Mine, All Mine
On Friday June 22, 2006 Bruichladdich released the following press release
Mined over Matter
The Royal Navy's bomb disposal team have delivered a mine to a west coast distillery.
Some months ago Lieutenant Commander John Law and his elite Northern Diving Group were called out to deal with the small matter of a World War II mine found on a beach close to Bruichladdich distillery on the Isle of Islay.
Once the mine had been safely detonated, the team was invited by Bruichladdich Distillery Manager Duncan MacGillivray, a member of the Coastguard team in attendance, for a dram to ‘steady the nerves’.
“After the CIA, the Yellow Submarine – the Bomb Squad turning up at the distillery was all we needed” recalls Managing Director Mark Reynier, on seeing the Bomb Disposal convoy pull in to the courtyard.
“When I realised there was no danger of imminent disaster, I asked if we could have our very own mine in the distillery’s courtyard for fundraising - and the Northern Diving Group were only too happy to help us out.”
The giant Mk 17 World War II buoyant mine – provided by the mine team at the Defence Munitions Centre in Crombie – stands more than six feet tall including it’s sinker, weighs one tonne and is topped with some rather noticeable orange paint – making it really stand out from the crowd.
It has a collection box attached to the front to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution – a charity at the heart of the community of Islay, which is home to one of the west coast’s largest and busiest lifeboats.
Lieutenant Commander John Law, Warrant Officer Steve Strange and Australian Navy exchange diver Brad Eames attended the Bruichladdich Open Day during the 2006 Islay festival to deliver and formally present the mine.
“It’s actually great to be able to do something like this,” said John. “The RNLI is a most worthwhile cause, with its volunteer men and women risking their lives at sea around our coasts.
“The Northern Diving Group has been delighted to supply this mine which will hopefully raise loads of cash for the charity. We were made to feel incredibly welcome and will, no doubt, pop in next time we’re over on an emergency call out.”
Last year the distillery had a run-in with the Ministry of Defence over a special bottling “Bruichladdich’s Yellow Submarine”, an on-going reminder of the embarrassing incident concerning the loss of a mine-clearing submarine.
Some claim this mine, donated by the M.O.D, may not be disarmed after all…
Interestingly, I was at Bruichladdich when the mine was delivered (the day before Bruichladdich day) - I got to enjoy a celebratory dram with Mark Reynier, Simon Coughlin, Jim McEwan, Andrew Gray and the members of the bomb squad. I was also the first person to use the mine to make a donation to the RNLI. Pictures below.
Maybe this is a good opportunity for the next Laddie-Release: "WMD III - The Orange Mine" ;-)
Posted by:Michael Schlüter | June 26, 2006 at 05:01 AM
Nice story! I'll have to use the mine during my next visit to Islay.
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Posted by:Armin | June 26, 2006 at 06:19 PM