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.
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