Who hasn't dreamt of starting a new life in a remote corner of the country?
The problem for most of us, however, is that the practicalities of earning a
living and sustaining a social life quickly get in the way. But Marianne
Campbell got a beautiful home, a job and a social life in one go - for less
than the cost of the average family car.
That's why her story is so compelling. Campbell, 47, lives in a refurbished
school house, Loch Croistean, on the west side of the Isle of Lewis. It is
about 30 miles from Stornoway on the Lewis-Harris border near the Uig sands
where the Lewis chessmen [medieval chess sets] were found. The building is a
B-listed property set in an acre and a half, and dates from about 1875.
Campbell bought the property just over three years ago for £55,000. At the
time she had only £25,000 in savings and wanted to start a new life on
Lewis. “My parents both come from Lewis and all my childhood summers were
spent here, but I took it for granted,” she says. “I now realise what a
beautiful place it is - wild and remote yet accessible.”
That realisation came after many years as an itinerant teacher of English as a
foreign language. Campbell's last teaching post was in Tokyo where she ran
classes for business people. She had an epiphany there as she struggled to
save her life.
“One Sunday I was out for a walk in the hills above Tokyo when I was attacked
by a black bear,” she says. “I had a brolly with me so I was able to defend
myself as I shouted at the top of my voice. The bear eventually ran off and
I was helped by a Japanese couple who were walking nearby.”
Once her head wound was stitched, Campbell vowed to fulfil her dream of buying
a place on Lewis and started saving. She says: “Any time I bought a beer I
would think of it as two bricks gone so I more or less stopped going out for
six years.”
With her modest savings, Campbell came back to Scotland and lived with her
parents in Easter Ross. She doggedly searched for affordable properties on
the island. Her tenacity paid off and Campbell secured the building just
ahead of two other bidders. But money was not all that came into the
equation. The school was being marketed by the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
(formerly known as the Western Isles council) and officials required
assurance that it would be used for business as well as residential
purposes. So Campbell, who has a background in marketing, spent six months
creating a detailed business plan which was based on careful and convincing
research.
She has since put her plan into action and now runs her home as a coffee shop
and restaurant in what was the main school room, while the infant room
behind it functions as a professional kitchen. The building's most notable
feature is the large sash window of leaded glass which floods the restaurant
with daylight. Winter days in the north are short and before the advent of
electric light it was essential for the children's education to make the
most of the short time between sunrise and sunset.
The adjoining residential accommodation, which served as home to a succession
of school teachers from Victorian times onwards, comprises three bedrooms,
two bathrooms, a small domestic kitchen and a dining area.
Campbell has created her own office-cum-bedsit in the remaining public room,
so the lines between her work and private life are blurred. This, she says,
has been the only way to get a one-women business off the ground on a
limited budget.
The school closed to pupils more than 30 years ago and had since been used as
a community museum and for storage purposes. Fortunately it had been
consistently heated so there was no dampness or serious rot.
However, the plumbing and electrics alone cost about £40,000 to modernise, and
insulating the place to modern standards was another unavoidable expense.
Meanwhile, the exterior was in poor condition. From the start Campbell saw
past the peeling paint. “It looked really bleak and unloved but I saw the
potential and decided to do what I could to bring it back to life,” she says.
Two years of living on site in a caravan and working first as a dishwasher,
then as a marketing manager in an arts centre in Stornoway followed. Some
refurbishment funds were in place through a combination of a bank loan and
support from the local enterprise company, but these were limited so
Campbell rolled up her sleeves and did some of the work herself. It would
have cost £7,000 to get a local firm to paint the outside of the building so
that was done with the help of a cousin. Similarly, the quote to decorate
the interior came in at a scary £17,000 - so that was a DIY job too. The
total cost of bringing the building to its present state was about £175,000.
Many business plans amount to little more than a work of fiction geared to
securing financial backing. This is not the case with Loch Croistean.
Campbell has set realistic revenue targets and, after eight months of
trading, is reaching them. Old buildings, however, can be capricious and
demanding business partners. The roof is shedding the odd slate and will
need to be completely redone. Even the new conservatory is not weather-proof
against horizontal, Hebridean rain and more cash is required to put that
right. Campbell runs the business more or less single-handed, with two
part-time workers to help out during busy periods. Living on the job is
hectic and days start early with making bread, preparing food and cleaning.
Perhaps because of the long hours the job demands, the restaurant has a homely
feel. Soft red leather sofas and old-fashioned china cabinets contribute to
the illusion that you are in someone's private lounge. Wooden carvings from
Africa and local art work sit side by side.
A large reproduction of a painting depicting the trees which underpin the
Gaelic alphabet takes centre stage above the peat-burning stove and the
stove itself has been crafted from an old metal fishing buoy. Evidence of
artistic flair on a shoestring abounds. The light fittings, for example,
look as if they belong in the building and have the kind of institutional
functionality that some of us remember from our schooldays, yet they were
bought from Ikea.
The rest of the house is being prepared for the arrival of Campbell's parents
who are coming to live with her. The original plan was to let the house for
holidaymakers but that has been revised to accommodate family needs. Beyond
that, there is scope to extend into the attic or to refurbish the
outbuildings when funds allow.
Not everyone could adopt such a relentless pace to pay the mortgage. Yet
Campbell, who is energetic and highly sociable, makes it look easy. As a
descendant of Lewis people she is well connected locally and many of her 35
first cousins are within reach when she needs help.
Running a business from home is part of island, crofting tradition and
Campbell would not have it any other way. She says: “When I was in my
twenties it was all about being in a big city. Now I want to be here in this
beautiful place.
“I feel blessed. In fact, I often nip myself and say this is great. I feel I'm
meant to be here at this point in my life and it feels more fateful than
lucky.”
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar recently announced plans to close four further
schools on the islands www.cne-siar.gov.uk
