New series of An Lot/The Croft on BBC Alba

BBC ALBA’s popular programme about life as a crofter in the Outer Hebrides has returned for a brand new series this month.

Viewers will get the chance to catch up with Donald ‘Sweeny’ MacSween on his croft in the Isle of Lewis in this five-part series of programmes, which runs until Monday February 3.

Sweeney’s croft has been in the family for more than 100 years and he first captured the imagination of BBC ALBA viewers in 2015 in the first series, as he tried to turn his passion for crofting life into a full-time occupation.

Over the last four years there have been many challenges as he strives to fulfil his dream. Now in his second year fulltime, Donald is always on the lookout for something new to maximise his income from ‘An Lot’. In this series he looks at different ways of using wool, gets ready for 600 new hens, and builds a new shed shop for tourists, largely due to an increase in cruise ships coming into Stornoway in recent years.

Many of these visitors are keen to experience life on a Hebridean croft, and Donald welcomes them with his cheeky charm and offers some novel new wool products in his newshop.

Donald said: ‘For me, the most important thing about this series is that I feel it is a true reflection of what crofting is like.

‘It is easy to share stories exclusively of cute lambs and positive stories, but that isn’t a true picture of what crofting is. It can be brutal, heart-breaking, depressing but the positives outweigh the negatives, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. It is what I love.’

He says one of the most exciting parts of this series was producing his own Harris Tweed using the wool from his own (black) Hebridean sheep.

He added: ‘We are entering extremely uncertain times for agriculture and no one can be sure what is going to happen.

‘Hopefully my branching into tourism and adding value to what I produce can help other crofters and farmers think about what is possible.’

The first episode of An Lot/ The Croft aired on Monday, January 6 but each episode is available on the BBC ALBA iPlayer for 30 days after it airs.