THE first wedding on the remote Scottish island of St Kilda since 1926

took place yesterday after the bridegroom was flown there in an

emergency helicopter.

Stornoway GP Alasdair Barden had been told he could not reach the

island when bad weather prevented an Army landing craft from taking him

there.

However, the Army stepped in to take him, the best man, the bride's

father and another guest 45 miles to the windswept wedding venue by

helicopter.

Dr Barden, 29, married Donna Campbell, 31, from the Isle of Lewis in

the church which had been restored by the Army.

The only residents on the island, which is owned by the National

Trust, are the 30 military personnel and the world's largest colony of

gannets.

The couple had asked for a service in Gaelic, and Miss Campbell's

local minister had agreed to conduct it, but had to cancel because of

ill-health.

So stand-in preacher the Rev. Neil Shaw, of Callanish Free Church,

made the 45-mile trip in a fishing boat with the bride to conduct the

service.