A small community of similarly minded folks had also settled in Scoraig, and he would bring a particular skill: Cambridge University educated with a background in maths and physics, he was about to become Scotland’s wind power pioneer.
Today, largely thanks to Hugh, Scoraig’s 70 or so residents are in the enviable position of never having to fear the electricity bill: they rely on wind and solar power for their energy needs, topped up when there’s really no alternative using wood, bottled gas and oil.
But that’s few and far between, says Hugh, pointing out that his 20-year-old bungalow has been so efficiently insulated and heated using hot water powered by his renewables system, that even in the depths of winter there’s no real need to resort to wood, coal or any other heating source.
Indeed, he can usually comfortably run all the electrical goods he needs, cost free.
“I have never had an electricity bill since I lived here and that’s 50 years ago,” he says. “I have all the mod cons; I have a dishwasher, all the normal appliances and they work great.