Bun-Sgoil Stafainn

Local history - Clyde Puffer

Garden story

Lobster creel

Every garden has a story to tell about the people who helped make it, the challenges faced, solutions found, lessons learned and the unexpected pleasures along the way.  Here is Bun-Sgoil Stafainn's story in their own words.

Wrecked! Here’s the story of the wreck of a Clyde Puffer that foundered in 1919 during a storm in Staffin Bay. It’s a reminder of coastal industry and our ties to the sea for food and employment.

Were were very busy planting and growing. It was challenging with such a cold spring and our seedlings took much longer than usual to germinate.

We also had a disaster in our poly tunnel, being caught out by a much colder night than we expected and our first set of beans did not survive although the peas did. We quickly planted more beans and put them in a hot classroom to germinate faster.

This worked and we were able to pot them on successfully! Our garden props came from far and wide including 2 fishing rods which travelled all the way from South Uist on the ferry by themselves. The community were very supportive and donated all the items that we need to showcase our coastal heritage.

We live in the Trotternish Peninsula on the North East tip of Skye which means that we are almost completely surrounded by the sea.  Our history is very tied to the sea with our food and employment coming from it. Because of the importance of the sea to us, this year we decided that one of our Themes would be ‘Under the sea’ and when our debating team took part in our local Youth Speaks competition they used their speech to raise the issue of Plastic Pollution in our Oceans.

We are currently learning about the history of our area and have discovered that we have our very own Ship Wreck! – The Tom Telford, a Clyde Puffer which was carrying bricks.

Old fishing rope

Caring for plants

Found shells