Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Family delighted to be delivering their milk at last

Gordon Mackay
Gordon Mackay

Scotland’s newest dairy has started production in the furthest north-west corner of the country.

Despite pitfalls and obstacles over the past four years, excited father and son Gordon and Scott Mackay have finally commenced deliveries from their family run Brogaidh’s Dairy in the Western Isles.

The £1 million venture on a croft in South Bragar on the Isle of Lewis comprises a herd of pedigree Guernsey cows – which were bought from south Wales and are acclimatised to wild weather – as well as a number of Ayrshires.

Guernsey cattle were selected for their A2 milk, containing high levels of beta carotene – a good source of vitamin A, high butterfat content and high protein content.

The first milk flowed through the family’s new dairy yesterday with 350 litres produced for doorstep deliveries to islanders.

Gordon, a former oil industry engineer, said interest was keen and the next step is to increase supply and distribute through local shops.

Milk has been shipped in to Lewis from the mainland since the last island farm closed in 2012.

Gordon said: “Milk doesn’t travel very well. It’s a few days old by the time it arrives on the island, so the quality is very poor.

“We have the right herd which gives a quality milk, so we think we can get a good customer base with the product we have.

“The first deliveries were difficult as a lot of the houses don’t have numbers on them. In the villages numbers are just spread throughout and don’t match up. One can be number 41 while the neighbour is number 75.”

He said he did not realise the amount of red tape he would face, and at times the family thought the venture would never get off the ground.

Last year the family lost £300,000 because environmental health approval was denied, and the majority of the cows were sent back to the mainland.

Scott said: “After the last four years preparing, it was good to get the first bottled milk out to customers.”