BBC ALlba's Port an t-Òib shines a light on the small but strong community of Leverburgh
Situated at the southern tip of the Isle of Harris, Leverburgh is home to just 200 people yet boasts a thriving fishing industry, a ferry port and a lifeline of vital services that depend on the community’s resilient spirit. Now, for the first time in 60 years, a new housing development is taking shape, bringing fresh optimism to young people choosing to build their futures in the Hebrides.
From enterprising local business owners to the busy volunteers who keep essential services running, BBC ALBA’s new six-part documentary series, Port an t-Òib, offers an intimate portrayal of a community that thrives through ingenuity, solidarity and collective determination, amid the daily challenges of island life.
In the first weekly episode, airing on Thursday, September 25 at 8pm, viewers meet
- Donald and Catriona MacLennan, owners of the fishing boat Valhalla. Catriona, a former BBC News journalist turned fisherwoman and community activist, balances running the fleet with managing a lobster supply chain and volunteering to save the local lifeboat service, all while bringing up their young family.
- Kenny Angus MacLeod, manager of the Clachan Stores, the community’s shop and social hub. Having started as a teenage floor sweeper, he now runs the vital service while also holding the role of chair of the local hall, raising three young daughters and crofting in his sparce spare time.
- Rachael Campbell, skipper of the Pabbay ferry, who, in her mid-20s, is one of the UK’s youngest female lifeboat coxswains and is even a local bus driver. Passionate about Leverburgh, she is one of the hopefuls waiting to hear if she has secured one of the new homes in the village.
Across the series, produced by Mantra TBh, audiences will also be introduced to Nick and Anna Helfrich, the couple behind Isle of Harris Brewery, musician, engineer and photographer John Maher, Gaelic journalist Etta May Olley, and fishermen Kenny Campbell, and Neillie Maclean, as well as many of the crofters, RNLI crew and volunteers who all play their part in sustaining the community.
Port an t-Òib goes beyond the breathtaking scenery to show the reality of island life: from whether a crucial £15,000 Christmas fish order can beat the odds of an Atlantic storm, to the daily struggle for equal access to essential services like childcare and education.
“This docu-series captures the challenges and triumphs of life in one of Scotland’s most remote but tightly knit communities. At its heart, it’s a celebration of a community that runs itself – where volunteers, local businesses and returning young people keep Leverburgh alive. But it’s about more than one village – it’s about what we can all learn from resilience, self-reliance and the power of community. In Leverburgh, people don’t wait for services to come to them – they roll up their sleeves and keep their way of life alive,” said producer Calum Angus MacKay.
This series follows last year’s Port Steòrnabhaigh which followed life in the Port of Stornoway and the new Deep Water Terminal development.
The first episode of Port an t-Òib premieres on BBC ALBA and BBC iPlayer on Thursday, September 25 at 8pm (in Gaelic with English subtitles). Watch live or on demand:www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002jymw