Lives in a Landscape - Series 5 - Fragile Isle

Documentary series telling original stories about real lives in Britain today. Alan Dein travels to Canna, one of the Small Isles in North West Scotland. With a population of 17, six of whom are children, Canna is at a critical point. There are just enough people to keep the island community going. If any leave it will put huge pressures on the others. If new people come, it will inevitably change the fragile balance that exists in such a small, tightly-knit group of people. Alan explores the connections between the different families and how they relate to the island as well as managing to feel connected to the wider world. Neil has come from Wales with his family and is the island gardener; Magda is Basque and is the archivist of an enormous collection of Gaelic songs and stories; Murdo and Gerry are the farmers; John and Sheila run the guest house; Ellidh is the teacher in the school where two of the four pupils are her own children; Geoff, her husband, looks after their two year old twins at home. What they all have in common is that they work for the Scottish National Trust, which owns the island and controls its population size. It also controls the destiny of a young community trying to put down roots.