Bridging the Gap – in progress: In Search of the Wallaby
Reports from the production of this year's Bridging the Gap short documentaries, part 3
The Isle of Islay, Scotland. Human population: 3,457. Sheep population: 20,000 (or thereabouts). Wallaby population: 1 (deceased)?
We have come to Islay with one intention – to solve the mystery of the wallaby.
A wallaby is a small kangaroo more often associated with the dusty plains of Australia than the Hebridean Isles of Scotland. In 2004, one such creature showed up at the side of the road. When it was found it was dead, it was suspected to have been flattened by a car. The police soon buried it to keep their unsolved crime rate down.
How it got to the island and how it died remain till this day, a mystery. But Islay is a small community in which everybody knows everybody and secrets don’t
stay secrets for too long…
The search goes on: Alistair giving a calf something it’s not going to like
After three weeks of searching a new lead has presented itself (but we cant reveal our sources). A man known locally as ‘Beastie’ has appeared on our radar.
Was he the man who brought the creature to Islay? Will he provide the key to unlock the mystery?
We shall see…
Cutting peat with Michael
Islay presents another way of life lived at a different pace and is a fascinating world for those willing to look underneath. They say that time means nothing
here – if you can’t do something today, leave it until tomorrow!
In the past three weeks we have been all over the island calving cows, playing pipes, cutting peat, visiting haunted estates, and playing musical statues with the kids at nursery school. We have only one week left to get to the bottom of this thing, but I suspect our time will be spent with the people we have befriended, filming, relaxing, and consuming a little of what Islay is famous for – the whisky!
Marion's daughter Kirsty
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