Fernando Pinho | Fernando’s Logbook | August 10, 2026 | 7,295 words With no secondary school in the southern half of the Isle of Mull, children must leave home for the mainland at the age of eleven, living in a youth hostel during the school week. It’s a system that has existed for generations—but what does sending children away so young do to a community? Fernando Pinho gently follows the families who must navigate this rite of passage, and explores the political decisions that have kept this structure in place. > You know that Monday morning dread, she said, when you hate your job and you can’t face going back?
The children get that on a Sunday. > Sunday is the day of washing, drying and ironing, because the clothes that came home on Friday have to be packed again for Monday. And then the bag sits at the bottom of the stairs. You come down, and you see it, she said, and it’s this little reminder of what’s coming. > Sometimes there’s an invitation, a barbecue at someone’s house, all of them welcome, just a couple of hours, you’ll be home in time.
But her son doesn’t want to leave the house on a Sunday, and she won’t leave him. How do I say I can’t go, she told me. Emma Marris | Hakai Magazine | September 12, 2023 | 3,900 words “Almost 50 years ago, conservationists reintroduced white-tailed eagles to Scotland.
Some say too well.” A Funeral for Fish and Chips: Why are Britain’s Chippies Disappearing? So what happens when its chippies—and chippies across the UK—start to close?” The Obsessive Life and Mysterious Death of the Fisherman Who Discovered The Loch Ness Monster “A humble Scotsman saw something strange in the water — and daringly set out to catch it — only to have lecherous out-of-towners steal his fame and upend his quest.” “Crowded out of the city by noise and stress, I embraced the wild solitude of a Hebridean island – and found a connection to nature.” Tagged: children,Fernando Pinho,Fernando's Logbook,Isle of Mull,longreads,school,Scotland,Travel . And if you want Longreads in your inbox, select the newsletters you want to receive: Tuesdays and Thursdays, we'll send you our latest originals and all our editor's picks—and Fridays, go even deeper with our Top 5 of the Week.
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