Banjo Beale is putting down his Scottish roots on the island of Ulva – and it feels like a home from home.
Banjo Beale is putting down his Scots roots on the island of Ulva – and it feels like a home from home. The Scotland’s Home of the Year host is back with a new show alongside husband Rohan “Ro” Christopher as they renovate Ulva House in the Inner Hebrides – a stately home on the island known as the historical seat of Clan Macquarie.
In the six-part series for BBC Scotland, which starts tonight, the pair will be seen breathing new life into the building. In a twist of fate, Ulva is where Lachlan Macquarie was born.
The Scot is known as the Father of Australia and established Bathurst in Queensland, where Banjo was brought up. As a child he even played near the Macquarie River, named after the British soldier and governor of New South Wales.
It has taken Banjo 10,000 miles and many different jobs to arrive on the island. He admitted: “The connection is wild. But this is our home now and we are putting down roots.
“My family can’t believe it. Just behind my parents’ house is the Macquarie River, his namesake river. They know we are a little bit mad but they are proud of us for doing this.
“I know Lachlan Macquarie is known as the Father of Australia and I’m doing up the big house on Ulva but I think it’s just an interesting connection.”
Banjo, who arrived 11 years ago on Mull with Ro penniless, is full of admiration for Macquarie.
He added: “It was a big trip for us to come to Scotland but I can’t imagine back in the day a young lad from Ulva ending up thousands of miles from home in Australia.
“But Ulva is a bit like the Outback – it’s got big skies, it’s hard and a bit harsh. He would have to be resilient to go to Australia because you have to be resilient to live on Ulva.”
Macquarie was born on the island which is close to Mull – but he never lived in Ulva House. He left when he was 14 for the Army. He did great things in Australia but left under a cloud, returning to Mull where he is now buried.
Ulva has no roads and is only accessible by ferry from Mull. It is 7.5miles long and 2.5miles wide and where there were once over 800 residents now only 10 adults live on the island. But since it was bought by its community in 2018, there has been a determined effort to secure the island’s future.
The original Regency mansion was built in the 17th-18th century but was rebuilt in the 19th century and then burned down in the 50s only to be restored once again.
But for the past seven years it has fallen into disrepair and was only a couple of years away from needing a fortune to restore it.
While the trust which owns the island had estimated £2million to do up Ulva House, Banjo and Ro are using £150,000 to return it to its former glory and open it up as a hotel.
Ro said: “We moved in last summer. At the start we had a few big storms. We had windows without panes and the wind would howl through and smash another window.”
The aim this year was to make it wind and water tight so it could be insured. They have also reestablished power and water – and have started restoring the rooms, which viewers will see on the show.
The deal is they do not have to pay rent while they do up the house, then once it is repaired they pay rent and some of the profit of the business. But they will never own Ulva House.
Banjo said: “It’s a historic building. We want to turn it into a business but it’s not ours, it’s for the community.”
Banjo & Ro’s Grand Island Hotel starts tonight on BBC Scotland at 10pm.
