A fairly bright day, but feeling cold on account of the strength of the wind. The sun put in occasional appearances in between the clouds. The stargazing event, being publicised on the BBC tonight will not lead to many stars being watched in these islands - there is a cover of clouds.
I have completed the transcription of service records of Lewismen in Australian service during the First World War. I have already had positive feedback from the grand nephew of one man, originating from the Carloway area of Lewis. I am in the process of copying the summaries onto the Internet. Although I have not yet tidied up the resulting website, you can have a peep.
After the horse in the house, there was the horse in the bog. The equine in the bog was pulled out in a few hours yesterday. The horse in the house looks there to stay. Personally, I find it completely unacceptable to have a horse in any house. In this particular instance, the horse had pasture in a neighbouring village. However, the horse's owner fell out with the owner of the pasture, leading to the horse being dumped outside its owner's home. She decided to take inside, rather than enlist the offered services of the SSPCA (the Scottish equivalent of the RSPCA) and the local council.
Those reading this post from Holland may remember a song by comedian Andre van Duin in the 70s or 80s about a horse in the hallway.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Sunday 15 January
An overcast day, but with a distant promise of brightness - which never reached here. Temperature remains at around 5 to 6 degrees Celsius.
Have finished looking up the service records for the 70 servicemen from this island who served in the WW1 under the Australian banner. Eleven of them lost their lives; two deserted, never to turn up again. Their names will not be revealed by me.
Five people are now known to have died in the grounding and partial sinking of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy. A lot of questions remain to be answered, the first one being: is there anyone left alive or dead in the wreck. The second is: how on earth could this happen? The captain has said that he hit a rock that was not charted properly. At least he went out of his way to beach his vessel in shallow water, to give everybody the best chance of survival under the circumstances.
From my perspective, going on a cruise has become too much like going on a bus. Apparently, nobody was given an emergency briefing upon embarkation - anyone who ever uses a ferry or plane will be bored by those briefings. Anyway, that's for the Italian authorities to sort out.
Have finished looking up the service records for the 70 servicemen from this island who served in the WW1 under the Australian banner. Eleven of them lost their lives; two deserted, never to turn up again. Their names will not be revealed by me.
Five people are now known to have died in the grounding and partial sinking of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy. A lot of questions remain to be answered, the first one being: is there anyone left alive or dead in the wreck. The second is: how on earth could this happen? The captain has said that he hit a rock that was not charted properly. At least he went out of his way to beach his vessel in shallow water, to give everybody the best chance of survival under the circumstances.
From my perspective, going on a cruise has become too much like going on a bus. Apparently, nobody was given an emergency briefing upon embarkation - anyone who ever uses a ferry or plane will be bored by those briefings. Anyway, that's for the Italian authorities to sort out.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Saturday 14 January
It is three months away from the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic, but we had a faint echo of that today. The cruiseliner Costa Concordia hit rocks and overturned off the island of Giglio, Italy, late yesterday evening. The news feeds are full of the disaster, which (so far) has claimed the lives of 3 people, with 40 missing. How could such a modern ship go so badly off course in well charted waters and in such good weather?
The weather here in Lewis was quite reasonable today, mainly overcast and about 7C / 45F. Can't expect much better at this time of year. It'll be much the same tomorrow.
Have looked up more service records for Australian servicemen, originating from this island. I have 15 left to look up, out of a total of about 70.
The weather here in Lewis was quite reasonable today, mainly overcast and about 7C / 45F. Can't expect much better at this time of year. It'll be much the same tomorrow.
Have looked up more service records for Australian servicemen, originating from this island. I have 15 left to look up, out of a total of about 70.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Friday 13 January
Friday the 13th started fairly bright, and before dawn, the moon was certainly bright enough. However, after lunch, the clouds drew in and we were back in the mid-January gloom. It's a bit colder than of late, and we had a frost last night, with the mercury down to -2C / 28F. As I type this, at nearly 10pm, the mercury is at its highest over the past 24 hours, namely 7C / 45F. The rest of the country is beginning to shiver under the first hard frost of the season. The Scottish Borders are down to -4C at the moment. This may not seem much for those of you in the States, who are used to temps to zero Fahrenheit if not below.
I'm continuing my perusal of WW1 service records, and some of them are not a credit to the soldiers involved. There is one, whose name I withhold, who was put on court martial for hitting a serving boy in a beertent over the head with a bottle, after he didn't get served fast enough. The soldier went AWOL for three years and was discharged in full disgrace in 1920. One other just disappeared after he was shipped over to the UK.
I'm continuing my perusal of WW1 service records, and some of them are not a credit to the soldiers involved. There is one, whose name I withhold, who was put on court martial for hitting a serving boy in a beertent over the head with a bottle, after he didn't get served fast enough. The soldier went AWOL for three years and was discharged in full disgrace in 1920. One other just disappeared after he was shipped over to the UK.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Thursday 12 January
Quite an acceptable day, after last night's heavy rain and strong winds. We had regular showers, passing over or nearby, creating a typical Hebridean cloudscape. The sun is less than 10 degrees above the horizon at this time of year, meaning it plays an active part in making for colourful tableaux - which change continually. It certainly underlines one of the many aspects that have kept me spellbound here for the past 7 years. Darkness now falls half an hour later than at the solstice, meaning that it is now still a little light at 4.30pm. We're definitely on the way back up to the long days of summer. But the thermometer has taken a tumble: 4C / 39F.
Last night, I posted about the hurricane of January 2005, which claimed the lives of five members of one family, representing three generations. The North End of South Uist has seen two other accidental deaths in recent years. Archie Steele died after apparently being struck by a car on Monday night near the village of Ardmore in South Uist, a mile or so south of the causeway to Benbecula. And Simon Macmillan was found drowned in Loch Bi, a mile or so southwest of Ardmore, after going missing in December 2008. He was a Merchant Navy cadet, who was returning home after a party at Daliburgh. It took weeks for his body to be recovered from the shallow waters of the loch.
Talking of water, there have been frequent problems with the water supplies in these islands. The visitor centre at the Callanish Stones, 18 miles from Stornoway, has had to close repeatedly last summer after the water supply dried up. This week, the residents of villages around Laxdale, just north of Stornoway, were told to boil their water after a broken waterpipe and a broken sewage pipe were found right next to each other in the district. Last autumn, some islanders in North Uist were boiling their water until they saw blue in the face while Scottish Water got a new part delivered and installed at a water treatment works - with a repeat performance this week. The water company is in the process of upgrading its water pipes all over the Western Isles.
Last night, I posted about the hurricane of January 2005, which claimed the lives of five members of one family, representing three generations. The North End of South Uist has seen two other accidental deaths in recent years. Archie Steele died after apparently being struck by a car on Monday night near the village of Ardmore in South Uist, a mile or so south of the causeway to Benbecula. And Simon Macmillan was found drowned in Loch Bi, a mile or so southwest of Ardmore, after going missing in December 2008. He was a Merchant Navy cadet, who was returning home after a party at Daliburgh. It took weeks for his body to be recovered from the shallow waters of the loch.
Talking of water, there have been frequent problems with the water supplies in these islands. The visitor centre at the Callanish Stones, 18 miles from Stornoway, has had to close repeatedly last summer after the water supply dried up. This week, the residents of villages around Laxdale, just north of Stornoway, were told to boil their water after a broken waterpipe and a broken sewage pipe were found right next to each other in the district. Last autumn, some islanders in North Uist were boiling their water until they saw blue in the face while Scottish Water got a new part delivered and installed at a water treatment works - with a repeat performance this week. The water company is in the process of upgrading its water pipes all over the Western Isles.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Seven years ago today
11 January 2005 is one of those days that everybody who was in the Outer Hebrides at the time will not forget. A deep Atlantic depression moved past our islands, bringing with it winds of force 12 on the Beaufort scale, with gusts in excess of 130 mph. At the time, I was staying in Kershader, 12 miles south of Stornoway as the crow flies - more like 22 miles by road. At 6.22pm, the power went off, not to go back on again for 48 hours. The wind was already howling around the building. Blue flashing lights penetrated the darkness from across Loch Erisort - police cars were stopping traffic on the Stornoway to Tarbert road after a lorry driver reported a sheep flying past his windscreen. The driver of the South Lochs bus that night was mightily relieved to make it home in one piece, he told me later. Trees were downed, roofs taken off, vehicles crushed under trees - and hundreds of them toppled in the Castle Grounds in Stornoway. High tides lapped at the doors of people on Cromwell Street and Bayhead in the town. Boats were torn off their moorings and smashed into the ferry terminal. Slates became like missiles, and pedestrians blown off their feet. Some who sought refuge were denied entry; others were taken inside.
The next morning dawned breezy and bright. Everybody heaved a sigh of relief. That was a bad one, but it's only damage. By 9.20 am however, reports start to emerge from the Southern Isles. Five people are missing in South Uist, after they fled their home the previous evening at around 7pm. Rising tides had started to approach their home, and pebbles were hurled against walls and windows. They enter two cars and drive from their home at Eochdar towards the causeway, linking South Uist and Benbecula. A fatal decision. That road parallels the stretch of sea that separates the two islands. The southeasterly storm, combined with a springtide from the northwest pushed the waters of Loch Bi up; but on account of the floodtide they could not drain into the sea. The loch flooded a small causeway, sweeping the cars into the water. By morning, the five missing people are found dead. They include a mother and father with two young children and a grandfather. This article on the BBC News website shows their faces.
This is a repost from an entry I made on 11 January 2010.
The next morning dawned breezy and bright. Everybody heaved a sigh of relief. That was a bad one, but it's only damage. By 9.20 am however, reports start to emerge from the Southern Isles. Five people are missing in South Uist, after they fled their home the previous evening at around 7pm. Rising tides had started to approach their home, and pebbles were hurled against walls and windows. They enter two cars and drive from their home at Eochdar towards the causeway, linking South Uist and Benbecula. A fatal decision. That road parallels the stretch of sea that separates the two islands. The southeasterly storm, combined with a springtide from the northwest pushed the waters of Loch Bi up; but on account of the floodtide they could not drain into the sea. The loch flooded a small causeway, sweeping the cars into the water. By morning, the five missing people are found dead. They include a mother and father with two young children and a grandfather. This article on the BBC News website shows their faces.
This is a repost from an entry I made on 11 January 2010.
Wednesday 11 January
The uninspiring weather continues, with more overcast skies and rain. The wind has put in an appearance, and it is currently blowing at 30 mph, that's a full force 7. It should brighten up and get colder over the next few days - but not for very long, if my reading of the weathermaps is correct.
I am not very pleased at the moment, because my camera has developed a fault. I'm sending it off for repairs, and hope to have it back in service soon. Meanwhile, I'll continue to take pictures, using someone else's camera.
I'm still going through Australian service records from the First World War, and sometimes, the soldier's private life crops up in the correspondence. One young lady wrote to the Army to request the correct address for letters to her intended. She had despatched 30 epistles, but none had arrived, and a degree of acrimony had apparently crept in. Some 3 to 4 years later, the service file includes a transcript of a marriage certificate: to a different woman.
Last night, my researches turned up a deeply tragic turn of events in the life of one soldier. He had gone to France in 1916, but was returned home to Australia after contracting pneumonia. Although the man had recovered from his illness, it left him out of breath at the merest exertion. Six months after repatriation, he once more applied for war service - but was rejected. The army records show he had died after discharge, and I wanted to know if his death was directly attributable to his war service, which seemed likely. Not so. When I accessed the death record, with the help of fellow researcher Direcleit, it showed that our man had hanged himself, at the age of 25. We will never know why, because an inquest ruled that no indication of his state of mind had been apparent beforehand. RIP William Arthur Bawden.
I am not very pleased at the moment, because my camera has developed a fault. I'm sending it off for repairs, and hope to have it back in service soon. Meanwhile, I'll continue to take pictures, using someone else's camera.
I'm still going through Australian service records from the First World War, and sometimes, the soldier's private life crops up in the correspondence. One young lady wrote to the Army to request the correct address for letters to her intended. She had despatched 30 epistles, but none had arrived, and a degree of acrimony had apparently crept in. Some 3 to 4 years later, the service file includes a transcript of a marriage certificate: to a different woman.
Last night, my researches turned up a deeply tragic turn of events in the life of one soldier. He had gone to France in 1916, but was returned home to Australia after contracting pneumonia. Although the man had recovered from his illness, it left him out of breath at the merest exertion. Six months after repatriation, he once more applied for war service - but was rejected. The army records show he had died after discharge, and I wanted to know if his death was directly attributable to his war service, which seemed likely. Not so. When I accessed the death record, with the help of fellow researcher Direcleit, it showed that our man had hanged himself, at the age of 25. We will never know why, because an inquest ruled that no indication of his state of mind had been apparent beforehand. RIP William Arthur Bawden.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Tuesday 10 January
A wet and breezy day, half an inch has fallen so far today according to local weather stations. And the rain continues to fall. It appears to be the prequel to a spell of colder weather, with wintry showers above 800 feet later this week.
The road appears to be the place not to be this week.
The road appears to be the place not to be this week.
- An elderly man, seen walking along the road in Back (here in Lewis) was found dead only a few minutes later. His demise is thought to have been of natural causes.
- What happened to the 49-year old in South Uist, whose corpse was discovered along the main A865 road at Ardmore is not yet known. Just before 10 am, he was discovered along the side of the road a mile or so south of the causeway from Benbecula. As I type this (3.30pm) the road remains closed for police investigations. Northern Constabulary have appealed for information.
- Also closed was the C97 road in South Harris at the village of Geocrab. It appears that a crane has toppled over and is blocking the road. Diversions are in place - one look at the map shows it's a pretty lengthy one via the West Side of Harris and Leverburgh.
Monday, 9 January 2012
Independence for Scotland?
The debate on independence for Scotland has suddenly come to life. UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, has said any referendum should be held as soon as possible, and only consist of the question: independence, yes or no. The Scottish Government, which is led by the Scottish National Party (favouring full independence) had pledged a referendum for independence by the second half of the current parliamentary session, i.e. by 2014 or 2015. They were also planning to include a third option in the referendum question, namely "Devolution Max", which means full fiscal autonomy, but defence and foreign affairs remaining the prerogative of the Westminster administration. It would appear that a lot of political games will be enacted before any referendum is held, but it would appear to be fully on the cards.
It is my personal opinion that full independence for Scotland is not a good idea, for economical and political reasons. The bank bail-out for the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland some 3 years ago required £50bn; the GDP for Scotland is £137bn. Had the bail-out fallen to the Scottish Government, it would have wrecked the Scottish economy. The British GDP is £2,500 bn. Furthermore, the current debate is highly polarised, placing English vs Scottish. The Czech Republic and Slovakia parted on amicable terms in 1993. If Scotland and England were to split up, I don't think it will be as amicable.
It is my personal opinion that full independence for Scotland is not a good idea, for economical and political reasons. The bank bail-out for the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland some 3 years ago required £50bn; the GDP for Scotland is £137bn. Had the bail-out fallen to the Scottish Government, it would have wrecked the Scottish economy. The British GDP is £2,500 bn. Furthermore, the current debate is highly polarised, placing English vs Scottish. The Czech Republic and Slovakia parted on amicable terms in 1993. If Scotland and England were to split up, I don't think it will be as amicable.
Monday 9 January
Awoke to blue skies and sunshine this morning, but through the afternoon cloud thickened and this was followed from sunset onwards by rain. It didn't really feel cold today, so I was tempted to go on an amble around town. I also looked up some more service records for Australian servicemen with roots in the Isle of Lewis.
Lazy Corner
North Beach
Lews Castle
Lazy Corner
North Beach
Lews Castle
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Sunday 8 January
The previous post, on the man overboard, was actually post #2000 on this blog. Atlantic Lines has been in existence since October 2008, since AOL kicked its Journal users into the long grass. A successful exercise in self-destruction, which is on-going today. As a blogger, I went onto Blogger. Nothing is perfect, and I continue to find Blogger uninspiring and clunky. It has improved quite a bit, but I'm not exactly enthusiastic. However, it can be worse, so I'm muddling on with what I've got. Wordpress is very user-unfriendly (IMHO), for example.
Sunday was overcast, drizzly and thoroughly uninspiring as well. Roll on Monday.
Sunday was overcast, drizzly and thoroughly uninspiring as well. Roll on Monday.
Man overboard
This vessel is one of several French fishing vessels which put into Stornoway for a crew change. They are usually in and out of port in just over an hour. One of them was involved in a recovery operation, 50 miles northwest of the Butt of Lewis at 2 am last night, when a man had gone overboard. A search was conducted, and the fisherman was recovered from the sea, but was sadly found to have died. The vessel involved, the Jean Claude Coulon II, proceeded to Stornoway, where she was met by the appropriate authorities.
My sympathies go out to the family and friends of the deceased.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Saturday 7 January
A fairly bright day, but with a cold wind blowing. My computer mouse died last night, after more than 3½ years of faithful service, so had to nip out to the computer shop for a replacement. I know several people who are being plagued by the four-footed variety of mouse at the moment, and they'd probably be very happy if their mice just upped and died. In the centre of town, a new shop has been kitted out and is set to open in the next few weeks. It is of the variety where you select an item from a catalogue and then the staff get it from the back. Not inspiring by the least.
I am currently going through service records for Lewismen who served with the Australian forces during the First World War. There were about 60 of them.
I am currently going through service records for Lewismen who served with the Australian forces during the First World War. There were about 60 of them.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Friday 6 January
A mainly overcast day, with the odd brighter interval. Today is the Epiphany, Twelfth Night, so Christmas trees should be taken down today. The Orthodox Christian churches (Greece, Russia &c) do not celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ until today, as they did not implement the calendar shift that Pope Gregory ordained in 1582. Because of the inaccuracies of time-keeping, the calendar was a mere 12 days out of sync so he told people to jump 12 days. Not everybody has recognised this change. At any rate, the Xmas tree and its decorations have been packed away for another 11 months. On 6 December this year, it will make another appearance.
Over the Christmas period, this island raised its eyebrows when a car was removed without its owner's consent and chased down the A858 at Bragar by police. The driver promptly lost control of his vehicle and ended up in the ditch. He was arrested. Crime-levels here are mercifully low, which explains why the murder of Liam Aitchison in November was such a shock. This poor 16-year old was buried at Daliburgh's Hallan Cemetery last week. One of his alleged assailants was released on bail to a Highland address; the other was remanded in custody.
Over the Christmas period, this island raised its eyebrows when a car was removed without its owner's consent and chased down the A858 at Bragar by police. The driver promptly lost control of his vehicle and ended up in the ditch. He was arrested. Crime-levels here are mercifully low, which explains why the murder of Liam Aitchison in November was such a shock. This poor 16-year old was buried at Daliburgh's Hallan Cemetery last week. One of his alleged assailants was released on bail to a Highland address; the other was remanded in custody.
Bob Holness RIP
Image courtesy BBC
News was announced today that TV and radio presenter Bob Holness had died in his sleep at the age of 83. Most people will know Bob as the host on Blockbusters; I knew him through the BBC World Service as the presenter of Anything Goes, a popular music request show. The popular music referred to any genre you may care to think of, and I feel much endebted to Bob and his programme for introducing me to a wide variety of music. Although classical has my preference, I am not averse to music from the 1920s to the 1950s, before the onset of pop as we know it from Elvis onwards. Victor Borge and Spike Jones are among my favourites, but also the Laughing Policeman by Charles Penrose, 1926.
Bob is the second World Service host to die in the last four years that I had regular dealings with in the 80s and 90s. Gordon Clyde passed away in 2008 at the age of 75; he hosted The Pleasure's Yours and would play regular classical music requests from me for relatives. Bob also played several of my requests, and it is with sadness I learned of his death. He had suffered a series of strokes in the last decade or so.
Thursday 5 January
Having returned from Stornoway after a 3-week absence, I found myself spending the day catching up with snailmail as well as emails, and other things related to my internet activity. It was actually quite an acceptable if cool day, with good spells of sunshine. There were also some showers of rain, later hail. Further south in the UK, another storm wreaked havoc. No such problems in the Hebrides.
I usually miss one aspect of the Hebrides when I'm not there: the big skies.
I usually miss one aspect of the Hebrides when I'm not there: the big skies.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Wednesday 4 January
My journey back to Stornoway went quite smoothly. I started off by travelling to Schiphol Airport by rail, a journey of 75 minutes. You have to be at the airport 2 hours before departure time, meaning that my presence was required there by 7.30 am.
The plane took off a little after 9.30, and arrived at Gatwick just over an hour later at 9.35 (local time).
Bewl Water
The aircraft was put into gate 104, which leaves passengers with a 15 minute walk to the customs point. Then you have to go through the security rigmarole again before you end up in departures once more. The flight to Glasgow, from gate 55B, left nicely on time at 11.35, and delivered us in Scotland 75 minutes later. It was a wee bit bumpy, and you couldn't see a thing due to cloudcover below. Glasgow was wet and windy. An hour later, the weather had not improved as we departed for Stornoway from gate #1. I had not been looking forward to sitting in seat row 3 (which has a blanked out window), but the stewardess very kindly asked me to move to seat row 10. I didn't mind at all, as I wanted to have some view. What view?! Just white clouds all round. Upon arrival near Stornoway, the aircraft kept going north to make a turn round back south. There was a strong southwesterly wind blowing, and planes have to land into the wind. We were there at 3.15. I was very kindly offered a lift into town.
Over northern Lewis
The plane took off a little after 9.30, and arrived at Gatwick just over an hour later at 9.35 (local time).
Bewl Water
The aircraft was put into gate 104, which leaves passengers with a 15 minute walk to the customs point. Then you have to go through the security rigmarole again before you end up in departures once more. The flight to Glasgow, from gate 55B, left nicely on time at 11.35, and delivered us in Scotland 75 minutes later. It was a wee bit bumpy, and you couldn't see a thing due to cloudcover below. Glasgow was wet and windy. An hour later, the weather had not improved as we departed for Stornoway from gate #1. I had not been looking forward to sitting in seat row 3 (which has a blanked out window), but the stewardess very kindly asked me to move to seat row 10. I didn't mind at all, as I wanted to have some view. What view?! Just white clouds all round. Upon arrival near Stornoway, the aircraft kept going north to make a turn round back south. There was a strong southwesterly wind blowing, and planes have to land into the wind. We were there at 3.15. I was very kindly offered a lift into town.
Over northern Lewis
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Christmas 2011
Merry Christmas and a prosperous and health 2012
I am currently blogging on The Shell Gallery, but will resume full service here on January 5th, 2012.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
A case of murder
Today, a service of remembrance was held at Stornoway's Roman Catholic Church in Scotland Street. Although I'm not in the island at present, there are two developments which are significant at this time.
The family of the victim, Liam Aitchison, have accepted the apology from Channel 5 host Matthew Wright. Ofcom will investigate the incident on December 6th, when Mr Wright made some terrible jokes at the expense of the murder victim and the islanders of the Outer Hebrides. This followed a massive volume of complaints, 2,200. That is three times the number received by the regulator as a result of a programme by Jeremy Clarkson (I think).
Two suspects have now been fully committed for trial following a second court appearance, and remain in custody in Inverness at this time. They remain innocent until proven guilty.
The family of the victim, Liam Aitchison, have accepted the apology from Channel 5 host Matthew Wright. Ofcom will investigate the incident on December 6th, when Mr Wright made some terrible jokes at the expense of the murder victim and the islanders of the Outer Hebrides. This followed a massive volume of complaints, 2,200. That is three times the number received by the regulator as a result of a programme by Jeremy Clarkson (I think).
Two suspects have now been fully committed for trial following a second court appearance, and remain in custody in Inverness at this time. They remain innocent until proven guilty.
Thursday, 15 December 2011
The Wright Stuff - Channel 5 has replied
Date: 15th December 2011
Dear Correspondent
Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding The Wright Stuff.
We would like to assure you that having investigated the matter with senior producers of the programme, nobody on the programme’s panel or editorial team had any intention of causing distress to viewers or, more importantly, the family of murdered teenager Liam Aitchison with the comments that were made in the 6th December episode. They deeply regret that they have done so; as does Channel 5. The comments made by the programme’s presenter Matthew Wright and guest Charlie Baker on the programme were unfortunate, misjudged and entirely inappropriate. Having recognised this Matthew and Charlie have apologised in subsequent programmes and Matthew apologised in writing to Liam's father.
The tragic story of Liam Aitchison’s murder formed part of the daily newspaper review. The story was running in a number of newspapers that morning, and was of interest being the first murder on the Western Isles for more than 40 years. The story was always intended to be reviewed in the most sensitive manner and both Charlie and Matthew had discussed this with producers to that effect. When the story of Liam’s murder was reached, Charlie Baker introduced it by reading a headline from a newspaper and commenting that it was a sad story. At that point, Matthew Wright interjected in what we now recognise was a highly inappropriate manner, entirely unforeseen by the production team. In light of Matthew’s words, Charlie reacted in a similarly thoughtless fashion. As soon as these comments were made a senior producer of the programme acted immediately to remind them that this was a serious story, covering as it did the death of a 16-year-old, and the conversation moved on. Regrettably this was too late as the offensive comments had been made.
In an unscripted, live programme not every discussion turns out as we might wish and having reviewed the matter after the programme finished on 6th December, both Channel 5 and the producers felt an apology and explanation was necessary. The following day, 7th December, Matthew apologised during The Wright Stuff pointing out that he certainly had not intended to belittle in any way the seriousness of a tragic story or offend anyone who knew Liam Aitchison.
Once again, we can assure you that the programme never seeks to intentionally offend anyone and all personnel involved with the programme as well as Channel 5 are sorry for the offence these remarks have caused. We are grateful to you for taking the time to make us aware of your particular concerns and have logged the details of your complaint in the Viewer Enquiries Report. This is circulated throughout the company and seen by all relevant personnel.
Dear Correspondent
Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding The Wright Stuff.
We would like to assure you that having investigated the matter with senior producers of the programme, nobody on the programme’s panel or editorial team had any intention of causing distress to viewers or, more importantly, the family of murdered teenager Liam Aitchison with the comments that were made in the 6th December episode. They deeply regret that they have done so; as does Channel 5. The comments made by the programme’s presenter Matthew Wright and guest Charlie Baker on the programme were unfortunate, misjudged and entirely inappropriate. Having recognised this Matthew and Charlie have apologised in subsequent programmes and Matthew apologised in writing to Liam's father.
The tragic story of Liam Aitchison’s murder formed part of the daily newspaper review. The story was running in a number of newspapers that morning, and was of interest being the first murder on the Western Isles for more than 40 years. The story was always intended to be reviewed in the most sensitive manner and both Charlie and Matthew had discussed this with producers to that effect. When the story of Liam’s murder was reached, Charlie Baker introduced it by reading a headline from a newspaper and commenting that it was a sad story. At that point, Matthew Wright interjected in what we now recognise was a highly inappropriate manner, entirely unforeseen by the production team. In light of Matthew’s words, Charlie reacted in a similarly thoughtless fashion. As soon as these comments were made a senior producer of the programme acted immediately to remind them that this was a serious story, covering as it did the death of a 16-year-old, and the conversation moved on. Regrettably this was too late as the offensive comments had been made.
In an unscripted, live programme not every discussion turns out as we might wish and having reviewed the matter after the programme finished on 6th December, both Channel 5 and the producers felt an apology and explanation was necessary. The following day, 7th December, Matthew apologised during The Wright Stuff pointing out that he certainly had not intended to belittle in any way the seriousness of a tragic story or offend anyone who knew Liam Aitchison.
Once again, we can assure you that the programme never seeks to intentionally offend anyone and all personnel involved with the programme as well as Channel 5 are sorry for the offence these remarks have caused. We are grateful to you for taking the time to make us aware of your particular concerns and have logged the details of your complaint in the Viewer Enquiries Report. This is circulated throughout the company and seen by all relevant personnel.
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