A grandad is set to retire after spending years looking after three uninhabited Scottish islands - often sleeping in a tent.
Jonathan Grant, 65, lives on Barra, Inner Hebrides, and got a job as a ranger there more than a decade ago.
In 2010 a job came up with National Trust of Scotland to work as a ranger on Mingulay, Pabbay and Berneray, south of Barra.
Jonathan works six months a year, in the summer, and is a self-employed builder in the winter months.
The grandad-of-three said it never caused family problems that he worked away so much, and could spent between a week and ten days camping on an island.
He plans to retire in October and hopes a younger islander will love the job as much as he has done.
Jonathan, a dad-of-three, said: “After I retire I’ll probably keep doing the same sort of thing.
“We quite often have a seabird ranger on the tiny islands and there are a lot of visitors and campers.
“There’s times when I’m on the island on my own, that’s fine, it suits me.
“I haven’t spent the past 13 years in a tent. I’ve got a nice home and a wife on Barra.
“I only camp for a couple of weeks every summer.”
The islands were sold to NTS by the Barra Sheep-stock Islands, a conglomerate.
Jonathan said: “I was born in Glasgow and went to school there. After leaving school I didn’t want to live in a city.
“I moved up to Barra as I had family and friends there and got a job as a building contractor. That’s always been my main employment.
“I don’t get paid a huge amount but I work for six months, in winter I generally do building work self-employed.
“I got into working as a ranger about 20 years ago, before this job came up. The funding ran out but then I got the NTS job.
“There’s seabirds nesting on the cliffs, the wildlife is unbelievable. There’s sandy beaches and seals and basking sharks.
“My wife probably thinks I’m a part-time husband. I’m never far away and we have internet and satellite communication.”
He said retiring was a gesture of commitment to the future of the islands.
Jonathan added: “I feel it would be unfair to keep the job as I’m getting older.
“A younger person who lives on the island could be experiencing what I’ve experienced. My first commitment is to the wellbeing of the islands.
“I’ve got kids and grandkids, they’ve all been down at some point.
“I’m a small cog in a big organisation and have a lot of colleagues I’ll be sad to leave.”
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