A little about the Fascadale people

Rhoddy Macleod                    b. 1920 Yorkshire  d. 2011 Scottish Borders    

Rhoddy, on the engine controls, 1976

Rhoddy grew up in Yorkshire and after wartime military service, when he met his future wife, Bobby, he settled in the then British colony of Kenya, his by then wife’s home. The political instability around Kenyan independence led to a departure from the Kenyan farm and a return to the UK. Rhoddy worked for STV for some years before purchasing Fascadale in 1968. They sold up and left in 1985 retiring to the Scottish Borders.

Bobby MacLeod                      b. 1924 Devon d. 2011 Scottish Borders

Stephanie Clara, always know as Bobby had family connections with Devon, as well as with colonial Egypt and Kenya. She met and married Rhoddy whilst they were both serving in the wartime military in East Africa. A mother of two children and a grandmother Bobby was a keen gardener, often frustrated by the Fascadale weather. The mature trees that stand between the gate and the house at Fascadale are a fitting memory to her

Rhoddy and Bobby very sadly died in 2011, within a day of each other

Paul Taylor                              b. 1954 Edinburgh

Paul, at sea, 1976

_{Photo © Kate Campbell}

Stirling University.  After graduating Paul married and returned to Ardnamurchan to catch more salmon.  After a few years at the declining fishing and after a spell as a lighthouse keeper he and his family returned to Edinburgh and a career as a special needs teacher and later as a professional yacht skipper. Married with three children and three grandchildren he splits his time between Edinburgh, Ardnamurchan and the sea.

Seamus McNally                     b. 1955 Inverness  

Seamus lived with his family at Achateny, a mile and a half from Fascadale. After studying at Aberdeen and Edinburgh Universities and a year in the Metropolitan Police Seamus returned to the West Coast of Scotland, to work in deer management, first on the Island of Rum and then to the National Trust for Scotland in Torridon. Married with children, he now lives in Inverness-shire. 

Mike Barrett                            b. 1944 London

Mike had a variety of jobs: copper miner, musician, bosun as described in his book “The Leaper” before arriving at Fascadale. After his years at the fishing Mike returned to London, became a librarian, spending his holiday time in the South Pacific studying Polynesian navigation. He now lives in the English Lake District and has a son living in London.

Eric Dobson                             b. 1958 Harpenden, England:   d. 2002 Aden

Dundee University. Eric’s family owned a property in Kilmory, a couple of miles from Fascadale. After living in Edinburgh and London Eric managed to build a yacht which took him most of the way around the world for a number of years. Very sadly Eric died in Aden whilst delivering a yacht from East Africa to France  2002

Chris Corden                           b. 1954 Staines, Middx:   

Stirling University.   Chris graduated as a Biochemist and was involved in a number of innovative commercial developments in the manufacture of such products as soya sauce and pharmaceutical fish oil before taking up a role in the Scottish Enterprise Agency. Chris is married with two children and three grandchildren. Chris and his family spent many years living on the Isle of Lewis but now lives in Stirlingshire, Scotland

Ben Dawson                            b 1956 Manchester England  

Stirling University and Edinburgh School of Art.  Ben became a successful furniture designer and manufacturer with his most prominent work being within the Scottish and Kuwaiti Parliaments. bendawson.com  Ben now teaches furniture design. He is married with three children and lives in East Lothian, Scotland

Simon Barker                    b.1956:  Southampton d.2024 Southern England

Simon in 1979

^{Photo © Jim Gaitens}

Simon and Stav, Kilchoan 2019

^{Photo © Jim Gaitens}

After graduating from Stirling and Cardiff Simon became an academic and eventually a Professor of English Literature, serving at a number of universities. He has produced many books, including War and Nation in the Theatre of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries (Edinburgh University Press). Although now living in the south of England, Simon maintains strong links with Ardnamurchan. Simon spent his developing years in Manchester where he explored the Pennines by day and maps of Ardnamurchan and the Small Isles during the evening. How satisfying to have had an opportunity to work with a fine crew on OB226 Iolair.

Simon is married to Dr Stavroula Varella.

Jim Gaitens                             b.1948 Glasgow 

Jim in Greenland 1976

^{Photo © Jim Gaitens}

Jim back at Fascadale 2019

^{Photo © Wendy Maltinsky}

Jim arrived at Fascadale having spent time as a refrigeration engineer and after sailing to Iceland and Greenland with the famous adventurer Bill Tilman as described in the book Triumph and Tribulation  After Fascadale Jim went to Stirling University, then worked as a teacher and later in Arts Development around the Scottish Highlands. Married, with four children and three grandchildren, Jim lives in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland.

Arthur Neiland                        b. 1960 Waterford, Ireland.

Family ran a herring curing ‘fish house’ and fish trading business for 65 years before emigrating to England. Graduated (MSc/PhD) from Stirling and Portsmouth Universities in Fisheries/Aquaculture. Academic career then partnerships in fisheries consultancy firms in the UK and France working internationally for the United Nations, the World Bank and others in 20 countries. He is based near Portsmouth

Becky  (Rebecca Ackroyd Barrett?)                                    

Becky came from a south of England yachting background.  She  remained in Ardnamurchan for a year or so after the fishing season and then departed for the south, perhaps to Stirling University

David Butterfield                    

David was a friend of a friend of the Macleods. He came from Devon, England and spent a very happy couple of seasons at Fascadale.  David had previously worked in the Leisure Industry

Richard O’Connor                   b.1950  Manchester, England

Richard, offshore with Bill Tillman 1976

^{Photo© Jim Gaitens}

Richard O’Connor and Paul Taylor 1983

^{Photo © Lorna Taylor}

Richard arrived in Ardnamurchan in the mid 1970s having been shipwrecked with Jim (see Jim Gaitens above) in Greenland and having worked in the Icelandic fishing industry. Richard, a father and grandfather lives in Ardnamurchan and has spent his life working there punctuated by periods working elsewhere.  He is a well-recognised member of the local community

John Dobson                           b.1962  Glasgow

John (brother of Eric) Wrexham College of Art and Robert Gordon”s University.  John’s family owned a property in Kilmory, a couple of miles from Fascadale.  He returned to Ardnamuchan after his studies where he continues to live.  John knows a great deal about the salmon fishing in Ardnamurchan and has been a vital contributor to this website

Gavin Broom  b.1962?                         

Gavin, from Glasgow, worked as crew with Paul Taylor fishing the south side out of Kilchoan in the 1984 season.  Gavin lived in Kilmory for the summer.