Scarp is a small now uninhabited island. It lies just 200m at low tide from Harris on the west coast, near Hushinish. On the path to a beach I bumped into a couple who told me the story of its postal service by the pioneering German rocketeer Gerhard Zucker.
Traversing a steep rocky steep path drops you onto Mheilen beach, the closest point to Scarp. A German rocketeer tested his idea to transport the islanders post via a rocket in July 1934. After two failed attempts it was abandoned, but the complete story was told in a movie The Rocket Post. As an aside, Gerhard Zucker pitched his rocket ideas to the Nazi’s and that story can be found on this good website.
Not long after this trip the National Theatre of Scotland was touring my area and I went along to see a musical interpretation of Rocket Post. The captured the spirit and charm of the islands beautifully.
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