I HAVE been to the sleepy Isle of Canna half a dozen times. But, as I sail past a pod of dolphins into the best natural harbour in the Small Isles, it is soon clear that this time is different. Greeting me on the quayside is the Hebridean architect Wil Tunnell, a sure sign that big changes are afoot. “You’ve come at a great time, as there are lots of positive things happening on the island,” he beams, as we stride off around this deeply scenic isle.
Until all too recently, Canna seemed little more than a museum with a farm attached. The voice of the tiny community — unaided by community facilities — was often ignored beyond the quartet of Small Isles (Eigg, Rum, Muck, and Canna) that shimmer off the south of Skye in a sweep of white sand beaches and brooding hills. Last time I ventured to this isle, just before Covid, there were serious concerns about the survival of a community struggling under the confines of the ownership of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).
Canna (measuring just four miles by one) has long been sought after by everyone from the Picts to the Vikings, but it is the Gaels who left the most lasting mark. Their culture and language was preserved by a Canna laird, scholar, and nationalist, the late Dr John Lorne Campbell, and his wife, Margaret Fay Shaw, an American ethnomusicologist whose bequest of Canna to the NTS, in 1981, was intended to preserve the island’s culture and farming for future generations.
Robin McKelvieHebridean architect Wil Tunnell by the currently dilapidated Coroghan Barn
Walking around the otter-kissed bay, we reach Café Canna, where the new owner, Gareth Cole, has come, not just to lease the island’s only eatery, but also to impart sheer positivity. “Until recently, younger people headed off to the mainland, or even across to community-owned Eigg,” he explains.
“The outlook now is much brighter, with primary-school-age kids, and a trio of new houses being built by the NTS. We’ve hopefully learned from the mistakes of other islands, and we’ll get young families with skills that can benefit the community.” Currently, the population is about 20 people.
AS THE island develops, with, among other things community-owned wind and solar projects, residents and visitors are both benefiting. “We’ve got the community-run 24/7 honesty shop, and now a real sense of resilience,” Gareth says. “We bake our own bread, and even brew our own beer, right here at the café. We forage for produce, and you cannot beat the local seafood, beef, and lamb. It is all ultra-fresh, zero food-miles.”
When the menu is as good as Café Canna’s, I feel as if I could eat there every day. I pull myself away, though, to hike with Wil to the site of the Coroghan Barn. Like much of the Hebrides, the Small Isles were devastated by the 19th-century Clearances. The now dilapidated two-storey barn, dating from the late-18th century, was once used to store grain for the community and livestock awaiting transportation.
Robin McKelvieA warm welcome awaits at Café Canna
Wil is working to resurrect the barn. “A lack of houses and facilities has been an obstacle to growing a sustainable population on Canna, and these are issues being tackled head on by the Isle of Canna Community Development Trust,” Wil explains. He is working on designs for new community spaces in the barn and a community-owned bunkhouse for tourists, to boost the good, but limited, number of places to stay on the island. “The islanders are very welcoming people, and recognise that tourism is essential to underpin a sustainable community.”
The NTS is investing millions in the restoration, as well as in the conservation of Canna House, Dr Campbell and Margaret Faye Shaw’s former home, housing their important archive of Gaelic culture. The house is currently closed, but visitors are welcome to visit its walled garden.
Canna is ideal for hiking, with a variety of options for visitors, from sweeping coastal strolls to more challenging clifftop walks. The island’s dense moorland and undulating terrain make for surprisingly wild adventures by bike (bring your own, or hire one from Mallaig), which are tempered with lower-level farm tracks offering easy access to fine beaches.
Canna enjoys Special Protection Area status because of its large population of breeding seabirds. The NTS runs ranger-led seasonal walks that showcase the island’s rich history and wildlife, including sea eagles and puffins, and all manner of cetaceans, from bottlenose dolphins, porpoises, and seals through to basking sharks, minke whales — and even killer whales.
WHAT Wil is planning on Canna reminds me of his remarkable revamp of Eigg’s now world-class An Laimhrig community and visitor hub, which features a café, general store, gift shop, community space, adventure sports centre, and shower block (powered by the island’s own green electricity). It is poignant to stand opposite Coroghan Barn, where once stood the old farmsteads of those spirited across the Atlantic in the Clearances, never to return.
Poignant, too, are the traces of the religious history of Canna. The island was once owned by the monks from Iona. Some scholars believe that Canna was as important as Iona in the early Christian settlement of Scotland. Impressive archaeological remains include evidence of a medieval nunnery, Sgorr Nam Ban-naomha (Skerry of the Holy Women), and a Celtic cross at the cleared settlement of A’ Chill.
istock St Columba‘s, Canna
To this day, Canna has an embarrassment of church buildings. The bijou Episcopal Rhu Church, next to the pier, was built by the Thom family, who owned the island in the early 1900s. It’s a beautiful chapel in a Danish style, with an extraordinary monolithic stone tower, that looks to me like a stubby pencil. The one church that continues in use is St Columba’s: a small chapel at the NTS-owned Canna Farm.
On my last morning, I hike over to the imposing St Edward’s, a Roman Catholic chapel (now unoccupied) on the small tidal island of Sanday, connected to Canna by a wooden bridge. The sun finally forges its way through the clouds, and shines across Canna’s broad bay. I leave warmed by a forecast as bright for Canna as it has been for decades.
Travel details
The Caledonian Sleeper (sleeper.scot) runs overnight trains between London Euston and Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, with the option of beds, bunks, and seats. Scotrail (scotrail.co.uk) to continue with trains from Fort William to Arisaig for ferry connections with Arisaig Marine (arisaig.co.uk) to Canna, or to Mallaig to connect with the CalMac (calmac.co.uk) ferry service. The Lucy Mary is a new small ship that offers live-aboard cruises that open up all the four Small Isles, including Canna (hebridescruises.co.uk). For information on Canna accommodation and services visit: theisleofcanna.com
For NTS walks visit: nts.org.uk