The remote and rainy island in the Hebrides is experiencing a population surge with four new families recently arriving, but residents say living here isn't easy.
Stephen Castle
Photographs by Andrew Testa.
There are no doctors in Isle of Rum. There are no restaurants. There are no churches. It's the worst of all for some.
Life on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides is not for everyone.
Alex says he loves it, but admits getting a drink could be an adventure, with the nearest pub on the neighboring island of Skye.
Mr. Mumford said that they thought about kayaking across and having a drink and then kayaking back. It is 10 miles over and 10 miles back, so it is not ideal.
The island has seen a recent population explosion despite all the challenges of living here.
Only two students attend the school, and only a couple of people remain in this isolated outpost. The islanders appealed for newcomers to join them.
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The island has seen a recent population explosion despite all the challenges of living here.
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The only thing on the island is a shop.
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The natural beauty of the island makes up for the lack of restaurants and pubs.
Thousands of emails arrived expressing interest. Four couples with young children were selected from around 400 applications.
The search for new faces drew attention to a larger problem across Scotland's more than 90 inhabited islands, many of which are experiencing similar crises.
Almost twice as many islands have lost population as have gained over the last 10 years, according to a Scottish government document.
At least for now, that has been avoided in Rum.
The newcomers are still here despite the rain and biting flies of the summer of 2020, and the families in four new, Nordic-style wooden homes rented at attractive prices.
The man who moved here with his partner from Bristol, a city with more than 460,000 people at the other end of Britain, works both as an administrator at the village school and as a visitor services manager at the Bunkhouse.
Mr. Mumford said people called their decision crazy. The people who are crazy are the people who live in boxes with people in flats and cram on trains in rush hour. It was an easy choice for me.
He said that he was done with working full time for a large company.
Most other new arrivals have kept their jobs even though they are working remotely thanks to Rum's broadband internet access, installed by a salmon farming company that employs one islander full time and brings in other workers periodically.
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The ferry terminal is on the island.
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Alex is at the Rum Bunkhouse hostel.
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The island has new housing.
The natural beauty of the island makes up for the lack of restaurants and pubs. At sunrise, Rum is bathed in red light while seals and herons are overhead.
The only settlement on the island is Kinloch, where Stags and eagles can be found.
By The New York Times.
If this is an attractive island, it is also one with a difficult history. The Gaelic-speaking population was evicted in the 19th century when landlords built sheep farms.
George Bullough, an eccentric English tycoon, built a hunting lodge called Kinloch Castle, complete with a pair of small alligators, in Rum by the end of the century. Rumors of louche parties behind the castle's walls discouraged people from visiting.
None of the current residents have lived here for more than 30 years.
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The remains of a house have been left neglected since the Highland clearances.
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Susie Murphy is one of two teachers taking turns to come to Rum from the mainland.
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A deer is in front of a castle.
Fliss Fraser arrived in 1999 and is one of the longest-tenured residents. She runs a bed-and-breakfast.
She acknowledged that the appeal can be hard to appreciate.
She looked out onto a scenic shoreline from which she swims even in the rain. She said that either Rum grabs people or it doesn't.
In the summer islanders enjoy spectacular, deserted beaches, barbecues, ceilidhs, and a party with traditional music.
The community is small and nothing stays secret for long.
It's best not to fall out with neighbors because they are impossible to avoid. Islanders need to be able to adapt. When Ms. Fliss requested a technician from the mainland to fix her phone box, she was instead sent a replacement unit to install herself.
Susie Murphy, one of two teachers taking turns to come from the mainland, said that the arrival of new families has rejuvenated the school. She said it has been challenging but fun.
The school was once a small church and teaches children up to age 12. Older students have to go to a high school on the mainland and return to Rum at weekends and weather permitting. The trailer home or caravan is a good place to stay for teachers.
Ms. Murphy said that sleeping could be difficult in September because the deer roar right through the night.
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The village hall was once home to more than two dozen residents.
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Islanders swim by the bay in Kinloch.
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With so few people in the village, the social interactions that do occur can be intense, with a short trip to the village shop stretching into an hourslong outing with all the necessary stops to chat.
Kim Taylor runs a cafe in the summer. The carcasses of animals culled to keep the deer population sustainable are brought from the hillside by wild ponies.
One of the arrivals, Stephen Atkinson, 40, wants to change Rum's agriculture by keeping pigs. He hasn't been given permission yet. The village is owned by a community trust and most of the island is owned by NatureScot, Scotland's nature agency.
Mr. Atkinson, who moved to Rum from northern England, isn't deterred by the rain.
He said that people associate sunny and hot weather with positive vibes and that rainy and dark weather is negative. I enjoy cold, windy and stormy weather.
With so few people, the social interactions that do occur can be intense, with a short trip to the village shop stretching into an hourslong outing with all the stops to chat.
It is not remote enough, joked Mr. Atkinson, who moved here with his partner and son.
As the islanders ponder the economic future of their home, they see clear potential for new tourism work, perhaps as guides for walking tours or as local experts for the adventurous looking to swim and kayak in the rough water.
How many visitors should be encouraged is a topic of debate. The Bunkhouse hostel is being renovated by Mr. Mumford and there are camping facilities at Rum.
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The islanders see potential for new tourism work as they ponder the economic future of their home.
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The only settlement on the island is Kinloch, where deer and eagles can be found.
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The closest pub to the beach is on the Isle of Skye.
Kinloch Castle, which was closed during the Pandemic, was a place where visitors could stay and take tours of its grand rooms.
The building could cost millions of pounds to restore. Some worry that more tourism could threaten the wildness of Rum's landscape and the quiet of life that attracted the residents in the first place.
Mr. Mumford admits that friends and family in England think he is living on a Celtic treasure island, rather than navigating the challenges of a remote settlement.
Mr. Mumford made a mistake of calling his father as he waited to find out if his car would come back from the ferry.
His dad asked if he was enjoying paradise.
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