Monthly Saturday Talk - Return To Muck

An older woman travels solo through the Hebrides, often staying in bunkhouses. She recounts her adventures, local history, the natural world and folklore in prose, poetry and song, beautifully illustrated by her photographs. Expect bunkhouse anecdotes, goose barnacles, puirt-à-beul ( Gaelic mouth music), a dance in and around a lighthouse optic.  A couple of lonely walks across vast sands at low tide to remote 'drying' islands, a trip to the unknown Monach Isles, and unplanned interviews with fascinating islanders ranging in age from 5 to 97.

In Marg's vivid memoir, we meet people and landscapes of lesser-known islands such as Gigha, Colonsay, Tiree, Barra, North and South Uist, Benbecula, and her beloved Muck.

Marg was born in Leicester and now lives in Leeds. She has two daughters and two granddaughters, and is very keen walker. In her twenties she worked as a teacher in France, Sierra Leone and Zambia.  After taking early retirement in the early 2000's, she has travelled solo most summers in the Scottish islands. Marg has been writing short prose and poems for about 25 years, and has had many articles published in Scottish magazines. An active member of two Leeds writing groups, she has also worked with a composer who has set some of her poems to music.

Marg says 'During the early years of my solo travelling I started to write short pieces of prose and sent some to magazines. It crossed my mind in 2017 that I could write a book to focus my energy - a natural progression. Despite my many travels on the Scottish mainland and in well-known islands such as Orkney and Skye, I decided to choose just a small number of islands and go back to them with the purpose of writing about my experiences. One of these, Muck, has become like a second home.'

The book will be available to buy for £12 (a bit cheaper than the recommended retail price) please bring cash or a cheque.

Entrance is FREE

Free tea or coffee and a biscuit served from 10.00 when the doors open. The talk starts promptly at 10.30.

You are welcome to bring a friend.