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I decided that it would considerably ease our arrival on the island if I sent an advance party to assess some of the logistics of transporting everything from the mainland. As both Bill and Bob had volunteered to spend a couple of weeks on the island to commence some of the restoration work on the buildings I thought it would be far better to give them some more support. I asked Paddy if he could spare some time and I knew that James was still unemployed and would be enthusiastic to help. Pat was going to get information for the farmers and said he would stay longer than he had originally planned and would give them a hand. I contacted Angus, who said he would also be available with the boat to get some materials across. In all, five of our most suitable members would be together to get things moving.
The managers had also asked for specific information relating to their tasks, as they could not go themselves.
John, who wanted information about the state of the underground electric cable from the mainland and its termination’s, the possibility or lack of good television reception, the source and position of the springs, what had happened to rubbish disposal in the past, the state of the telephone network and a drawing of the location of all the buildings etc. (I had one photocopied from the estate agent but it was not sufficiently detailed.) He wanted more information on sewerage disposal (if any) from each of the crofts and more detail from Angus on landing stages around the island.
Gerry, wanted to know about the state of the land for grazing, the extent and estimate of fencing required to enclose areas for stock and the types of grain if any that the land had supported in the past and would be likely to support in the future.
Denise wanted to find out if there was any existing building available for use as the school, the state of medical care available on the immediate mainland, and any information from the mainland library about Enniskerry and its history.
I asked for an up to date report on the general state of the Lodge including the sizes of the rooms, and also that they should locate a suitably large, covered storage site on the mainland, as near to the jetty as possible. I envisaged that we would progressively order materials and store them in this temporary building in preparation for the eventual transfer to the island.
By all accounts, when they returned several weeks later, the exercise was both entertaining and productive. All five related to each other very well and shared a similar good humour. Knowing Paddy I could not imagine anything other than such an event being anything other than a thoroughly entertaining experience. However they were not idle. By some judicious telephone calls before their departure, much of the building material was available for Angus to transport across to the island for work to commence from day one. Progressively, answers to nearly all of the questions asked by the managers were obtained and duly reported back.
As far as I could gather they had managed to renovate six of the ten crofts that needed attention. They had all commented on how James had been slow to respond to the rivalry and banter that developed within the group and there were doubts as to whether he would be physically strong enough to help with some of the arduous jobs ahead. In the event, the older men were full of praise for his developing sense of humour and his increasing ability to cope with the hard work that at times entailed continuing outside in spite of unpleasant weather. It must have been a rapid culture shock from being unemployed and living with his parents to suddenly finding himself on a depopulated Scottish island, up at daybreak and working physically hard until nightfall. I understand that evenings approached being riotous with Paddy telling almost continuous Irish jokes while they all shared a bottle of Scotch before turning in on their camp beds in the first renovated croft. Not one found it difficult to sleep but, perhaps, rising at first light to get the maximum number of daylight hours was a little trickier.
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