THE COUNTRYMAN
The lovingly rebuilt pier at Salen is now the headquarters of the Ethical Shellfish Company
Guy Grieve’s shellfish company has a scenic new HQ on the rebuilt Salen pier
For some people, just living on an island is tough enough. Now try establishing and running a business from an island. Five years ago we started the Ethical Shellfish Company on the Isle of Mull, where my wife was born and raised. From day one, as well as being a great asset in terms of provenance and quality, our location has presented unique challenges.
In addition to the usual trials of fishing we must also rely on the ferry service to get our dived scallops across to the mainland twice each week. This mainly becomes a problem in the winter, when with seeming increasing frequency the ferries are delayed or cancelled, often with little warning. This would be taxing enough without the prospect of angry chefs under pressure for lunch service, gnashing their teeth when their scallops fail to arrive on time.
In the early days of the business we had no base on the island, so had to store our precious catch in keep nets in the fast-flowing tidal channel that separates the island of Ulva from Mull. It is a beautifully clear and clean stretch of water, and the scallops thrived there. But Sod’s Law meant that the wind was usually in the wrong direction on dispatch day and very often there was an adverse tide running as well. Sometimes it just wasn’t possible to get to them. Cue more chefs gnashing teeth.
We needed to find ourselves a base, and quickly. But where? It would require deep clean water, washed out daily by strong tides. It would need road access, electricity and to be close to the ferry. In other words, it was not an easy thing to find. And although many were willing to help, nobody had quite the right combination. We considered and rejected one crazy option after another, eventually accepting that it was impossible to solve. Then, by luck, we were introduced to ‘Pete the Pier’.
Originally from Yorkshire, and displaying an industriousness and enterprise that I now believe is typical of people from that county, Peter Stanhope had bought the old pier in the village of Salen in 2007. Built just over a hundred years earlier, Salen Pier had for a long time been the main ferry hub connecting Mull to the mainland.
By the 1960s the introduction of new ferries meant a bigger pier was needed, and midway through that decade the ‘new’ pier was built in Craignure, leaving Salen’s to fall into disuse. By the time Peter bought it the structure had reached a state of near-terminal ruin, with many timbers missing and rotten. Together with his wife Susanne, and assisted by a hardy team of friends, Peter set about rebuilding the entire structure. Fifty tons of douglas fir, eight legs of greenheart timber and 3,500 galvanised screws and bolts later, the pier was in great shape.
Salen Pier’s future has been assured, and luckily for us Peter was happy to have a tenant. And it is a perfect arrangement – deep, clean water, accessible and handy for the ferry. A couple of years ago he erected a building which is an exact replica of the original waiting room, and this is now our dispatch centre and headquarters. Added to the luxury of scallop storage, we now have a place, under cover, where we can sort and pack scallops and even brew the odd mug of tea.
Salen Pier is now very much alive again but working to the beat of a different tune. Where once the traffic and activity depended on the ferry timetables, now the pace is dictated by our chefs all over the UK. Our days on the pier start long before the sun has risen over the Morvern shore to light the waters of the Sound of Mull.
We see every weather from the worst winter gales, where we have to cling on for dear life to stop ourselves being blown into the sea, to the most idyllic summer days, working shirts off in full sun. Local kids fish for mackerel in the summer, dive trips assemble, the occasional yacht ties up alongside and tourists stroll along to admire the view. It is a good place to be, and we have much to be grateful for. Now, the ferries, on the other hand…
‘Our days on the pier start long before the sun has risen over the Morvern shore to light the waters of the Sound of Mull’