Assynt Poem in Reach Poetry

 Fin Whale's jawbone

My poem, 'Notes from the Netting Station', has just been published in the February issue of Reach Poetry. The inspiration came from the windswept beach at Clachtoll in Assynt in the north of Scotland, where there is a salmon bothy dating from 1846, and a netting station. Clachtoll was once a crofting township, with a large population of sheep. The abandoned netting station is strange place. Salmon fishing was carried out in the past by a process known as 'bag-netting'. The netted fish were kept cool in a nearby ice house. A jawbone and part of the skull of a Fin Whale can be seen outside the bothy, and it was the sad sight of these 'bare bones' that sparked my poem.

The beach at Clachtoll (Clach = rock; toll = hole)

Net-drying Poles at Clachtoll for bag-net fishing

The Netting Station (complete with large drops of Assynt rain!)

Poem in Joanna Ezekiel's 'poetry snapshots' series on 'my delayed reactions'

Stormy sunset on Skye

I am delighted to have a poem, 'The Ceilidh House', up on Joanna Ezekiel's site, my delayed reactions, in her poetry snapshots series (update: it seems this is no longer online - March 2015). Many readers of my blog will know by now that Skye holds a special place in my heart. The Clearances, however, were often brutal and devastating.

The Skye Bridge, with the Cuillin silhouetted in the distance