John Toal comes from a crofting background in Lochaber and in 1985 he took on the role of grazings clerk and secretary of his local sheep stock club. In the same year the Scottish Crofters Union was formed, and John was directly involved in the formation of SCU branches and the area structure in Lochaber. John was then branch secretary of the Lochaber branch, and became President of the Lochaber Area, representing it at SCU Council level.

In 1992 John began crofting-related employment that continued for 30 years with the Scottish Crofters Union, the Lochaber Local Enterprise Company, and the Crofters later the Crofting Commission.

This involved work in advocacy, research and policy development, crofting development, project management, community engagement, crofting regulation and legislation, crofting support structures and land management.

In this episode, Donna and Eilidh chat with Dr Lucy Beattie.

Lucy is from Leckmelm, close to the village of Ullapool. She has over 28 years of hands-on experience managing her own farming business and has also worked in education, teaching rural skills at Ullapool High and managing education projects for the Scottish Crofting Federation all over the Highlands and Islands. Lucy took a break from work to complete a PhD focused on public engagement with science. She is currently employed by the James Hutton Institute as a researcher in sustainable farming systems and she was recently appointed as a Commissioner for the Scottish Land Commission.

Music credit: Peatbog Faeries

In this episode we talk all things woodland crofting with Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie is a freelance forester and community development worker based in Ardnamurchan, though most of his time is spent supporting the Woodland Crofts Partnership (of which SCF is one of 4 partners). He's had a long interest in smaller-scale, rural development forestry and in particular ‘family forestry’ models such as woodland crofts & woodlots. He was, for a time, woodland crofts officer for HIE/FCS when the model gained ‘official’ support following the 2007 Crofting Reform Act, but has been self-employed for the last 13 years. His wife was raised on the family croft and they have 4 children, though only 1 is still in school. In his spare time Jamie is involved in various community projects including a hydro scheme, a community-owned school building and a community woodland.

Music credit: Peatbog Faeries

In this episode we chat with Rhoda Meek.

Rhoda is an entrepreneur, digital consultant and crofter based in the Isle of Tiree. Running Isle Develop CIC, and her own business, Meekton Enterprises, keeps her busy most of the time. From time to time she contracts for US Tech Startups, managing Customer Experience. At the moment she is doing Comms & Gaelic Development for the Tiree Community Development Trust. You'll also find her column in the Sunday National each week.

We explore Rhoda's thoughts on the crofting system, good and bad, thoughts on the future and what some of the barriers are to new entrants.

Music credit: The Peatbog Faeries

In this first full episode we chat to Andrew Thin, Chair of the Crofting Commission.

Andrew has been a board member of the Crofting Commission since September 2022. His hands-on practical experience of crofting dates back to the 1960s and previous public sector roles have included Chair of the Cairngorms National Park Authority, Chair of Scottish National Heritage, Chair of Scottish Canals and Chair of the Scottish Land Commission.

Our chat covers crofting law, what role crofting has to play in the future of land reform and what the good and bad is about being a Commissioner.

Music credit: Peatbog Faeries

In this short introductory podcast, meet the hosts, Donna Smith and Eilidh Ross, who explain how the podcast came about, what their respective interests in crofting are and what the Croftwork podcast series is going to be all about.

Music credit: Peatbog Faeries