AS a teenager Susannah Bolton dreamt of a new life and breaking free of remote island life.
It's a rite of passage for youngsters wanting to set their own path and head for the bright lights for pastures new.
However, what the artist was not prepared for was how she would feel as she was lured back to her homeland of the Outer Hebrides.
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Everything changed when her fiance suggested they up sticks and move back the the island where she grew up.
As the couple look out at what might seem like a barren and bleak landscape to some, for Alexander Thompson-Byer and Susannah it gave them the vision to create a new life and home on North Uist.
Like many teenagers, Susannah was desperate to seek a different life and make an escape from island life, but a few years later she surprised herself when she agreed to return home.
“Being here with a family so different to when you are a teenager and not quite sure of yourself,” Susannah said. “It has caught me by surprise how much I have actually missed Uist.”
The couple’s journey and path to building their own home and a desire for a better quality of life features in a BBC Scotland documentary to be screened on November 9.
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Return to Uist examines how they turned their backs on city life and without any employment took a gamble on a new life 700 miles north.
There are just four shops, two petrol pumps and no traffic lights in the Lochmaddy area where they plan to base themselves and for a couple who were used to the 24/7 culture of having everything on their doorstep from restaurants, to bars, clubs and theatres, it is a major change.
Gardener and blogger Alexander, 36, and artist Susannah, 29, and their little boy Cedar made the move of a lifetime from London to a wild croft in the Outer Hebrides. They have taken on 10 acres of uncultivated land, and with limited funds they set about building a house and the series will reveal whether they have been successful.
Susannah, an artist, grew up on the island but never felt like she belonged, and was keen to leave for the mainland as quickly as she could.
While she appreciated that there would be hurdles to overcome but now wanted to give island living another chance in the hope that Cedar will enjoy growing up away from the city and that she and Alexander will have a better work-life balance.
“I was working all hours and life in London was stressful, we moved from the centre of London to Crawley and had wanted to develop our own land there but due to red tape it would have taken years,” Alexander said. "After visiting Uist, it was my suggestion for us to move there as a family.
“We found a piece of land which no one had been on for nine years and there were three ruins and a sheiling with no roof. The first time I saw it was in 60mph winds, the site was full of heather and rabbits running wild, but I knew it was for us.”
Alexander knew he would be the only black Londoner among the islanders and his aim was to be the ‘first black shepherd’ in the community and desperate to have his own animals within a few months he got ducks and chickens.
Return to Uist, made by Salamanda Media, explores life as the family initially stay with Susannah’s parents, who moved to the Outer Hebrides from the south of England 30 years ago, while they develop the plans for their dream home.
To make ends meet, Alexander takes on a job as delivery driver and after eight months Susannah lands a job for three days a week at the local woollen mill, cleaning wool for the local weavers. It’s a good start to their island life and Susannah’s spirits are lifted after a meeting with the architect to go through the plans for their dream home which will cost and estimated £300,000.
Susannah said: “I knew and trusted that the community would be looking out for us. Food and fuel are a bit more expensive here, but the cost of housing is a lot lower so it is about figuring out, even if we had absolute minimum wage jobs, how much would we need a week to be working.
“We have designed our life around not needing to work full-time because it was unpleasant for everyone involved and we were so stressed.”
Their son Cedar has just turned five and the couple say he is in his element with island life and the opportunities it can bring during his childhood.
“Why move 700 miles to a remote location? For us it has given us the freedom to do the things we want to do. Cedar is learning Gaelic and probably knows more than me now as I have been trying as well. We have the beach on our doorstep and literally our own nature reserve.
“It has given us a new lease of life and I think we are so much more happier than we were. When I look out across the land I almost have to pinch myself as this is a dream come true. We are determined to live the good life.”
Return to Uist airs on Wednesday, November 9 on BBC Scotland at 8.30pm
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