whether (permission having already been granted) it is suitable to land on the island. He will facilitate with all visitors requirements.

"A fine day in the middle of our 2007 summer!" - usually my winter ware. HGB

For further information contact:

Patrick Grattan Bellew: Email: patgratman@hotmail.com

This site was designed and constructed by Shirley Nicholson (shirleynicholson1@eircom.net) with information provided by Henry Grattan Bellew