McKenna fights to stop Skye trust sale

THE veteran actress who made her name in the iconic film of a writer and his relationship with a wild otter is fighting to safeguard the future of his Scottish island.

Virginia McKenna starred in Gavin Maxwell’s Ring Of Bright Water, which not only became one of Britain’s best loved books and films but also helped save the then persecuted species from extinction.

Now McKenna, 80, is trying to stop the trust she helped set up to preserve Maxwell’s memory and work being evicted from Eilean Ban, his tiny hideaway Scottish island near Skye.

The not-for-profit trust that runs Eilean Ban – Maxwell’s last home – is concerned that it has been put up for sale by the Scottish Government, which has owned it since buying it as the base for one of the supports of the Skye Bridge in 1992. McKenna, who also started in Born Free – the moving story of a lioness and her cubs – has written to the Scottish Government protesting about the sale, which she described as the “most devastating news”.

“I cannot understand the reasons behind this,” said McKenna, who added that the trust had kept “alive the memory of one of Scotland’s most famous authors and protected for future generations some of Scotland’s most beautiful and loved wild land.

“I wonder if it is appreciated how unique this piece of history is? I know the lease expires in 2015 – this is of huge concern to those of us who care about the environment and local history.”

The island, in the Kyle of Lochalsh, will be offered to its former owner, Sir Tom Farmer, if no government agency wants it.

Farmer was paid £127,000 for Eilean Ban but said he had not been informed of the sale and had no plans for a bid, opening up the prospect of a new private sector buyer.