’It is crammed full of a lifetime’s thinking and gathering, and will be a worthy addition to the library of anybody who believes that crofting had a past filled with value and can have a bright future.’--
The Shetland Times Crofting is a particularly Scottish way of managing the land that is now breathing new life into the Highland glens and communities that were left deserted by the Clearances of the nineteenth century. In this new, greatly expanded edition of her bestselling Crofts and Crofting, Katherine Stewart updates the crofting story for the twenty-first century. Life on the crofts is, and always has been, hard and seldom materially rewarding. And yet it has evolved a rich tradition, marked by community spirit, personal warmth and toughness in the face of adversity. In this new era, information technology is now removing the isolation which has so often been the crofter’s greatest burden. This book is a concise guide to the history, working methods and future outlook for this unique way of life.
Katharine Stewart lived on a croft with her husband and daughter for many years. Her experiences during this period of her life were recounted in A Croft in the Hills. She has since helped to set up a crofting museum next to her home near Loch Ness. Among her other books are A Garden in the Hills, describing the life of her garden during the course of a year, and A School in the Hills, about the schoolhouse in which she lives and the way in which the children of the Highlands have been educated over the years.