The poor beleaguered island of Bute that is – seemingly we were featured on the national news yesterday, but of course we didn’t see that because we were experiencing another 24 hour non electric period. Since the ‘sting jet’ of Tuesday morning it has been fascinating and frustrating here. Personally we have managed fine with an eclectic mix of candles, head torch, camping gas light, gas hob and fire. Our immediate concerns were over the contents of the steadily thawing freezers and the reducing battery power of Kindles and mobile phones. The latter worry being increased when the entire landline telephone system on the island shut down for a few hours. The infamous ‘Rothesay rumour’ mill has been in full flow eg the telephone hiccup allegedly due to the back up generator at the telephone exchange running completely out of diesel causing problems when they tried to restart it after getting more fuel.
Yesterday the sun shone for the first time in ten days so in spite of a bitter cold wind we walked into town just to get out for a bit. We saw only one shop open – a small Spar grocers with a dozen folk queuing along the pavement outside. I was shocked at my own reaction – an immediate desire to go and enquire what the queue was for, fully intending to join in, then I remembered I didn’t actually need anything. The shop owner was very sensibly escorting one customer at a time around his depleted shelves by candlelight. Later in the afternoon ‘news’ began to circulate (source unknown of course) that soup kitchens were being set up and our revered leader himself (Alex Salmond) was expected in the morning to sort it all out. As in most rumours there was an element of truth, as by late afternoon Scottish Hydro (the power company) had shipped in two generators and were providing free hot food in various locations – a steak burger kiosk in the centre, fish and chips in St Andrew’s church hall and burgers and chips at Craigmore Bowling Club.
Friends who live in a farm house well out of Rothesay and were without electricity for the entire 48 hour period were made an offer of an overnight hotel stay and hot meal by the electricity company. So, together with all the linesmen and other employees who have worked for days through appalling weather to get Bute reconnected to the national grid, I think the company did quite a good job. My only complaint would be the distinct lack of reliable factual information. From Tuesday morning until after teatime yesterday there was only very vague recorded messages (usually saying phone back in 4 – 6 hours) on Scottish Hydro’s telephone. The last time we phoned we spoke to a real person who very politely checked our address and directed us to the nearest ‘soup kitchen’ where we could get free hot food, he still was giving no indication of when our electricity would be back on. The power returned about 7pm last night and has stayed that way for 24 hours now (fingers twitching to cross again).
Although I am joking about the situation over the last four days I know a lot of people have had a very miserable and worrying time. I can imagine the problem of keeping elderly, less mobile folk and small children warm in all electric houses; not to mention preventing younger teenagers from killing their siblings in frustration at being unable to play with the essential electronic gadgets. All the friendly residents of Bute have a great topic of conversation which will last us for months to come. To all who have contacted us or sent messages – thank you very much for your concern but we don’t need the food parcels – yet!
Glad to hear you are ok. I was at mum’s on thursday and heard the lunchtime news, sounded very dramatic: Isle of Bute ‘cut off’, with an intrepid reporter standing not far from your house giving us the details!
Millport suffered a similar lack of information, and also got no coverage on the news! apparently the community council had to organise some emergency hot drinks and food- there was no help forthcoming from the electricity people. Admittedly Millport has a much smaller population, but there have been some grumbles about how little information there was on local radio (battery operated!!) and since the ferries were also off for part of the time,there was little prospect of getting off the island either. I suspect we may not have heard the end of this, though the electricity engineers were praised for at least trying to sort out the power, in still dangerously high winds.
Wow! It sounds like you have had some horrific weather and I hope it has improved over the last week. I didn’t see any coverage of Bute on NZ TV. If I could send you some sunshine over, I would – it has been lovely and warm here and is helping us to recover from the latest two big shakes on 23 December. I will email you hopefully on Saturday but in any case ASAP. Love, Betty
You have coped admirably well, thanks to great foresight and planning. I don’t think it would be a good idea to live in an all electric house on Bute, or at least to do so without extra gas heaters and camping stoves, not to mention the battery operated radios!
The family holiday house on the Port was slightly damaged in the first squally shower – a lovely neighbour reported that the skylight had blown into the lane. It’s one thing to be able to jump down and effect/organise repair jobs when the ferries are operational, quite another when all means of transport are cut off!
Apparently, this state of periodically being cut off is part of Bute’s historical psyche. During WW2, my gran, sick of the incessant air raids, and sitting in the dreadful shelter for hours, uprooted herself and the weans, and anyone else in the family who wanted to join them, to be self appointed refugees in the Port hooses.
This led to my mother and her siblings attending school in Rothesay over some happy years, She remembers the ferries going off very early, and things being blacked out, in addition to the food rationing, but there was a strong community spirit, just as there is now.
She says that your recent situation reminds her of that experienced in the war years! Well done for coping so well.
Best,
Maureen.