Benbecula is a small island – eight miles by eight miles – squashed between North and South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. It’s generally flat, more loch than rock, with its high point, Rueval, at 406 feet not much of a challenge. Still, we climbed to the top and here I am gazing out at the landscape spread before me. For the full story see Hebridean Hop 14: Benbecula.
Today is the last day of Becky’s April Squares – #SquareTops – so huge thanks to her for running another successful challenge. I’ve enjoyed looking back at some of the tops we have stood on in the past in lieu of being able to revisit them in the current lockdown.
What next? I wondered in March if I would be able to write another Glasgow Gallivanting post, given that I’m not gallivanting anywhere. Turns out I could, so that will be out tomorrow. Also, I’ve finally had time to write up our trip to Berwickshire last summer, so that series will be starting next week. After that, who knows? Perhaps some limited gallivanting will resume. Let’s hope so!
Today’s post is proof that you might think you will get extensive views when you climb to the top, but it’s not always the case. Above is John at Renish Point in Harris. He’s looking quite happy – probably just as well that there is no picture of me at this point.
And here I am below, taking in the extensive views from the top of the cliffs on Islay’s Mull of Oa. The mist is clearing here, so maybe if you could see my face I’d be smiling.
These images are both from the last couple of years, so I think most of you will have seen them before. Just in case, here are links to the full posts.
Usually, either John or I is standing “on top of the world” in these posts. Today we are replaced by cows! This is from a walk round the Eoligarry peninsula on Barra a couple of years ago. We climbed to the remains of Dun Sgurabhal, an Iron Age fort, with views to beaches on all sides. Seemingly, at least one of the cows below was resentful at sharing the space.
I’ve decided that these last four days of Becky’s #SquareTops challenge will all be from Scotland’s beautiful islands. I’ll really miss that scenery this year.
Way back in November, I abandoned my diary of our summer trip to Dornie in the North West Highlands. Even further back, in October, I wrote about our first, abortive, attempt to visit Skye via the Glenelg ferry. That was scuppered by a puncture. Now it’s time to resume the tale. A few days later, we made it to Skye by simply driving over the bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh to Kyleakin.
Both Kyle and Kyleakin would have been much busier before the bridge was built in 1995, with ferries shuttling back and forth on the five-minute crossing between their harbours. Now both can be easily by-passed, although Kyleakin seems still to be a popular stop for coach trips. However, most tourists headed straight for the coffee shops so wandering the village was a peaceful pastime.
First we climbed to the War Memorial where we had good views of Castle Moil.
Castle Moil from Kyleakin
Castle Moil from Kyleakin
Castle Moil from Kyleakin
Then we made our way towards the castle, enjoying the quirky art work, gnome-decorated gardens, and signs that Kyleakin has not given up on the dream of Scottish independence. The sculpture of Teko the Otter is a nod to Gavin Maxwell who wrote Ring of Bright Water and once lived on Eilean Ban, the island which now joins the two parts of the Skye Bridge.
Teko the Otter
Kyleakin pavement
Kyleakin mural
Yes yacht, Kyleakin
Kyleakin garden
Kyleakin garden
Travelling Archive, Kyleakin
Vote Yes, Kyleakin
Castle Moil, or Maol, stands on a promontory a few hundred yards from the village’s slipway. There’s not much left of it, especially after it was damaged by lightening a couple of years ago and lost about four metres from one of its towers. The warning signs are there, about both falling masonry and the dangers of being cut off by the tide. Still, it’s a pleasant climb and the views back to the village and bridge are pretty.
Castle Moil
Beware the tides
Castle Moil
Castle Moil
Danger!
Castle Moil
Castle Moil
Castle Moil
Kyleakin from Castle Moil
Kyleakin from Castle Moil
Kyleakin from Castle Moil
Just outside Kyleakin we stopped to climb Cnoc a’Mhadaidh-ruaidh (hill of the fox). As on many walks last summer, we found there had been a lot of logging, which rather detracted from the appeal, but the views back to the bridge were interesting. It looked very odd from this angle. In the wider view you can see Eilean Ban (with the lighthouse) which the road crosses before continuing over the second part of the bridge beyond.
Skye Bridge
Skye Bridge
From here, we drove to Broadford, the next village, where we explored a small park and the harbour, then partook of a welcome coffee – next to a bookshop, which I managed to resist.
Broadford
Broadford
John
Broadford
Broadford
Broadford
Beyond Broadford, we found another forestry trail which took us in a loop above the sea, and back past the cemetery.
Broadford trail
Broadford trail
Broadford trail
Broadford trail
Broadford wildflowers
Broadford cemetery
After our walk, we set off back to the mainland and our base in Dornie. If you think of Skye as a mountainous island, you are right, which means you might be puzzled by this post as it looks quite flat. However, if Skye were a house we would barely have made it into the entrance hall. We’d had a lovely time though, and it wasn’t over yet.
In the next village to Dornie, Ardelve, there is a ‘pizza hut’ which we had promised ourselves we would try before we left. Pizza Jo has to be the quirkiest pizza place ever, and if you visit the area I highly recommend it.
Pizza Jo, Ardelve
Pizza Jo, Ardelve
Pizza Jo, Ardelve
Fairytale Distillery, Ardelve
Fairytale Distillery, Ardelve
Pizza Jo, Ardelve
Also on site is Manuela’s Wee Bakery (closed by the time we got there) and the Fairytale Distillery, all run by the same German family. While our pizzas were being made we sampled some gin and, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, we left with a bottle. The pizzas were absolutely delicious too! A lovely end to a lovely day.
Our last day! We chose two shortish walks with lunch in Port Ellen in between. The first started at Kilnaughton Bay, just outside Port Ellen. At the east end of the bay we explored this old building which looks like a ruined chapel but is actually the remains of a bathing hut where the ladies of Cairnmore House would once have changed. Underneath the sand, you can still see the tiled floor
Bathing hut
Tiled floor
Bathing hut
From here, we crossed the bay and picked our way across rocks and walkways to the lighthouse at Carraig Fhada with its twin white towers.
Carraig Fhada lighthouse
Carraig Fhada lighthouse
Carraig Fhada lighthouse
The lighthouse was commissioned in 1832 by Walter Frederick Campbell as a memorial to his wife, Ellinor, and was taken over by the Northern Lighthouse Board in 1924.
Carraig Fhada lighthouse
Carraig Fhada lighthouse
Backtracking from the lighthouse, we took the path marked Singing Sands from which we had good views back over the bay. We’d been watching the cruise ship, Ocean Atlantic of Albatros Expeditions, and I looked it up later. It was on an 8 day voyage from Dublin to Aberdeen via Orkney and Shetland. Next departure is May 21st, 2020, should you be interested. I can’t see any prices – you have to request a quote: I suspect it might be well beyond what I would like to pay!
To the Singing Sands
The Singing Sands were a bit of a disappointment. The beach, Traigh Bhan, was certainly beautiful, but we couldn’t make the sands sing however we trod on them, although we’d had success before on Ardnamurchan. (The “singing” is supposed to come from the sound the sand makes as you walk through it, and depends on the size of the grains).
Traigh Bhan (Singing Sands
Kilnaughton Bay
From Traigh Bhan, we climbed the grassy hill behind it, with more views back over Kilnaughton Bay until we came to a series of three cemeteries. The oldest one was by far the most interesting – Kilnaughton Old Churchyard in which you can still see the ruins of the old chapel, including a slab with a carved knight clutching his sword.
Old chapel
Old chapel
Old chapel
Knight with sword
As usual, I have far too many pictures of old gravestones. I think I just liked the angel and urn on the left below. The image next to it is one of those tragic tales which always give me pause. You have to really zoom to read it, so I’ll summarise. The stone was erected by Betsy Ferguson in memory of her husband, Donald Whyte, and their sons. Donald, 53, and son Daniel, 17, were drowned at Port Ellen lighthouse on 1st January 1916. Presumably they were working as the keepers. Two other sons were killed in action, Dugald (21) in December 1915 and Walter (20) in August 1916 – they are interred in Belgium and France respectively. So in less than a year, Betsy lost her husband and three sons. Another son, John, died in infancy and the longest surviving son, Robert, died in 1933 aged 28. Betsy herself died in 1935, aged 68, and the final name on the stone is her daughter, Jessie, who survived till 1950 when she was 52. How many tragedies can one family bear?
Angel and urn
Whyte family
I was also looking for Sinclairs because of my Great-Grandfather, John Joss Sinclair, who came from Islay. There were quite a lot! The stones below interested me the most because, although for a family of Campbells, one of the wives listed was Christina Sinclair, and the name was passed down to (possibly) a grandchild. It’s a family name with John Joss Sinclair’s descendants too – my grandmother and mother were both given the name Christina and my middle name is Christine. Could this Christina (born c. 1832) be a relative, possibly an aunt, of John Joss who was born in 1866? Maybe someday I’ll put the work in to find out – at the moment I’m happy speculating!
After exploring the cemeteries, we drove into Port Ellen for lunch, then continued along the south coast, past all the distilleries, to Kildalton. Here, there is another ruined church containing several carved medieval grave slabs.
Kildalton Church
Kildalton Church
Knight’s slab
Ancient slabs
However, the most notable thing about Kildalton is the High Cross in the churchyard, one of the finest early Christian crosses in Scotland, dating from the second half of the 8th century. The cross stands 2.65 metres in height, with arms 1.32 metres across. The biblical carvings, although somewhat weathered, can still be identified and include David fighting a lion, the Virgin and Child, Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, and Cain murdering Abel.
Kildalton Cross
Kildalton Cross
As we left, we dropped some money in the collection box by the gate, and were amused both by the fact that most people seemed to leave their offerings exposed at the foot of the cross, and by the warning notice on the gate.
Offerings
Marauding sheep!
Outside the churchyard is another cross, this one medieval. The other picture below is John at Kildalton on our previous visit in 1989. I think I must be taking the photograph from the base of this cross. In 2019 there was another, more modern feature, by the track visible behind John, but I’ll leave that excitement till the end …
John at Kildalton 1989
Medieval cross
From here, we walked down a lovely woodland path to the small jetty at Port Mor. It was a lovely spot to sit and relax for a while – but not too long! We knew what treats awaited us …
Port Mor
Port Mor
Back at Kildalton, we made a beeline for Cake @ The Cross, delicious home-baking on an honesty box system. We had a cup of tea (£1 each) and a cake (£2 each) totalling £6. Now, we’d already emptied all our change into the collecting box at the church and the honesty box didn’t run to £4 change for our tenner. What to do? I bet you can guess the solution. Yes! Another two slices of cake brought the total neatly to £10 and we enjoyed them after our dinner that night.
The next morning, we packed up and drove to Port Askaig for the ferry. It was raining – hard – and we felt sorry for the people disembarking. We’d had a wonderful week and, apart from a few blips, had been so lucky with the weather. We’d love to go back to Islay, but our sadness at leaving was tempered by the though that in another 7 weeks (mid-July) we’d be off again, this time up the west coast of mainland Scotland. Coming soon – probably.
Although we’d visited Islay before, we’d never been to its neighbour, Jura. It’s a short hop on the ferry from Port Askaig to Feolin – there’s a timetable, but no booking. However, if there are too many cars for one trip, as there were the day we travelled, the boat will make the five minute crossing several times to clear the queue.
While we were watching our own ferry depart, we also saw the big ferry coming in to Port Askaig from the mainland, and were sad to think that in a couple of days we’d have to get on it at the end of our holiday. There was a good view too of Caol Ila distillery, one we hadn’t had time to visit.
CalMac ferry at Port Askaig
Caol Ila distillery
Jura is 28 miles long and about 8 miles wide, but most of it is mountainous, bare and infertile, and thus very sparsely populated (196 inhabitants in the 2011 census). Much of it is inaccessible except on foot, including Barnhill at its northern point where George Orwell famously wrote 1984 and which is a four mile walk from where the road ends. On a day trip, we could only scratch the surface so made straight for the only settlement of any size, Craighouse, which has a shop, hotel, tea-room (The Antlers) and – guess what! – a distillery. We didn’t have time to visit this one either, but we enjoyed The Antlers (twice). Could this be the distillery cat sitting disdainfully in the carpark opposite?
Jura distillery
Jura cat
We walked around the village for a while, and out onto the pier. The mountains you can see are the Paps of Jura, so called because of their smooth, breast-like shape – even though there are three of them! They are all around 2500 feet. The view of the mainland at the end of the gallery is Knapdale – I remember admiring the view in reverse from there last year.
Craighouse from the pier
Paps of Jura
On Craighouse Pier
On Craighouse Pier
Knapdale from Jura
Here are the Paps from further up the road. Beautiful!
Paps of Jura
Paps of Jura
Although the island is several miles wide, Loch Tarbert slashes it almost in half, as this satellite image from Wikimedia Commons shows. Jura is less than a mile across here, and for thousands of years, people used this strip as a short cut between the island of Colonsay and the mainland.
It was therefore really easy to do a coast to coast walk from Tarbert Bay to the shores of the Loch. We explored the latter first.
Loch Tarbert, Jura
Loch Tarbert, Jura
When we returned to explore the bay, we found we had observers. Jura has about 6000 red deer, outnumbering the human population by 30 to 1. In fact the name of the island is probably derived from the Norse dyr-oe, or deer island.
Tarbert Bay, Jura
Tarbert Bay, Jura
Red deer on Jura
Red deer on Jura
Red deer on Jura
Also on Tarbert Bay is a small burial ground with a prehistoric standing stone and the remains of a chapel dedicated to St Columba. The standing stone has later been marked with Christian crosses.
Burial ground, Tarbert, Jura
Standing stone, Tarbert, Jura
On our way back to Craighouse, we stopped at another graveyard, Kilearnadil, which is named after St Earnan, Columba’s uncle and one of the 12 men who accompanied him to Scotland. The graveyard contains the Campbell Mausoleum, burial place of 11 Campbell lairds, and a memorial to those of Clan Shaw killed by the Campbells in 1614.
Kilearnadil, Jura
Campbell Mausoleum
Campbell Mausoleum
Kilearnadil, Jura
Clan Shaw memorial
We explored Jura’s parish church in Craighouse – very simple and plain, but with a couple of nice windows.
Parish Church, Jura
Parish Church, Jura
Then it was time to return to Feolin for the ferry.
Feolin, Jura
Feolin, Jura
There’s really not a lot to see in Feolin – that’s pretty much it above – so we went for a short walk along Whitefarland Bay until we could see the ferry coming. We met more deer!
Caol Ila distillery
Red deer on Jura
Red deer on Jura
Paps of Jura
Whitefarland Bay
This was a lovely day out, but I think to do proper justice to Jura we would need to stay on the island. With limited accommodation, that’s easier said than done and is maybe better left until John retires and we can be more flexible about dates. Dream on!
View across Loch Indaal from John Francis Campbell Monument
The Rhinns of Islay is the peninsula which makes up the north-west of the island. We’d been as far as Port Charlotte on our whisky tour, so the next day we decided to explore the Rhinns’ furthest end. But first we stopped to climb a small, monument-topped hill near Bridgend, from where we could see across Loch Indaal to the route we would take. The monument is to John Francis Campbell (1821-1885), a descendant of Daniel Campbell who bought Islay in 1726. John would have inherited Islay himself, had his father not run up huge debts forcing him to sell up in the 1840s. However, John carved out a reputation for himself in other fields, as a renowned author and scholar who became an authority on Celtic folklore producing the four-volume collection Popular Tales of the West Highlands.
John Francis Campbell Monument
John Francis Campbell Monument
John Francis Campbell Monument
From here, we drove to the end of the Rhinns to explore the twin coastal villages of Port Wemyss and Portnahaven, both built in the 1830s to house tenants who were cleared from the island’s interior. The Campbell of the day, Walter Frederick, named Port Wemyss after his father-in-law, the 8th Earl of Wemyss. (He also founded Port Charlotte and Port Ellen, called after his mother and his wife respectively.)
Rhinns of Islay Lighthouse
Port Wemyss
We found a small parking area in Port Wemyss, just across from the small island of Orsay on which stands the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse, built by Robert Stevenson in 1825. From here we followed a 2.5km loop through both villages. Burnside Lodge in Port Wemyss operates as a café in the summer – as this was May it wasn’t open, but we were delighted to discover the Cake Cupboard! Flasks for tea and coffee, a selection of delicious home baking and an Honesty Box to pay for it all. We had a break here before we’d even started our walk …
Cake Cupboard
Cake Cupboard
Cake Cupboard
Following the pretty coastal path through the village we could see seals basking on the rocks over on Orsay.
Coastal path
Seals on Orsay from Port Wemyss Coastal Path
Back on the road, we reached Portnahaven – quirkily decorative.
Portnahaven
Portnahaven
Portnahaven
We discovered that the Parish Church was having a coffee morning – well, it would have been rude not to visit, don’t you think? Their cakes were good too – this was a day of appalling diet.
Portnahaven Parish Church
Portnahaven
Portnahaven
Portnahaven
Portnahaven
We continued to waddle round the village, making our way back to Port Wemyss along the coast. I wonder who lost a hat?
Portnahaven
Who lost a hat
Portnahaven
Looking over to Orsay
Looking back to Portnahaven
Next stop, Port Charlotte where we started by visiting the Museum of Islay Life, housed in an old church.
I found lots of interest here including, amongst other things, an old light from the Rhinns Lighthouse which we’d just seen:
Rhinns Lighthouse
Rhinns Lighthouse
An example of the illicit stills we kept reading about:
Illicit still
Illicit still
And a display about the loss of the Tuscania and Otranto in 1918, the ships commemorated by the American Monument which we’d visited on our first day. This included the notebook of local police sergeant Malcolm MacNeill who went to great lengths in his attempts to identify the bodies washed ashore – here he lists the property of each man found (taken through glass, sorry about the awful picture, but I found it too moving to leave out).
WW1 display
Sgt MacNeill’s notebook
Most intriguingly, I photographed the group of pipers below because it included a MacAffer (my great-grandfather’s sister married a MacAffer) and only realised when preparing this post that it also included Piper Lily MacDougall whose gravestone I featured a couple of weeks ago. I was interested because she had such a long life, dying aged 100 in 2014. It doesn’t say on the museum caption when the photograph was taken, but I bought a book of old Islay which includes the same image and gives the date as 1972, so Lily would have been 58 here.
Islay Pipers
Piper Lily MacDougall, ged 100
After the museum, we went on another short loop walk (5 km – not quite enough to work off all that cake). We passed the hotel and its pretty garden …
Port Charlotte Hotel
Port Charlotte Hotel garden
… before following the shore to the lighthouse at Rubh’an Duin.
Port Charlotte
Rubh’an Duin lighthouse
Rubh’an Duin lighthouse
Then through a field observed by curious sheep, across the road and up a farm track with evidence that the farmer grows grain for nearby Bruichladdich. There used to be another distillery actually in Port Charlotte, Lochindaal, which closed in 1929.
Curious sheep
Growing for Bruichladdich
We continued to climb above the village where we got good views over Loch Indaal and Port Charlotte and were terrorised (well, I was) by another herd of excitable cattle – not the beautiful highland cows shown below who allowed us to pass without showing much interest in us at all.
Loch Indaal
Loch Indaal
Loch Indaal and Port Charlotte
Heilan’ coos
Loch Indaal and Port Charlotte
The journey back was on a minor road which took us down to the pier for a final look at the village.
Port Charlotte from pier
John at Port Charlotte pier
From here, we returned to our cottage. I can’t remember what we cooked for dinner that night, but I hope it was suitably nutritious to counteract all that cake!
Islay has nine whisky distilleries – already two more than when we last visited thirty years ago, and soon to be ten when Port Ellen reopens next year. There was no way we were going to visit without sampling a few drams, and driving was therefore not an attractive option. Step forward Islay Whisky Tours, operated by Bowmore Taxis. We chose a one day tour at a cost of £260, which included the services of a driver/guide from 9am to 5pm and tours of two distilleries selected by us. We booked about 6 weeks ahead – the longer the better, the company is deservedly busy and popular – and received a detailed itinerary based around our choices well in advance of our trip. This included short visits to several other distilleries and some general sight-seeing. We had a very enjoyable day, as you will see below, and highly recommend this company.
Kilchoman
We chose two contrasting distilleries for our tours – one small and privately owned, the other large and owned by a multi-national. Our lovely driver, Donald, appeared at our accommodation exactly at the time arranged, and we set off immediately for our first destination. Kilchoman, the small distillery we chose, began production in 2005 and is Islay’s second-newest distillery, at the time the first to be built for over 120 years. It’s the only farm distillery on the island and we saw the whole process from the barley growing in the surrounding fields to the small bottling plant. It initially felt a bit weird to be sampling whisky at 10 in the morning – but we got over it!
The distillery also has a small café which looked very good, but we didn’t have time to try it. We did have time to look at the Visitor Centre displays before our tour started and were amused to find four Sinclairs in the list of persons contravening The Excise Act, 1801, i.e. they were probably distilling illegally. Shocking, they can’t be related to me. Nor shall I claim kinship with John Sinclair who established the short-lived Mulindry Distillery in 1826. According to the local Excise Officer, he liked his own product a little too much, went bankrupt in 1831, and emigrated to America. I’m sure any Sinclairs I am related to were fine, upstanding citizens.
Bruichladdich
Our next stop was Bruichladdich Distillery, on the shore of Loch Indaal ( a sea loch) just outside the pretty village of Port Charlotte. We didn’t have a tour here, but we had a quick look around and came out with a bottle of gin! As well as whisky, Bruichladdich also produces The Botanist Islay Dry Gin, and very good it was too (note past tense).
Shore at Bruichladdich
Bruichladdich Distillery
Bruichladdich Distillery
Bruichladdich Distillery
Botanist Gin van
Bruichladdich Distillery
By the way, if you are pronouncing the ch sounds in these names as in church, then that’s not right. Ch is a guttural, back-of-the-throat, Germanic sound – usually. Just to fool you, Bruichladdich has two chs. The first is pronounced as expected – the other isn’t pronounced at all, hence the name of the Laddie Shop.
Bowmore
Next, we had a couple of hours in Bowmore, the island’s main settlement, to have lunch, look around the distillery (no tour) and explore the unusual Kilarrow Parish Church (1767), otherwise known as the Round Church for obvious reasons. That’s it at the top of the hill, above. There was a great view over the distillery roofs from its upper windows.
Round Church, Bowmore
Bowmore Distillery from Round Church
We visited Bowmore Distillery, Islay’s oldest (1779) in 1989. From what I can remember, it was the only one offering commercial tours at the time. It hasn’t changed much, though I don’t remember the mermaid.
Again, it’s set right on the shore, almost directly opposite Bruichladdich on Loch Indaal. The sea was an important form of transport – Kilchoman is the exception being inland.
Loch Indaal
Bowmore harbour
Bowmore harbour
Ardbeg
At 2pm we met Donald again and set off for our afternoon visits. The morning had been spent in the north of the island, now we were heading back south where three distilleries lie in close proximity to each other. The furthest away is Ardbeg which dates from 1815, though hasn’t had a continuous history. We liked its green bus, and the views along the coast to Dunyvaig Castle and the neighbouring distillery, Lagavulin.
Ardbeg Distillery
Ardbeg Distillery
Ardbeg Distillery
Lagavulin from Ardbeg
Dunyvaig Castle
Laphroaig
We didn’t visit Lagavulin next – we drove past it because we had a 3pm tour booked at Laphroaig (pronounced Lafroyg, it means ‘broad hollow by the bay’). Donald and Alexander Johnston founded the distillery in 1815, and it remained in family hands for the next 139 years. These days it’s a multinational, owned by Beam Suntory. Laphroaig is arguably the best known Islay malt: it was certainly the first one I tried and is still my favourite – if you like your drink to taste of peat, smoke, and iodine then its for you (check out the marketing slogans in the gallery below). One person who certainly likes it is Prince Charles who gave the distillery his Royal Warrant in 1994 – his coat of arms (three feathers) appears on every bottle. In the gallery below it’s on the wall in one of the photographs. You can also see a cairn unveiled by the Prince in 2015 for Laphroaig’s bicentenary in 2015.
I haven’t bothered with the technical details of making whisky because I’d probably get them wrong, and you can very easily look them up anyway. As you know, it’s the human element that catches my eye and women’s history in particular. Here we have a splendid example in Bessie Williamson who arrived as a temporary shorthand typist in 1934 but remained for nearly 50 years, eventually becoming the first female distiller and distillery owner in the 20th century. Bravo Bessie!
Laphroaig cairn
Lagavulin
After our tour at Laphroaig, we backtracked to Lagavulin for a quick look at its grounds. Like many distilleries, its site was originally used for illegal stills, in this case becoming licensed around 1810. It’s now part of the Diageo group. From here we could once again see Dunyvaig Castle, this time from the other side. That’s me with Donald, our driver, in the final photo below.
Dunyvaig Castle
Donald and Anabel
Port Ellen
Port Ellen distillery
Ship at Port Ellen
On our way back to our accommodation we made one last stop at Port Ellen where we spied this beautiful ship in the bay. The distillery here closed in 1983, but its owners, Diageo again, are set to re-open it next year. You can still buy its single malt whisky, though it’s becoming increasingly rare and therefore expensive. We bought a bottle at a Scotch Malt Whisky Society tasting about 25 years ago, and five of us demolished it the following night. I seem to remember the tasting notes involved sailors’ pigtails …
Donald dropped us off at the end of our tour after a wonderful day during which the sun even shone for us! Many thanks to him and to Lamont who made all the arrangements so splendidly (though possibly he had nothing to do with the sunshine). Once again, a hearty (and completely unsolicited) recommendation for Islay Whisky Tours. Total stars!
Finlaggan Castle is a ruined fortified house on the isle of Eilean Mór on Islay’s Loch Finlaggan. It was once a residence and stronghold of the Lords of the Isles, semi-autonomous rulers of the Hebrides and Kintyre from the 12th century until 1493 when the lands of the Lordship were forfeited to King James IV. The title Lord of the Isles was annexed to the Crown in 1542 (and is now one of the titles of the present Prince of Wales). The castle appears to have been demolished around that time.
In truth, there’s not much to see of the ruins, but we enjoyed our visit all the same. We started in the small visitor centre which has an interesting display of artefacts discovered during archaeological excavations, along with a fabulous new virtual-reality reconstruction of the settlement in the early 15th century. You can see John totally immersed in it above.
I was also, if you remember, looking out for references to Sinclairs (my great-grandfather’s name) and MacAffers (the family his sister married into). Sinclair is a relatively common name in Scotland and we found many in the graveyards around Islay, but the only reference to MacAffer that I found was at Finlaggan. The MacAffers were hereditary armour bearers to the Lords of the Isles – see below.
From the Visitor Centre, we took the path down to the site, crossing the reed beds of the loch on duckboards.
Finlaggan Visior Centre
Loch Finlaggan
Loch Finlaggan
On the island, interpretive panels explain the ruins and fill in the gaps of what was no longer there. We also visited Finlaggan in 1989 when it was quite overgrown, and I think you can tell from the pictures below that it is now much better maintained.
Finlaggan Castle
Finlaggan 1989
After a quick lunch in Port Askaig, we drove back to a little village called Ballygrant from where we planned to walk to Lily Loch. This was a pleasant, if unspectacular, walk through woods and farmland, and the loch was pretty – although we were there too early to see waterlilies.
From the loch, we crossed an area of open moorland to take a parallel track back – this took us through the village of Keills. The name derives from the Gaelic for church, Cill, and the graveyard here contains the ruins of an old chapel attributed to St Columba. I can never resist an old graveyard, especially one with a view like this. Headstones which caught my eye included one for a father and son who died a fortnight apart, and the memorial to Piper Lily MacDougall aged 100 years. There must be interesting stories attached to both of those.
Chapel ruins
The view
Father and son died two weeks apart
Keills graveyard
Piper Lily MacDougall, ged 100
From the graveyard we headed back to Ballygrant where we caught Labels, the local café, just as it was about to close. Coffee at an outdoor table was a pleasant end to a round walk of 9.5km.
Labels Ballygrant
Labels Ballygrant
(In my last post, I mentioned that I had been called for jury duty and might therefore be out of action for a while. That turned out to be an anti-climax. I called the helpline three nights in a row to find out if I was required – I wasn’t and was “released from my citation” on the third call. Whoopee!)
The Oa (just pronounced O) is the rocky and rugged peninsula in the southwest of Islay. Once fairly densely populated, it now has only a few scattered dwellings, one of which is our rented cottage. A top priority was to drive out to the Mull of Oa – the tip – to the American Monument: our error was to do this on the first morning. The weather looked reasonably pleasant from our window, but we failed to take into account that the Mull was considerably higher than we were and the closer we got, the poorer visibility became.
Oh well, we pressed on regardless. The Mull is an RSPB reserve, so we left the car in its parking area and set off on a waymarked circular tour (3.5km). If there were birds, we couldn’t see them.
The outer route is direct to the monument, but before we got there we were surprised by a herd of feral goats suddenly looming out of the mist: almost impossible to photograph. This one looks quite evil!
The monument itself was similarly invisible until we were almost upon it. The second picture below is from our previous visit in 1989 – that’s John lurking under the blue cagoule – so we have never visited this site in good weather! Last time was even worse: we had hired bikes and cycled out from Port Ellen (hence the map pocket round John’s neck) and it wasn’t just misty, it was pouring. I remember we cut our losses on the full-day hire and returned the bikes by lunchtime.
American Monument 2019
American Monument 1989
What is the American Monument? It was erected by the American Red Cross in 1920 to commemorate two US troopship disasters off the coast of Islay in 1918. SS Tuscania was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on 5th February with the loss of over 200 American and British crew. A few months later, HMS Otranto sank following a collision in bad weather with another troopship. This time 431 people died, including 80 British crew. As well as the main commemoration, there is a tribute from President Woodrow Wilson.
American Monument
American Monument
American Monument inscription
Tribute from Woodrow Wilson
American Monument Eagle
As we left, we spotted more feral goats. This pair were more visble and posed helpfully against the skyline.
The return journey took us parallel to the clifftops – the mist was clearing a bit by this time. I suppose you could say the view was atmospheric, if not extensive …
From here, we turned inland again towards Upper Killeyan Farm and the path back to the carpark. There were several highland cattle in the field who were not bothered by us at all. Even the one almost blocking the gate barely looked at us as we sidled past. Scary horns though!
As we had to pass our cottage to go on to our next walk, we stopped off there for lunch before heading down to Port Ellen, the island’s second largest town. Below is the Islay Hotel which sits on a corner site overlooking the seafront. (We didn’t go inside this time, but we had lunch there later in the week when I took the shot of their wine glass chandelier which caught my eye.)
Islay Hotel
Wine glass chandelier
We stayed in the Islay Hotel in 1989, though that building was later demolished after 20 years of dereliction, and replaced with the current hotel in 2011. The two views below are of the same terrace. The first, taken in 1989, looks towards the old hotel, the taller building just right of centre. The second, taken this year, looks in the other direction along the terrace from the hotel, but I think you can see that they are recognisably the same.
Port Ellen 1989
Looking west from the Islay Hotel.
After almost 3 weeks of camping and B&Bs in 1989, we thought the Islay Hotel would be a treat for the last three nights of our holiday. Nothing could have been further from the truth! The place was very run down and badly managed, so I’m not surprised it closed a few years later. The owners were a couple who, I’m guessing, had sold their home in the South of England for such a vast price that they could afford to buy a Scottish hotel – not an uncommon occurrence. Unfortunately their management skills seemed to be close to zero, but you couldn’t dislike them because every time something went wrong they would laugh merrily as they botched a solution, whereas I’d have been dying of embarrassment at demonstrating such incompetence. Later in the week of our recent stay, we asked someone local if he knew what had happened to them and it seems they left the island. Probably one of their wiser decisions.
Anyway, back to the present day. We wandered round Port Ellen, which didn’t take long, before heading off on a 5km loop in search of standing stones. The weather improved as the afternoon wore on and we were able to appreciate the views this time.
War Memorial
War Memorial
Port Ellen
Community Garden
Port Ellen
The walk first of all took us up a very well made cycleway / footpath running alongside the main road. There are three distilleries on the coast to the east of Port Ellen – Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg – and this would be a fabulous way to visit them on foot, possibly getting the bus back if the refreshment had taken away your desire to walk. Our whisky plans were for another day, however, so we turned off before we reached any of the distilleries. But first we climbed the small mound topped by the memorial to Major General Alexander McDougall.
McDougall Monument
View east from the monument
View west from the monument
McDougall was born in Islay in 1732, but emigrated to New York with his family when he was six. His first job was as a milk delivery boy, then he signed up as a merchant seaman aged 14. He worked his way up to become the owner of several ships before being commissioned in the Continental Amy during the American War of Independence. He later became a politician and President of the Bank of New York – MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village is named in his honour. (I’m not sure why the spelling is different. A mistake? Or maybe he had changed his name slightly?)
Across the road from the memorial is the Old Excise House. We took the lane running alongside it, walking uphill through the fertile fields growing grain for the whisky.
Old Excise House
Old Excise House
The verges were lush with wild flowers. A stile on the right provided access to the first standing stone, one of many dotted across Islay which date from the Neolithic or early Bronze Age. Climbing above it, we could look back on the distillery buildings of Laphroaig.
Primroses and bluebells
Islay standing stone
Looking down on Laphroaig
Looking down on Laphroaig
Looking down on Laphroaig
We continued up the lane and turned right onto the tiny road towards Kilbride Farm where there is another stone.
Islay standing stone
Islay standing stone
Retracing our steps, we passed the junction with the lane and carried on down the road back to Port Ellen. Here we met some curious cows who gave us a hard stare from behind a wall. They didn’t have the big horns of the highland cattle, but they looked much more intimidating. The second picture below, of cows blocking a gate, dates from 1989 so we must have had a similar experience then. What is it about Islay cows?
Islay cows
Islay cows 1989
The field across the road contained another standing stone. There appeared to be no cows in it, but there’s a cunning dip in which they were hiding. As we walked up to the stone we spooked a small herd of deer which ran down the slope, followed by the thundering hooves of at least 20 cows. They ran back and forward across the field as a herd, eventually stopping between us and the gate. And staring. Hard. We sidled to the fence at the side. Barbed wire, so I wasn’t going to climb that. Fortunately by this time, the cows were beginning to lose interest in us and wandered off. No pictures of this bunch, but next to the stone below (which wasn’t even all that attractive) you can see the first lot again who, after our escape, were still giving us the evil eye.
Islay standing stone
Islay cows
The last stone was near the junction of the main road we’d started out on. Fortunately, no cows in sight. From there it was a short distance back to Port Ellen and our car.
Islay standing stone
Islay standing stone
I really should have had my July Gallivanting post online today, but guess what? We’ve been gallivanting too much! A large part of the month was spent travelling with no time to write and sometimes without decent wifi, which also eplains why I have been less active in blog reading and commenting – apologies! I’ll do a joint July / August Gallivanting post instead.
In a further complication, I’ve been called to the High Court for jury duty, starting on Wednesday. As this is the last post I prepared before we went on holiday, I might have to go silent for a bit if I’m selected to serve. I know it’s my civic duty and I should want to do it, but I really hope I’m not picked. I’ve served on four juries in total, the first when I was only 19 years old, so I think I’ve done my bit!
Benbecula is a small island – eight miles by eight miles – squashed between North and South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. It’s generally flat, more loch than rock, with its high point, Rueval, at 406 feet not much of a challenge. Still, we climbed to the top and here I am gazing out at the landscape spread before me. For the full story see Hebridean Hop 14: Benbecula.
Today’s post is proof that you might think you will get extensive views when you climb to the top, but it’s not always the case. Above is John at Renish Point in Harris. He’s looking quite happy – probably just as well that there is no picture of me at this point.
These images are both from the last couple of years, so I think most of you will have seen them before. Just in case, here are links to the full posts.
I’ve decided that these last four days of Becky’s 
Although we’d visited Islay before, we’d never been to its neighbour, Jura. It’s a short hop on the ferry from Port Askaig to Feolin – there’s a timetable, but no booking. However, if there are too many cars for one trip, as there were the day we travelled, the boat will make the five minute crossing several times to clear the queue.
We chose two contrasting distilleries for our tours – one small and privately owned, the other large and owned by a multi-national. O
Next, we had a couple of hours in Bowmore, the island’s main settlement, to have lunch, look around the distillery (no tour) and explore the unusual Kilarrow Parish Church (1767), otherwise known as the Round Church for obvious reasons. That’s it at the top of the hill, above. There was a great view over the distillery roofs from its upper windows.
At 2pm we met Donald again and set off for our afternoon visits. The morning had been spent in the north of the island, now we were heading back south where three distilleries lie in close proximity to each other. The furthest away is 
We didn’t visit Lagavulin next – we drove past it because we had a 3pm tour booked at 
In truth, there’s not much to see of the ruins, but we enjoyed our visit all the same. We started in the small visitor centre which has an interesting display of artefacts discovered during archaeological excavations, along with a fabulous new virtual-reality reconstruction of the settlement in the early 15th century. You can see John totally immersed in it above.
From the Visitor Centre, we took the path down to the site, crossing the reed beds of the loch on duckboards.
From the loch, we crossed an area of open moorland to take a parallel track back – this took us through the village of Keills. The name derives from the Gaelic for church, Cill, and the graveyard here contains the ruins of an old chapel attributed to St Columba. I can never resist an old graveyard, especially one with a view like this. Headstones which caught my eye included one for a father and son who died a fortnight apart, and the memorial to Piper Lily MacDougall aged 100 years. There must be interesting stories attached to both of those.
Oh well, we pressed on regardless. The Mull is an RSPB reserve, so we left the car in its parking area and set off on a waymarked circular tour (3.5km). If there were birds, we couldn’t see them.
From here, we turned inland again towards Upper Killeyan Farm and the path back to the carpark. There were several highland cattle in the field who were not bothered by us at all. Even the one almost blocking the gate barely looked at us as we sidled past. Scary horns though!
