THE CROFT ORIGINALS

Women & under 40s turn to life on land

- MIKE MERRITT

IT is a way of life championed by the King but has overwhelmingly been a male domain.

Now it has emerged that almost half of new crofters are women - 200 in total.

Figures show a leap in the number of people wanting to take up the traditional way of life.

Notably, 45 per cent of the 510 new entrants are women and 29 per cent are aged 40 or younger.

The Crofting Commission data was recorded across Scotland from March 2022 to March 2023 Western Isles MSP Alasdair Allan said: "The latest figures are very encouraging, particularly the proportions of young people and women recorded.