THE COLL ROPE - THE STORY UNWINDS...

This year we have received an unprecedented amount of correspondence on the subject of the Coll Rope, as reported in the magazine last year. More letters have been received on this subject than on anything else... Printed below are two such letters. We all still hope for the eventual return of the Rope...

Dear Editors, We were very distressed by the mindless vandalism of the Coll Rope - 'Coll' was written in rope at Torastan by our children and grandchildren in August 1979. This was a memorable year for me as I realised my ambition of having grandchildren on the beaches where their mothers had played and paddled long before them. That year there were three daughters and five grandchildren and we have never all been together on Coll since then. It is sad for us that, after fifteen years, one reminder of a very happy holiday has now gone for ever.

Yours sincerely,

B. Cassels, Craigdarroch, Arinagour.

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Dear Editors,

We were very sad to read in last year's magazine of the 'abduction' of the famous Coll Rope from Torastan beach. Our memory of it goes back to our first visit to Coll in the late seventies, (our honeymoon!). Last July Graeme, our ten year old, was aimlessly digging in the sand at Cornaigbeg beach when he uncovered the end of a very thick rope. He shouted for help to dig it out and Mum was the only one willing to lend him a hand. It soon became clear that this was a long hawser which had been buried deep in the sand during a storm. His brother, Neil, and Dad were persuaded to help and after a long struggle the hawser was freed. "Let's have a new Coll Rope!" said Graeme - and so we did. While it cannot compare with the splendour of the 'original', we hope that it will do as a stopgap until something better is washed up - or the original finds its way back home.

Yours sincerely,

Linda, David, Neil and Graeme Harrison.
Bridge of Allan.

We have also learned of the existence of yet another Coll rope... on the shore at Port na Luing. Long may the tradition continue... [Editor]