WALKING DOWN THE AILSA
Jim and Angela become the first couple to tie the knot on remote Scots island
A COUPLE have become the first to wed on an uninhabited island off the west coast. Jim Lindop, 60, and 61-year-old wife Angela had just four weeks to plan the fairytale wedding on Ailsa Craig in Ayrshire. Jim, who has been with Angela for 20 years, decided they should do “something a bit different” for the big day. The retired electronics engineer had to get special permission from the island’s owner, the Marquess of Ailsa, to use the unique venue. The ceremony was organised with the help of Glenapp Castle in nearby Girvan. Jim said: “It took a little persuasion getting the Marquess of Ailsa, the local registrar and Glenapp Castle to head up Ailsa Craig in mid-winter and with four weeks notice. “But they admirably rose to the occasion.” The ceremony was conducted by Caroline Agnew from South Ayrshire Registrars Office. Bride Angela donned a pair of hiking boots and a lime-green jacket, while the groom was kitted out in ski wear.
The pair were joined by former Girvan harbour master Roddy Leitch, general manager of Glenapp Castle John Orr and coxswain David Bova.
After a windswept ceremony on December 20, they popped open a bottle of bubbly, heard a history of the island and were introduced to its seal colony.
Jim said: “We had to get wed in a unique way and thought why not take a boat out? Angela was away at the time but when I told her she said, ‘Let’s do it’.
“We spoke to the registrar who said he couldn’t marry us until 2018 but I told him it had to be this year.
“So we arranged it in four weeks. It was wonderful.”
Angela, a retired teaching assistant, said: “We have been together for 20 years and both previously been married. We have always said we want to get married but it’s just something we have never got around to doing.
“We wanted something a bit different, and we are outdoors, adventurous people.
“Jim rang me and told me about his idea and as soon as he did I knew that was it, that was how we should get married, so he started planning it.
“It was wonderful and magical. The weather was just perfect and the island is so beautiful.
“We started to walk up the hill and then about half we up we decided to stop and that’s where we took our vows.”
The couple, from Sheffield, travelled north of the border in their campervan, telling only told Angela’s sons and Jim’s daughters about their plans.
Ailsa Craig is home to one of the largest gannet colonies in the world, with thousands of breeding pairs.
It lies about 10 miles off the coast and is known as “Paddy’s milestone” because it is halfway between Glasgow and Belfast.