Remembering the community of St Kilda in the Uists

Uist community groups will come together this Saturday to commemorate the 70^th year anniversary of the evacuation of the island.

The day will begin with the official opening of the ‘St Kilda Viewpoint’ on Cleitraval at 6.30pm. The viewpoint has been erected near the  summit of the North Uist hill by the North Uist Partnership, and affords the most spectacular views of the remote archipelago from anywhere in the Outer Hebrides.

The viewpoint’s stone wall enclosure contains slate etchings, designed by the late Donald Ferguson, which describe all the prominent points along a horizon that stretches to a full 270 degree panoramic view of the Southern Isles.

The viewpoint also contains a powerful telescope which will allow users to see St Kilda in the most striking detail.

Following this official opening there will be an evening of entertainment from 7.30pm at Hosta Hall, hosted  by Sealladh Hiort, the Uist community group preparing the bid for a St Kilda Visitor Centre to be located in the Uists.

The evening event will include singing from North Uist’s Mod Gold Medal winning singer, Margaret Callan and Linda MacLeod; Alasdair MacEachen will present a talk on the history of St Kilda and  its people; Pauline Prior-Pitt will be reading Douglas Dunn’s poem,  ’St Kilda’s Parliament’, based on the famous photograph by George  Washington Wilson; there will be a demonstration of Waulking the Tweed and Monty Halls of BBC2′s Monty Halls’ Great Escape will be talking about the attraction of St Kilda for visitors from afar.

Also on show will be an exhibition of photographs, documents and artefacts from Museum nan Eilean and private collections.

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