I don't like to sound too grumpy, but if you read "our" page about St Kilda, you'd find out all you needed to know, and how it got its name, and that there's no full stop in it, and that the St isn't an abbreviation for Saint, and....

And it probably goes without saying (I hope) that there's no mention of the football connection (even if the team's site did provide some of the history).

Really, we have nearly 600 pages of goodies there now, and it is worth having a search for the lesser knows things

I'm just impressed that someone else even knew the place existed

I only spotted the BBC's new series, Britain's Lost World, shortly before it was due to air at 21:00 tonight, or I'd have mentioned it earlier, as it was billed as:

1/3. Historian Dan Snow, naturalist Steve Backshall and wildlife enthusiast Kate Humble set out to solve the mysteries of St Kilda, the only British World Heritage Site nominated for both its extraordinary history and its wildlife. Home to seabirds and seals, the islands are a place of mystery. Until just eighty years ago, St Kilda was inhabited, and those people lived in an extraordinary way. When they suddenly abandoned their homes, they left behind a place full of secrets. Who were the strange and remarkable St Kildans? Why did they leave? And can St Kilda's amazing wildlife survive in the modern world?

In this first programme, Steve collects food the St Kildan way - by abseiling down a 400 foot cliff; Kate finds out how this season's baby puffins are getting on; and Dan discovers the islands' Viking history. But when Steve and Dan set out to row to the island of Boreray, plans go awry

It was a bit irritating as the programme started, with repeated references to "The mystery of why the St Kildans left" - it's not a mystery, and never was, not even the day the islanders left.

Facts appeared to go out the window when they spotted the six modern refurbishment cottages, and they asserted that one of the problems was the zinc roofs and glass windows which wouldn't have lasted or been repairable when damages, as the material was not locally available. Wonder who let them away with that one? The roofs in question are in fact only a few years old - the real roofs on the buildings would have been natural, made of wood covered with layers of heather turfs, then thatched and held down by a net weighted with stones.

Seeing the weather change that brought the Coastguard in to extract one of the team was a good example of the conditions endured there.

They've manage to avoid the base so far.

I wasn't  impressed with the programme either!

Aww... it had its good point.

The six hour trip in an open boat was better than slipping over in a helicopter or cruiser, and was accompanied by Kate Humble losing her breakfast.

I mentioned the Coastguard safety callout in light of the weather change from sun to showers, which the islanders would have had to contend with, and while the trip in rowing boat  declined into farce, it did also illustrate how vital a good boat was, as their example fell apart in little more than calm seas.

I was more than impressed by the soil analysis, confirming the toxin build-up in the land, and carried out in a few seconds by a hand-held gizmo stuck in a hole in the ground.

More fun coming next week in part 2.

For those not up to speed, the base used to allow civilian visitors but this ended with the so-called terrorist hype, and visitors are discouraged. They used to be able to use the facilities - the Puff Inn - but that ended recently, and the only circumstances where civilians will be entertained will be a medical emergency.

QinetiQ are credited on the programme, but the MoD might have asked the programme not to include the camp or radar stations. We'll see in the later content.

If you read our small print you will find a reference to the warden's warning to visitors, alerting them to the dangers of the cliffs and not to wear waterproof trousers. If you trip and fall wearing these on the steep, wet, grassy slopes, then your next stop will be the sea, after you have gone shooting over the 400 metre cliff edge.

Some place, but you have to wonder about its viability and the mental approach of those who lived there. I refer not to any particular social aspect, merely the fact that just to survive there you would have to spend most of your waking hours organising food, either to eat right away, or to store for consumption in winter.

This, as noted earlier, was one of the ultimate problems, when the church got its claws on the islanders and had them in church when they should have been working in the fields, so reducing their already depleted food stocks even further.

I don't remember this, but it seems a fishing boat ran aground on Hirta back in February, and is in the news again as plans are made to decide its fate.

There were worries that it may have brought rats to the island, which could have been a major problem, but it looks as if there were none.

You almost wonder how they managed to hit the island, in the middle of nowhere.

Engine failure during a storm which blew it onto rocks as far as I remember.  The island was monitored for months by SNH ( I think ) but no traces of rats were found.  This despite fishermen saying fishing boats do not attract  rats in any case so was probably another waste of public money.  It was a Spanish boat.

I should have thought to post this warning earlier, but got distracted as usual.

If anyone is following the series, be aware that Part 3 of 3 does not arrive a week after the Part 2 of 3!

It airs of Friday evening at 19:30 on BBC1, on June 27, the day after Part 2 was shown.

There was only the briefest of mentions after Part 2, and I almost forgot to check the details.

To say that the Rhu base operated from a beach is incorrect as it was a pukka base witha large storage warehouse slipway and jetty.  This facility is now the Press Center for HMNB Faslane according to a notice on the gates.

Dinnae forget context...

The item follows on from the LCL stories, and I'm pretty sure they'll have operated their runs from the beach rather than the stores, but mentioning the buildings would do no harm.

What we probably want it some meat on the Rhu facility history, and its own page to refer to.

The Press Centre story is unrelated to the St Kilda story, and is already included in the HMNB Clyde naval base page, which it relates to.