The Hermit of Treig

After 40 years of solitude, a spirited elderly hermit tackles ill health, a declining memory, and questions whether he can live out his last years in the wilderness he calls home.

This is the fascinating story of Ken Smith, a positively sprightly old gent who lives in isolation on the shores of a remote Scottish loch. Devoid of electricity or plumbing, he survives the harshest of winters and the delights of the summer months in his hand-built log cabin. Director Lizzie MacKenzie has befriended him and using her hand-held camera, we get a real sense of just how basic his lifestyle is. Technology allows him to connect with the outside world and latterly he has become entitled to a modest state pension that enables him have his shopping delivered by one of the park rangers. After a bit of an health scare he now has people who keep an eye on him. He has a radio transmitter that he must use to check in with "civilisation" now and again; but for the most part he lives what appears to be an idyllic life catching fish from the loch; making booze from distilled tree sap; picking and eating his own fruit, berries and vegetables and although I can't say it offers anything like enough creature comforts for me; I did find there something quite intriguingly tantalising about his chosen way of life. Mr. Smith is a clever and charming eccentric, a man with whom it is easy to engage and by the end I did feel myself genuinely concerned that his health and wellbeing may ultimately force him into urban living for which he is ill-suited. Well worth a watch - but be snug when you do.