Tea break: Drew McNaughton

In our regular feature, we join a local for a tea break and find out how they spend their time and their time off. This week, we welcome Drew McNaughton, the new North Harris Trust Ranger.

Drew, please tell us about yourself and your work.

I am the new ranger for the North Harris Trust and I am stepping into the shoes of the excellent previous ranger, Fañch, who I have known for a while. He got the job in North Harris at the same time I got the ranger job in Knoydart. It is great that I have ended up working here though and so far I have been amazed by the number of eagles in North Harris. It is starting to show signs of spring so I am also really looking forward to the season of wildflowers and the blooming of the machair which I have never seen before.

How did you get where you are today?

In some ways, as I explained I have Fañch again to thank for that, at least he alerted me to the opportunity here. I have always been really interested in nature though from the time I was a kid. I grew up for a bit in the backwoods of New Hampshire in the USA and I think that made a big impression on me as well as visiting relatives in the Pacific Northwest and hiking in the Olympic Mountains near Seattle. More recently I studied herbal medicine and through that became involved with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh where I eventually got a job that lasted about seven years. I volunteered with the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland and went on field trips around Scotland.

What are your goals for the near future?

My goals for just now are to improve my Gaelic which I have been learning for about 18 years now as well as learning more about the culture of the Western Isles and crofting. I have always lived in the country when I was growing up but there was a steady decline in the rural way of life I remember when we first moved over to England. I suppose I would like to get back to that somehow and use my plant knowledge to perhaps grow different species and varieties of trees and shrubs on a croft.

How do you like to spend your time off?

I really like reading and I really like music. I have been doing a lot of music recently in Oxford before I moved up to Harris and I also worked in the Bodleian Library for a bit which was definitely a treat for a book geek like me. I have also used my skills with computers to create my own website and blogs which I like to keep going as a way of sharing what I do. The one that mainly has my creative work on it is at https://drewmcnaughton.net/

What are your favourite places in Harris?

I have to say that picking my favourite place in Harris would be difficult as I have only just started to get to know it. When I first got here I was staying in Borve and the archeology around there was really amazing but I also got to Stròn Ulladail for the first time recently and that really astounded me. I will probably find more cool places and eventually one might make the top of the list.

It’s tea break time. What’s on the menu?

I am quite partial to a dark chocolate digestive (well most any form of dark chocolate) but probably I would have to include peanut butter as I do eat a lot of that. Peanut butter on toast with honey. You can take the kid out of America…