Have you heard of St Kilda before? This remote archipelago, 40 miles west of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, is one of the few dual UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world. It has a fascinating cultural heritage, the last St Kildans being evacuated off the island in 1930 after hundreds of years of self-sufficiency. The landscape is very dramatic, and the islands support the Northeast Atlantic's largest seabird colony, with gannets, puffins, fulmars, and guillemots galore. Hope you enjoy the film, and as always we have a guide over on the blog detailing everything you need to know to plan your own trip > www.goingthewholehogg.com/visit-st-kilda-scotland/ Don't forget to Like, Comment, and Subscribe to help us grow this channel and keep making films for you 😃 Cheers! Kim & Del
Loved your video. Just finished reading Tom Steeles’s book Life and Death of St Kilda for the second time. First time 35 years ago. Also, just finished a bike ride around Skye, Mull, Raasay. Subscribe to your videos to help me with my next visit to Hebrides. Thank you. Watched 1 July 2024
I was stationed there with the Army in 1985. It was by far one of the best experiences. I was there as a power station engineer. I see all the Military buildings have been removed now. My room was nearest to the power station, took a few days to get used to the constant drone . On the really windy days we had to hook ourselves onto a line to get to the Station. A lot of the time your feet did,nt touch the ground.
Wow, that must have been quite the experience! The weather can be vicious out there, I'm not surprised you were nearly flying when hooked onto the line! Some military buildings are still there, but they've been made to blend in better with the surroundings now.
Less than a week ago I had never heard of St. Kilda, but now I'm hooked on finding out more. There's something enormously intriguing about this place and its history that I can't account for. I'm struck by the idea that over the centuries that there must have been people who were born, raised, and died on Hirta, who would have viewed that cluster of small islands as - in effect - the entire world.
I am brazilian and the same happened to me. I was watching tv and suddenly they mentioned that island. It was two weeks ago. I was impressioned about the people who lived there and its animal inhabitants. From then on I've been watching everything I find about the place.
Only three more weeks and it will be time for me to visit St. Kilda. Watching the video just increases the anticipation levels. Really looking forward to it. Now for some more tasters from your other films. Thank you
Just finished the historical romance - The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elizabeth Gifford so wanted to watch your video about the islands. Thank you so much
Hi, Kim and Del. I live in San Francisco, CA, US. While searching through our city library I came across an intriguing cd called, 'The Lost Songs of St Kilda'. It shares some very enchanting piano music played by someone who was taught the pieces by a former resident of the remote Scottish islands. It's the first I'd heard of this place. This led me to look into its fascinating history and, eventually, to your video. Thank you for your informative presentation. If I ever make it to Scotland I will surely - with great help from your lovely, well done video - make a point to visit historic, magical St Kilda. Dave
Hi Dave, what an interesting journey it was that led you to us. So glad you enjoyed our video, thanks very much. Hope you make it to Scotland and St Kilda one day 🙂
Best images I've seen of St Kilda. I made it my homepage photo a decade ago and noticed where the stone was quarried from in the background of the village. I was a bit fascinated with it for a while. So seeing your video amazed me. Especially the stacks. I just watched a video by geo perspective which is about the history of the inhabitants and how they were doing fine when they were self sufficient. It all changed when the military interfered and they became reliant on outside supplies. I watched your videos on Harris and Lewis. I once worked in Ness for a few weeks. It was windy enough there. The choice of music adds to the amazing experience of your videos. I will be watching every video you do. I like when you describe the experience afterwards and that there is no talking during the video of the places. Great idea. Well done. Mick.
Hi Mick, thanks for getting in touch and leaving such a great comment. We've heard from so many people who've been fascinated with and by St Kilda, it's definitely that kind of place. It's so interesting from a cultural standpoint, and of course the physical geography of the place easily captures the attention with all those stacks and cliffs. And it's a very valid point about the effects of outside influence - once a society has been widely exposed to something different and has become reliant on what that provides, there is probably no road back. That's great to hear you've watched the video from Lewis and Harris too, and we're delighted that you'll be watching in the future. Thanks again.
I live in New Britain Ct and my wife is from the Dinas Powys Wales. I have been to both Scotland and Wales, where we married back in 2003. Since Covid struck I have not been back to the UK. You guys take me back through your wonderful work… Thank You both
So pleased to see this video, Kim & Del. We’ve been looking forward to seeing it since we met you on the boat to St Kilda! It was worth the wait; you’ve captured the magic of the place; and it’s lovely for us to see another perspective of our visit. All the best in your future adventures! Richard & Nean (0:50 and 10:40!).
Hi! Ah, glad you enjoyed it, and like you say it's always nice to see a different perspective. Hope you had a good trip back down south to reunite with your dog(s?)! All the best, Kim : )
Recently read the book "St.Kilda (The life and death of an island)" by Tom Steel. Combined with a desire to explore the western isles by boat, I am now in the process of arranging to charter a boat and skipper for a week in October 23, to hopefully visit St. Kilda and western isles. Searched you tube for St.Kilda related items and found your enjoyable, informative video. Cheers.
Hello John, thanks for getting in touch. Great to know you found our video both enjoyable and informative. Well, that sounds like quite the trip. You must know your way around a boat. The Tom Steel book looks like a good read. No doubt it has further stoked the desire to visit St Kilda. All the best for what sounds like a really great trip. Cheers 🙂
Hi there. Being a novice to sailing , I didn't appreciate the distances and sailing challenges involved in reaching St. Kilda. However had a great week sailing in the Sound of Mull area and intend to do some sailing courses come the spring. It is still on my agenda at some point.@@xavieraubad3824
I’ve always fancied a trip to Saint Kilda but circumstances and life in general have just got in the way sadly. This was a really enjoyable video. You were very lucky with the weather. It’s a beautiful place and has made me even more determined to try and get there one of these days soon. I stumbled across your video after watching a video about the far Islands from Steve Marsh and as I’ve said, I really enjoyed it. Thank you for posting it and thank you for the information that you give at the end very useful. Safe travels for the future and once again, thank you for posting this really interesting and beautiful video
Thanks for your kind words, really glad you enjoyed it. You’re right, we were very lucky with the weather. There was a run of good weather at the time and that prompted us to book last minute after enjoying a trip to Mingulay a few days before. Hope you get the opportunity to visit yourself. Thanks again 🙂
Watched your St Kilda video because going on 15th May 2023. Just booked it after seeing the video. Love the way you do these, brilliant filming and really enjoy the little talk you both do at the end. Thank you.
After reading the numerous books on St Kilda such as "Out of this world", seeing this documentary is very impressive. Thanks for doing these wonderful videodocs on such important parts of the world! You have character!
Thanks ever so much for making this wonderful video. I am from Swansea, and I have always dreamed of visiting St Kilda , but financial issues have prevented this. I want to thank you guys for making this a reality for me and making me feel as if I was there. I suffer with my mental health but I feel so at home and at peace when I see a beautiful place and so peaceful, as St Kilda. Thank you guys once again for making this video. I love your channel .
Hey, thanks very much for watching and taking the time to get in touch. It’s great to get your appreciation and we’re glad that you were able to feel at peace through watching this video. There’s really no better reward for us than to know something we’ve made has had such a beneficial effect. Happy we could take you to St Kilda with us. Thanks again, take care and keep well 🙂
Went to St Kilda when 9-11 happened ,spent 3 weeks there working, erecting a fibreglass raydome, only done 3 days work, the wind was always blowing, especially up on top. When I was there, there was a pub, called the Puff Inn, run by the people from Quinetic.
Thank you so much for this video. We travel to Scotland every year. Both of my grandmothers were born there, and we have traveled throughout it very extensively. Our first trip to St. Kilda, however, will be in 2024. Very much looking forward to it!
Thank you for the great video. I went there in 2017 and spent 2 nights on the campsite. It's such a spectacular and mystical place. It's absolutely worth going there. I planned to go back there in 2022.... but it was cancelled due to bad weather. That's the only problem about St. Kilda. Well on the other hand it's a positive side when it's hard to go there, then hopefully it won't get too crowded.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. That must’ve been a great trip, we’d love to go back and stay in the campsite… the day trip was all too short, especially when you’re running around trying to capture it all. Fantastic experience though. And yes, I think the challenging location of St Kilda will always keep the tourist numbers manageable.
Ty for a spectacular share. We ventured as far as Portree on Skye. Can only imagine the feelings of remoteness that far out at St Kilda. Greetings from SouthAfrica.
It does feel quite surreal heading off to sea, with nothing around, then suddenly the islands of St Kilda are looming on the horizon. We're off to Skye in a couple of days, plenty of fantastic scenery there too! Hope you had a great time in Scotland : )
I went there last year on a random trip They boat man said it was the best day they'd had In 5 year's Truly amazing place And I can believe I dropped on such a perfect day
That’s great! We felt pretty lucky to get decent weather last year too, especially since they had a rough summer of weather after that. Agreed, an amazing place 🙂
As per the attention to detail is in a class of it's own, really enjoyed that and full respect to both of you again in all the time effort and dedication you always put in, the channel as I've said before is one the finest I've ever came across here on RUclips. Massive Thanks again to the both of you. Cheers.
Cheers Gary, this one was a full-on day with not much relaxing for Del who was doing all the filming! Our first time trying to film from a moving boat, not so easy and we learnt some things. Glad it paid off in the final edit. What a place, the gannets and feeling of isolation out there is incredible. Thanks again for your support and appreciation! All the best, Kim
Beautifully made film! Thank you for your comment and very practical approach. My dream is to get to St Kilda one day as I have read probably most books on the subject of this incredible place.
This is one of the most stunning Islands I just witnessed, Thanks for sharing your amazing journey. Waiting for the next one! I don't miss any video from you guys but not making comment always 🙂. I spent quite busy work and family life but your videos are pretty inspiring for me.
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for getting in touch, it’s always great to hear from you whenever you have time. Hope all is well with you and your family, and thanks for the continued support and appreciation 🙂
You’re very welcome Jan, thank you for getting in touch and letting us know your thoughts. We’re looking forward to sharing our films from Mingulay and the rest of the Outer Hebrides, but yes, Mingulay in particular was a special experience. Have you visited the island yourself?
I watched Ruth Aisling on St Kilda and got the bug and then i came across your video and had to watch it since i know the quality of your work from previous videos and this one didn't disappoint ! Back on St Kilda....Mummmm what's for tea,i'm really hungry ! Seabird soup for starter luvvy,followed by seabird pie for main and finish off with seabird surprise dessert ! But i want pizza or a McDonalds Mummmmm......(all spoken in fluent Gaelic ) xx
@@GoingTheWholeHogg Thanks for the astute observation re ' The Wild Mind 'Glad to see you posting again - someone once asked if i could reccomend a Scottish Shortbread - without hesitation,deviation or repetition i said if Del and Kim were Shrtbread then i would recommend them !Music creation has become a passion for me ( electronic ) and i've started a band called 999 Megabytes - we're still waiting for our first Gig !
You guys travel to all the places I love or want to go hiking!! You must have amazing taste in epic beauty like me..loooooove all your videos like I always say👏👏👏
Incredible film! We are planning a trip to Scotland and are researching different places to visit. I'm fascinated with St. Kilda's land formation and history. Thank you for making such a stunning and inspiring video.
Thank you Rhie! That’s definitely what makes St Kilda so appealing, the combination of stunning geography with the historical and cultural background. Thanks again 🙂
Thanks, appreciate you doing watching and leaving some good feedback too. The intro is always something we consider carefully so it’s great to hear you found that part immersive. Thanks again 😃
That was worth waiting for. Beautifully filmed and edited and saves me the bother of going...Only joking, I know films cannot fully capture the atmosphere of a place and I hope to make the trip one day. Looking forward to the rest of your Hebridean adventures. Great work you two 👏👏
Thanks, glad you found it both interesting and enjoyable. We would love to visit the Faroe Islands at some point, it looks incredible. I think the scale is a little different to St Kilda. The Faroes have a total land area of 1393 square kilometres vs St Kilda which is 8.5 square kilometres. Part of the fascinating thing about St Kilda is the cultural history, as well as it being visually striking in parts too.
enjoyed the film big time, as it's one of these far away islands in Scotland where you question whether it's worth visiting it(same as Faroes) considering boat price and potential weather
Glad to hear you enjoyed it. It definitely is a tough decision because of price and weather. We very much went on a whim when we discovered there was space on a boat and could see a good weather forecast. It was a great experience though, so glad we did it 😃
I'm surprised you never got dive bombed walking up Conachair - a known breeding ground of the vicious Arctic Skua. I had 30 of them swooping over me the first time I went there. Good video.
Visited St .Kilda for 16days June 1981. Camera gear 16mm Bolex plus Zenit E 35mm stills. Relied on commandoes for boat trips . 2 patched phone calls home in 16 days. The boat trip out 24 hrs minium . Most people were sick for week on return. Being a sailor no problem , a bottle orange juice and packet of ginger nuts for rations. BUT what a trip would go a again but too Old now !!
From what I read in the book , it was the arrival of the Vicar and his church that was the death of St Kilda. Myabe, a Sunday was the only day with good weather to go out and collect eggas and seabirds. The weather is extremely harsh. You made this video on a very nice day. How many days did you have to wait? Maybe less that 6 good days in a month in spring and summer.
That may well have had something to do with it. I think the cumulative effect of most outside influences over time probably led to the inevitable decline of life on the islands. In terms of this video, we just got very lucky with the weather, fortunately no waiting for a nice day and no need for a return trip.
St Kilda looks beautiful! We've always wanted to go, but the costs have always put us off, but it does look incredible! So maybe we need to add this onto our list. It has a really similar vibe to Great Blasket Island in Ireland, an island and community abandoned in the mid-early 20th century. Similar culture I imagine, too (Although the Blasket's don't require such a long boat trip!)
Oh cool, I've never heard of Great Blasket Island, sounds interesting. Yeah, I definitely balked at the price when I first looked at it, and just completely wrote it off. But we loved our trip to Mingulay so much that I immediately reconsidered and booked the St Kilda trip. With great weather forecast and last minute availability, it felt like a rare opportunity that we had to dip into the savings for! Mingulay is a great alternative though, and much cheaper and closer!
Brilliant editing! You guys must work already in media to roll quality like this off. My mum and I sat and enjoyed this video over lunch enormously, having stumbled across the existence of this island earlier in the day. What I wasn‘t expecting was this level of quality, in the editing, video quality and music choices. This reminds me of the kind of place which in Greek myths would be the seat of the gods, what a spectacular and magical place. It makes me proud to know that these volcanic islands, for now at least are a part of my country, Great Britain. You guys were such great hosts and thank you for your time and effort, you succeeded. You can tell your man Del loves you very much
Thank you for the kind words and appreciation of our work! We are entirely self-taught, but it's a nice compliment that you thought we must have already worked in media : ) I saw St Kilda mentioned on the BBC homepage recently, perhaps that's where you came across it too. It's a special place, the isolation, the dramatic stacks, the thousands of birds - I can see where the seat of the gods feeling comes from! Hope you have another good video lined up for the next lunchtime viewing with your mum : ) Cheers! Kim
Yes, I actually had heard of St. Kilda before, after reading "Where the World Ends" by Geraldine McCaughrean. It takes place there during the late 1700s, partly on Hirta and partly during an expedition to one of the stacs. It was really interesting to see the real places where the book happened.
That sounds really interesting Gina, we would be keen to read that one. We read a lot about the island and community as we were making this video and writing our guide. We learned a bit in the museum on Hirta too, but as usually seems to be the case we learned more doing research for writing after visiting. Would you be keen to visit St Kilda someday?
@@GoingTheWholeHogg Maybe, but, since I've never taken such a long boat ride before, I would probably want to start with a shorter trip first to find out whether or not I am prone to seasickness!
So amazingly excited you did this vid and the ones to come, as a friend and I will the doing the Hebridian Way in September (so hurry with the vids, please ... no pressure :) Beautiful as always, and loved all the Georgian material as well ... being a country I have made several trips to, and will again. Would love to pick your brains on the Hebrides at some point! Thank you both very much for this, especially at this time! Cheers!
Thanks Ian, very much appreciated as always! Haha, no worries, we’ll get the next ones out as soon as we possibly can - we’re as keen as anyone to get it all done 😉. That’s exciting for you to be doing the Heb Way. Walking or cycling?
Great! We met a few people walking the distance when we were there and most seemed to love it. There’s definitely a wide variety of landscapes to enjoy. Fingers crossed for the weather 🤞
@@GoingTheWholeHogg I’m expecting to be doing a bit of bog squelching… I know it’s been a tad on the moist side (understatement) recently there, but I’ll go with a comment we used to say at the hostel I worked in Oban years ago: If you wait for the weather to get better in Scotland, you’ll never see much of anything!
Sorry if you've answered this elsewhere before, but I've just come across your channel and your footage is absolutely stunning. While obviously this is mostly due to your talents, I'm also curious as to what kind of camera/gear you use.
Thanks, appreciate that. And hey, no problem, always happy to talk about that gear. We currently shoot on a Sony A7iii with mostly the Sony 24-70mm f2.8 GM lens, but also with the Sony 70-200mm f4 G lens (used a lot in the middle part of this video). For a drone, we currently have the DJI Air 2S although it wasn’t used for this one as it not allowed there.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! We'd love to visit Lunga but haven't made it there yet. It was winter the last time we were on Mull, and the boat trips don't run then. And now the island is closed due to bird flu. One day we'll make it there!!
Thanks, Mike! The sheep are cool, not timid at all and very cute. A really interesting place to visit. Cheers for watching and appreciating our films! Kim
Great to see you guys back on home turf. We were in the Outer Hebrides for May but didn't get to St. Kilda. This looks fab so I'll sit and enjoy it with a beer later. ATB
Cheers, Ian! Hope you had some OK weather on your trip, I remember May being pretty wet and windy this year. We were in the Outer Hebrides at the very end of May for a couple of weeks, just love it there. Always a reason to go back! Enjoy that beer ; ) Kim
@@GoingTheWholeHogg Aye Kim, it was wet and windy but we had a good time. Our wee film picked out the best bits!! ruclips.net/video/PUMKhNKviz4/видео.html 😁
It is so difficult for modernists to conceive of peoples living on those outer islands for thousands of years…but they did. Life must’ve been very very difficult …it’s just hard to imagine how they did it.
Absolutely, put the vast majority of us in such a situation now and it would be a major shock to the system, one that would be incredibly difficult to deal with. You live the life you know however, and for those people in past times, hard though it undoubtedly was, life was there to be lived and I imagine there were times to appreciate alongside the tough business of the daily grind.
Hey Tazz, it is possible. There is a small, basic campsite where you can stay for up to 5 nights. You must book in advance through the NTS, then book a confirmed seat (not standby) with a boat tour company for your outbound and inbound dates, paying double the fare. You can get more info in our guide: www.goingthewholehogg.com/visit-st-kilda-scotland
Eilean iongantach. Fhuair mi leabhar mu Hiort nuair a thadhail mi air an Eilean Sgitheanach. A’ coimhead àite air leth freagarrach airson campachadh fiadhaich!
A great place to visit. Camping would be good but you have to arrange ahead of time with the National Trust For Scotland (NTS), the numbers allowed are very small, and you have to pay double the boat fare… would be a great experience though 😃
Have you heard of St Kilda before? This remote archipelago, 40 miles west of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, is one of the few dual UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world. It has a fascinating cultural heritage, the last St Kildans being evacuated off the island in 1930 after hundreds of years of self-sufficiency. The landscape is very dramatic, and the islands support the Northeast Atlantic's largest seabird colony, with gannets, puffins, fulmars, and guillemots galore. Hope you enjoy the film, and as always we have a guide over on the blog detailing everything you need to know to plan your own trip > www.goingthewholehogg.com/visit-st-kilda-scotland/ Don't forget to Like, Comment, and Subscribe to help us grow this channel and keep making films for you 😃 Cheers! Kim & Del
timestamp 13.40 has anyone climbed that sea stack? got pics of the island from the top? or a 360vid? be awesome lol :)
Loved your video. Just finished reading Tom Steeles’s book Life and Death of St Kilda for the second time. First time 35 years ago. Also, just finished a bike ride around Skye, Mull, Raasay. Subscribe to your videos to help me with my next visit to Hebrides. Thank you.
Watched 1 July 2024
@BobSchoultz1 thanks Bob, that’s great to hear. Sounds like a fantastic trip you just had too. Thanks very much for watching and subscribing 🙂
Saint Kilda ! So lovely
It's a special place
I was stationed there with the Army in 1985. It was by far one of the best experiences. I was there as a power station engineer. I see all the Military buildings have been removed now. My room was nearest to the power station, took a few days to get used to the constant drone . On the really windy days we had to hook ourselves onto a line to get to the Station. A lot of the time your feet did,nt touch the ground.
Wow, that must have been quite the experience! The weather can be vicious out there, I'm not surprised you were nearly flying when hooked onto the line! Some military buildings are still there, but they've been made to blend in better with the surroundings now.
Less than a week ago I had never heard of St. Kilda, but now I'm hooked on finding out more. There's something enormously intriguing about this place and its history that I can't account for. I'm struck by the idea that over the centuries that there must have been people who were born, raised, and died on Hirta, who would have viewed that cluster of small islands as - in effect - the entire world.
It does have that effect on you. A place that captures the imagination.
I am brazilian and the same happened to me.
I was watching tv and suddenly they mentioned that island. It was two weeks ago. I was impressioned about the people who lived there and its animal inhabitants.
From then on I've been watching everything I find about the place.
Only three more weeks and it will be time for me to visit St. Kilda. Watching the video just increases the anticipation levels. Really looking forward to it. Now for some more tasters from your other films. Thank you
Thank you Colin, and thanks for watching. Hope the weather is kind for your St Kilda trip 🤞
Just finished the historical romance - The Lost Lights of St Kilda by Elizabeth Gifford so wanted to watch your video about the islands. Thank you so much
You’re very welcome, thank you so much 🙏
Heading there in about two weeks so this was a great film to give me a flavour of what I might experience. Hoping for a calm sea!
Here’s hoping 🤞
I love Going The Whole Hogg, especially Del's bagpipe playing.... XXX
🤣🤣🤣 He’s a natural!
Hi, Kim and Del. I live in San Francisco, CA, US. While searching through our city library I came across an intriguing cd called, 'The Lost Songs of St Kilda'. It shares some very enchanting piano music played by someone who was taught the pieces by a former resident of the remote Scottish islands. It's the first I'd heard of this place. This led me to look into its fascinating history and, eventually, to your video. Thank you for your informative presentation. If I ever make it to Scotland I will surely - with great help from your lovely, well done video - make a point to visit historic, magical St Kilda.
Dave
Hi Dave, what an interesting journey it was that led you to us. So glad you enjoyed our video, thanks very much. Hope you make it to Scotland and St Kilda one day 🙂
Best images I've seen of St Kilda. I made it my homepage photo a decade ago and noticed where the stone was quarried from in the background of the village. I was a bit fascinated with it for a while. So seeing your video amazed me. Especially the stacks. I just watched a video by geo perspective which is about the history of the inhabitants and how they were doing fine when they were self sufficient. It all changed when the military interfered and they became reliant on outside supplies. I watched your videos on Harris and Lewis. I once worked in Ness for a few weeks. It was windy enough there. The choice of music adds to the amazing experience of your videos. I will be watching every video you do. I like when you describe the experience afterwards and that there is no talking during the video of the places. Great idea. Well done. Mick.
Hi Mick, thanks for getting in touch and leaving such a great comment. We've heard from so many people who've been fascinated with and by St Kilda, it's definitely that kind of place. It's so interesting from a cultural standpoint, and of course the physical geography of the place easily captures the attention with all those stacks and cliffs. And it's a very valid point about the effects of outside influence - once a society has been widely exposed to something different and has become reliant on what that provides, there is probably no road back. That's great to hear you've watched the video from Lewis and Harris too, and we're delighted that you'll be watching in the future. Thanks again.
I live in New Britain Ct and my wife is from the Dinas Powys Wales.
I have been to both Scotland and Wales, where we married back in 2003.
Since Covid struck I have not been back to the UK.
You guys take me back through your wonderful work…
Thank You both
Hi Gary, that’s great to hear, very glad we could help take you back 🙂
So pleased to see this video, Kim & Del. We’ve been looking forward to seeing it since we met you on the boat to St Kilda!
It was worth the wait; you’ve captured the magic of the place; and it’s lovely for us to see another perspective of our visit.
All the best in your future adventures!
Richard & Nean (0:50 and 10:40!).
Hi! Ah, glad you enjoyed it, and like you say it's always nice to see a different perspective. Hope you had a good trip back down south to reunite with your dog(s?)! All the best, Kim : )
Lovely - thank you!
Thanks again Eric, very much appreciated!
So good guys ! 👌
Cheers Jonny!
I’m doing research on Hirta for a game I am creating and this video makes me feel like I’ve been there. Love it, thank you!
That’s great! Very happy to hear that 😃
Beautifully chilled video as always. Thanks for taking me there 😁
Thank you Jayne, you’re very welcome, thanks for watching 😃
Recently read the book "St.Kilda (The life and death of an island)" by Tom Steel. Combined with a desire to explore the western isles by boat, I am now in the process of arranging to charter a boat and skipper for a week in October 23, to hopefully visit St. Kilda and western isles. Searched you tube for St.Kilda related items and found your enjoyable, informative video. Cheers.
Hello John, thanks for getting in touch. Great to know you found our video both enjoyable and informative. Well, that sounds like quite the trip. You must know your way around a boat. The Tom Steel book looks like a good read. No doubt it has further stoked the desire to visit St Kilda. All the best for what sounds like a really great trip. Cheers 🙂
Interested to hear if you managed to make this a reality?
Hi there. Being a novice to sailing , I didn't appreciate the distances and sailing challenges involved in reaching St. Kilda. However had a great week sailing in the Sound of Mull area and intend to do some sailing courses come the spring. It is still on my agenda at some point.@@xavieraubad3824
I’ve always fancied a trip to Saint Kilda but circumstances and life in general have just got in the way sadly. This was a really enjoyable video. You were very lucky with the weather. It’s a beautiful place and has made me even more determined to try and get there one of these days soon.
I stumbled across your video after watching a video about the far Islands from Steve Marsh and as I’ve said, I really enjoyed it. Thank you for posting it and thank you for the information that you give at the end very useful.
Safe travels for the future and once again, thank you for posting this really interesting and beautiful video
Thanks for your kind words, really glad you enjoyed it. You’re right, we were very lucky with the weather. There was a run of good weather at the time and that prompted us to book last minute after enjoying a trip to Mingulay a few days before. Hope you get the opportunity to visit yourself. Thanks again 🙂
Watched your St Kilda video because going on 15th May 2023.
Just booked it after seeing the video.
Love the way you do these, brilliant filming and really enjoy the little talk you both do at the end.
Thank you.
Brilliant, hope you have a great day for it, it's a special place! And thank you, glad you enjoy our films. It's always good to have feedback!
Amazing footage. This was such a nice watch.
Thanks a lot. Glad you enjoyed it and it’s really nice to get your feedback 🙂
After reading the numerous books on St Kilda such as "Out of this world", seeing this documentary is very impressive. Thanks for doing these wonderful videodocs on such important parts of the world! You have character!
Huge thanks once again Sergio! A lot of effort went into this one so we really appreciate your support 🙏
@@GoingTheWholeHogg St Kilda is a special place, so making this documentary was very important! Have a good day both of you!
i have been to Scotland from Sydney have just discovered this remote place and reading the history.. remotest i have been is Mingary Castle
It takes a bit of travel to get there but it’s totally worth it 😃
Thanks ever so much for making this wonderful video. I am from Swansea, and I have always dreamed of visiting St Kilda , but financial issues have prevented this. I want to thank you guys for making this a reality for me and making me feel as if I was there. I suffer with my mental health but I feel so at home and at peace when I see a beautiful place and so peaceful, as St Kilda. Thank you guys once again for making this video. I love your channel .
Hey, thanks very much for watching and taking the time to get in touch. It’s great to get your appreciation and we’re glad that you were able to feel at peace through watching this video. There’s really no better reward for us than to know something we’ve made has had such a beneficial effect. Happy we could take you to St Kilda with us. Thanks again, take care and keep well 🙂
Went to St Kilda when 9-11 happened ,spent 3 weeks there working, erecting a fibreglass raydome, only done 3 days work, the wind was always blowing, especially up on top.
When I was there, there was a pub, called the Puff Inn, run by the people from Quinetic.
Sounds like an interesting time. Not surprised about the weather and available working time.
Thank you so much for this video. We travel to Scotland every year. Both of my grandmothers were born there, and we have traveled throughout it very extensively. Our first trip to St. Kilda, however, will be in 2024. Very much looking forward to it!
You’re very welcome Jim, thank you! Hope the weather is good and you have a great time at St Kilda next year 😃
Good vid guys. I love living in the Highlands of Scotland. Its one of the best, if not "the best" places to be in the whole world.
Cheers! Yeah, have to agree with you there 😃
@@GoingTheWholeHogg 🙏🏼
astounding...
Thank you 🙏
Thank you for the great video. I went there in 2017 and spent 2 nights on the campsite. It's such a spectacular and mystical place. It's absolutely worth going there. I planned to go back there in 2022.... but it was cancelled due to bad weather. That's the only problem about St. Kilda. Well on the other hand it's a positive side when it's hard to go there, then hopefully it won't get too crowded.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. That must’ve been a great trip, we’d love to go back and stay in the campsite… the day trip was all too short, especially when you’re running around trying to capture it all. Fantastic experience though. And yes, I think the challenging location of St Kilda will always keep the tourist numbers manageable.
It's on my bucket list.
A worthy addition 😃
Ty for a spectacular share. We ventured as far as Portree on Skye. Can only imagine the feelings of remoteness that far out at St Kilda. Greetings from SouthAfrica.
It does feel quite surreal heading off to sea, with nothing around, then suddenly the islands of St Kilda are looming on the horizon. We're off to Skye in a couple of days, plenty of fantastic scenery there too! Hope you had a great time in Scotland : )
❤❤❤❤❤❤I need to visit this place...were My Scottish family is from...
I went there last year on a random trip
They boat man said it was the best day they'd had In 5 year's
Truly amazing place
And I can believe I dropped on such a perfect day
That’s great! We felt pretty lucky to get decent weather last year too, especially since they had a rough summer of weather after that. Agreed, an amazing place 🙂
As per the attention to detail is in a class of it's own, really enjoyed that and full respect to both of you again in all the time effort and dedication you always put in, the channel as I've said before is one the finest I've ever came across here on RUclips.
Massive Thanks again to the both of you.
Cheers.
Cheers Gary, this one was a full-on day with not much relaxing for Del who was doing all the filming! Our first time trying to film from a moving boat, not so easy and we learnt some things. Glad it paid off in the final edit. What a place, the gannets and feeling of isolation out there is incredible. Thanks again for your support and appreciation! All the best, Kim
Beautifully made film! Thank you for your comment and very practical approach. My dream is to get to St Kilda one day as I have read probably most books on the subject of this incredible place.
Thank you so much! We appreciate the feedback. Well, you must know a great deal about the place. Hope you fulfil your dream one day 🙂
This is one of the most stunning Islands I just witnessed, Thanks for sharing your amazing journey. Waiting for the next one! I don't miss any video from you guys but not making comment always 🙂. I spent quite busy work and family life but your videos are pretty inspiring for me.
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for getting in touch, it’s always great to hear from you whenever you have time. Hope all is well with you and your family, and thanks for the continued support and appreciation 🙂
Super many thanks for sharing your experiences with us . Every time an enjoyable film and information.
Awaiting the Mingulay film.
You’re very welcome Jan, thank you for getting in touch and letting us know your thoughts. We’re looking forward to sharing our films from Mingulay and the rest of the Outer Hebrides, but yes, Mingulay in particular was a special experience. Have you visited the island yourself?
Truly beautifully filmed, thank you. x
Thanks, Adele! Glad you enjoyed it : )
merci
Thank you 🙂
I watched Ruth Aisling on St Kilda and got the bug and then i came across your video and had to watch it since i know the quality of your work from previous videos and this one didn't disappoint ! Back on St Kilda....Mummmm what's for tea,i'm really hungry ! Seabird soup for starter luvvy,followed by seabird pie for main and finish off with seabird surprise dessert ! But i want pizza or a McDonalds Mummmmm......(all spoken in fluent Gaelic ) xx
Haha, remember well the journey your particular mind takes… love it 😁
@@GoingTheWholeHogg Thanks for the astute observation re ' The Wild Mind 'Glad to see you posting again - someone once asked if i could reccomend a Scottish Shortbread - without hesitation,deviation or repetition i said if Del and Kim were Shrtbread then i would recommend them !Music creation has become a passion for me ( electronic ) and i've started a band called 999 Megabytes - we're still waiting for our first Gig !
@twiglet2214 haha, love it! First Gig 😂
You guys travel to all the places I love or want to go hiking!! You must have amazing taste in epic beauty like me..loooooove all your videos like I always say👏👏👏
And we appreciate it a lot, thanks! Yeah, you know we love epic scenery, and St Kilda is not short on that 😃
Incredible film! We are planning a trip to Scotland and are researching different places to visit. I'm fascinated with St. Kilda's land formation and history. Thank you for making such a stunning and inspiring video.
Thank you Rhie! That’s definitely what makes St Kilda so appealing, the combination of stunning geography with the historical and cultural background. Thanks again 🙂
Stunning. Thankyou.
Thanks for showing your appreciation Cara 😃
Love your videos guys and the intro stills are just immersive 👏👏
Thanks, appreciate you doing watching and leaving some good feedback too. The intro is always something we consider carefully so it’s great to hear you found that part immersive. Thanks again 😃
Found you thru YT suggestions. Great video. Thank you.
Thank you for watching and appreciating!
Thanks for making these videos.
You’re welcome, thanks for watching 😃
Fantastic video, as always. Thank you!
Cheers, Denise!
Well done. Fantastic informative compilation.
Thanks, glad you found it interesting!
A really informative video. We are planning a trip to St Kilda in May, so this is very useful. Thank you.
Glad the film has been helpful, and wishing you good weather and calm water for your own visit!
That was worth waiting for. Beautifully filmed and edited and saves me the bother of going...Only joking, I know films cannot fully capture the atmosphere of a place and I hope to make the trip one day. Looking forward to the rest of your Hebridean adventures. Great work you two 👏👏
Thanks Ian, appreciate that a lot. Glad we could take you there. Looking forward to sharing the rest of the Hebridean journey soon. Thanks again 😃
Amazing to see a relative of Faroese islands.
Pretty, granted. But not as impressive.
You made it feel interesting and enjoyable, as always.
Thanks, glad you found it both interesting and enjoyable. We would love to visit the Faroe Islands at some point, it looks incredible. I think the scale is a little different to St Kilda. The Faroes have a total land area of 1393 square kilometres vs St Kilda which is 8.5 square kilometres. Part of the fascinating thing about St Kilda is the cultural history, as well as it being visually striking in parts too.
We coming very soonx
Fantastic, hope you have a wonderful trip 🤞
enjoyed the film big time, as it's one of these far away islands in Scotland where you question whether it's worth visiting it(same as Faroes) considering boat price and potential weather
Glad to hear you enjoyed it. It definitely is a tough decision because of price and weather. We very much went on a whim when we discovered there was space on a boat and could see a good weather forecast. It was a great experience though, so glad we did it 😃
I'm surprised you never got dive bombed walking up Conachair - a known breeding ground of the vicious Arctic Skua. I had 30 of them swooping over me the first
time I went there. Good video.
Haha, got dive bombed on the way back down… no chance to capture it on camera unfortunately 😅… thanks very much for the appreciation 🙂
Visited St .Kilda for 16days June 1981. Camera gear 16mm Bolex plus Zenit E 35mm stills. Relied on commandoes for boat trips . 2 patched phone calls home in 16 days. The boat trip out 24 hrs minium . Most people were sick for week on return. Being a sailor no problem , a bottle orange juice and packet of ginger nuts for rations. BUT what a trip would go a again but too Old now !!
From what I read in the book , it was the arrival of the Vicar and his church that was the death of St Kilda. Myabe, a Sunday was the only day with good weather to go out and collect eggas and seabirds. The weather is extremely harsh. You made this video on a very nice day. How many days did you have to wait? Maybe less that 6 good days in a month in spring and summer.
That may well have had something to do with it. I think the cumulative effect of most outside influences over time probably led to the inevitable decline of life on the islands. In terms of this video, we just got very lucky with the weather, fortunately no waiting for a nice day and no need for a return trip.
St Kilda looks beautiful! We've always wanted to go, but the costs have always put us off, but it does look incredible! So maybe we need to add this onto our list. It has a really similar vibe to Great Blasket Island in Ireland, an island and community abandoned in the mid-early 20th century. Similar culture I imagine, too (Although the Blasket's don't require such a long boat trip!)
Oh cool, I've never heard of Great Blasket Island, sounds interesting. Yeah, I definitely balked at the price when I first looked at it, and just completely wrote it off. But we loved our trip to Mingulay so much that I immediately reconsidered and booked the St Kilda trip. With great weather forecast and last minute availability, it felt like a rare opportunity that we had to dip into the savings for! Mingulay is a great alternative though, and much cheaper and closer!
It's tricky to get to even in the best of weather.
@@rikmorley6469 it sure is. We got very lucky.
Brilliant editing! You guys must work already in media to roll quality like this off. My mum and I sat and enjoyed this video over lunch enormously, having stumbled across the existence of this island earlier in the day. What I wasn‘t expecting was this level of quality, in the editing, video quality and music choices.
This reminds me of the kind of place which in Greek myths would be the seat of the gods, what a spectacular and magical place. It makes me proud to know that these volcanic islands, for now at least are a part of my country, Great Britain.
You guys were such great hosts and thank you for your time and effort, you succeeded. You can tell your man Del loves you very much
Thank you for the kind words and appreciation of our work! We are entirely self-taught, but it's a nice compliment that you thought we must have already worked in media : ) I saw St Kilda mentioned on the BBC homepage recently, perhaps that's where you came across it too. It's a special place, the isolation, the dramatic stacks, the thousands of birds - I can see where the seat of the gods feeling comes from! Hope you have another good video lined up for the next lunchtime viewing with your mum : ) Cheers! Kim
@@GoingTheWholeHogg yes that‘s where I stumbled upon the island of St Kilda, on the BBC homepage.
Made me cry. Skelda x old norse x for a shield. Thank you.SEAN DHONNCHAIDH
Ah, that’s interesting about the old norse… and we’re touched that this had such a powerful effect, thanks for getting in touch to let us know 🙂
Yes, I actually had heard of St. Kilda before, after reading "Where the World Ends" by Geraldine McCaughrean. It takes place there during the late 1700s, partly on Hirta and partly during an expedition to one of the stacs. It was really interesting to see the real places where the book happened.
That sounds really interesting Gina, we would be keen to read that one. We read a lot about the island and community as we were making this video and writing our guide. We learned a bit in the museum on Hirta too, but as usually seems to be the case we learned more doing research for writing after visiting. Would you be keen to visit St Kilda someday?
@@GoingTheWholeHogg Maybe, but, since I've never taken such a long boat ride before, I would probably want to start with a shorter trip first to find out whether or not I am prone to seasickness!
That makes good sense 🙂
So amazingly excited you did this vid and the ones to come, as a friend and I will the doing the Hebridian Way in September (so hurry with the vids, please ... no pressure :) Beautiful as always, and loved all the Georgian material as well ... being a country I have made several trips to, and will again. Would love to pick your brains on the Hebrides at some point! Thank you both very much for this, especially at this time! Cheers!
Thanks Ian, very much appreciated as always! Haha, no worries, we’ll get the next ones out as soon as we possibly can - we’re as keen as anyone to get it all done 😉. That’s exciting for you to be doing the Heb Way. Walking or cycling?
@@GoingTheWholeHogg Will be walking it. Camping as much as possible depending on weather.
Great! We met a few people walking the distance when we were there and most seemed to love it. There’s definitely a wide variety of landscapes to enjoy. Fingers crossed for the weather 🤞
@@GoingTheWholeHogg I’m expecting to be doing a bit of bog squelching… I know it’s been a tad on the moist side (understatement) recently there, but I’ll go with a comment we used to say at the hostel I worked in Oban years ago: If you wait for the weather to get better in Scotland, you’ll never see much of anything!
True. That’s a good one to remember. I can almost see it printed on a t-shirt only it’s maybe just a touch too long 🤔
Sorry if you've answered this elsewhere before, but I've just come across your channel and your footage is absolutely stunning. While obviously this is mostly due to your talents, I'm also curious as to what kind of camera/gear you use.
Thanks, appreciate that. And hey, no problem, always happy to talk about that gear. We currently shoot on a Sony A7iii with mostly the Sony 24-70mm f2.8 GM lens, but also with the Sony 70-200mm f4 G lens (used a lot in the middle part of this video). For a drone, we currently have the DJI Air 2S although it wasn’t used for this one as it not allowed there.
@@GoingTheWholeHogg Tremendous, thanks a lot! Love your channel :)
Stunning photography!!!! Thank you. Have you been to Lunga?
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! We'd love to visit Lunga but haven't made it there yet. It was winter the last time we were on Mull, and the boat trips don't run then. And now the island is closed due to bird flu. One day we'll make it there!!
I would very much like to go to ST Kilda to see the sheep. I watch your videos anyway but this one was of great interest. Thanks guys!
Thanks, Mike! The sheep are cool, not timid at all and very cute. A really interesting place to visit. Cheers for watching and appreciating our films! Kim
Great to see you guys back on home turf. We were in the Outer Hebrides for May but didn't get to St. Kilda. This looks fab so I'll sit and enjoy it with a beer later. ATB
Cheers, Ian! Hope you had some OK weather on your trip, I remember May being pretty wet and windy this year. We were in the Outer Hebrides at the very end of May for a couple of weeks, just love it there. Always a reason to go back! Enjoy that beer ; ) Kim
@@GoingTheWholeHogg Aye Kim, it was wet and windy but we had a good time. Our wee film picked out the best bits!! ruclips.net/video/PUMKhNKviz4/видео.html
😁
@@IanTupmanOutdoors nice, look forward to watching it later!
Was that Mina Stac at about 10.00 ?
That’s the one, the boat was going round it on the northeast coast of Hirta, below the summit of Conachair
It is so difficult for modernists to conceive of peoples living on those outer islands for thousands of years…but they did. Life must’ve been very very difficult …it’s just hard to imagine how they did it.
Absolutely, put the vast majority of us in such a situation now and it would be a major shock to the system, one that would be incredibly difficult to deal with. You live the life you know however, and for those people in past times, hard though it undoubtedly was, life was there to be lived and I imagine there were times to appreciate alongside the tough business of the daily grind.
What were the mound shaped piles of stones used for?
They were for storage mostly
Delicious
Thanks! 😃
can we stay there night ?
Hey Tazz, it is possible. There is a small, basic campsite where you can stay for up to 5 nights. You must book in advance through the NTS, then book a confirmed seat (not standby) with a boat tour company for your outbound and inbound dates, paying double the fare. You can get more info in our guide: www.goingthewholehogg.com/visit-st-kilda-scotland
Eilean iongantach. Fhuair mi leabhar mu Hiort nuair a thadhail mi air an Eilean Sgitheanach. A’ coimhead àite air leth freagarrach airson campachadh fiadhaich!
A great place to visit. Camping would be good but you have to arrange ahead of time with the National Trust For Scotland (NTS), the numbers allowed are very small, and you have to pay double the boat fare… would be a great experience though 😃
Nice place to visit on a sunny summers day however, iwoubld not want live on. it Al l, yearrvo und.