DAY 11 : DAY TRIP TO THE ISLAND OF COLONSAY

Wednesday 31^st July

Colonsay is another island of the inner Hebrides that promised an exciting journey to a new environment, and I hoped to grab its essence in the brief day-trip planned. Small in size, Colonsay measures about 10 miles long and 3 miles wide, has ‘a population of 144 inhabitants’… give or take the inevitable fluctuation due to the occasional birth and death since the last census, and boasts a treasure trove of outstanding natural scenery, archaeological remains, flora, fauna and bird-life. We set sail north from Islay’s Port Asking, for the port of Scalasaig, with Kate’s car on board the ferry, to enable us to conveniently navigate around the narrow lanes (motorhome driving not advised!)

To gain some contextual background to Colonsay, we first called into a small roadside exhibition housed in a stone cottage, and I learnt that the Vikings inhabited the island 1,000 years ago, and remains of their artefacts have been recovered over the centuries. The stone crosses and grave markers on the island also give testimony to the story that St Columba who brought Christianity to Scotland, had visited the area. A fine example of an ancient stone cross was seen at Colonsay House (of which more later). A delicious picnic lunch was taken looking down on the near-deserted Kiloran Bay, where cattle grazed on the tufts of grass that merged with the white sandy beach below. Ruskin wasted no time in becoming acquainted with the curious bovine beasts that seemed to be an integral part of this picturesque natural art installation and placed there with the expressed purpose of posing for the photographer’s lens. 

After Ruskin’s compulsory swimming and water games, we reluctantly drove on to Colonsay House, to visit the sub-tropical gardens that are a major draw to the day trippers. Dating from the Georgian period, the house is set amidst rolling lawns, formal walled gardens and woodland walks that showcase a collection of hybrid rhododendrons, and unusual trees and shrubs sourced from all over the world. As I had witnessed further south in New England Bay, it is possible to grow a large variety of plants, owing to the mild climate along the west coast of Scotland, including subtropical and more tender plants, such as eucalyptus, myrtle, acacia, eucryphia and 50 foot high magnolias dotted throughout the garden. Other plants included crinodendron, the dramatic flame red embothrium, gunnera and cordyline that gave the gardens an exotic feel. In spring, paths are apparently lined with Himalayan primula, bluebells and other wild flowers. A Dicksonia Antarctica (seen for the first time on my visit to Australia 30 years ago) stands among lomatia, crinodendron and camellia. Abutilon, olearia and eucryphia were in flower, alongside enormous Cupressus macrocarpa. A bonus was also to see the wonderful 8^th century Riasg Buidhe Cross now displayed in the gardens. 

Our final visit was to the tidal causeway called An Traigh: ‘The Strand’, that links Colonsay to the neighbouring island of Oronsay, and although it was sadly cut off by a narrow strip of water when we arrived, it was yet another place of interest with a unique landscape and quality of light that entices the viewer to explore further. Just a couple of facts to draw me to its shores: apparently it has the remains of a 14^th century priory and together with Colonsay is home to about 50 colonies of the only native species of honeybee in Britain. I reconciled myself to missing the walk over to Oronsay by taking many photos of the abundant seaweed and rock formations with their rich and varied colours, forms and textures.

All too soon our time on the island was drawing to a close and we headed back to Islay on the ferry. Thank you Colonsay, an enchanting little island with many fascinating stories to reveal… a place that is still surprisingly largely unspoilt by the connections that humans have made with it over the centuries: a special place indeed.

DAY 10: VISITS TO ISLAY WOOLLEN MILL AND LAPHROAIG DISTILLERY

Tuesday 30^th July

Kate drove me to Islay Woollen Mill near Bridgend, and I met the owner who originated from Yorkshire and had his training in Huddersfield and ran a Welsh mill in Pembrokeshire for several years. He was head-hunted to reopen the mill on Islay after it had fallen into misuse, and has stayed ever since. His tweeds and tartans are sold world-wide to high-end prestigious clients including tailors in Saville Row, London. He showed me the antique weaving equipment in action, as a tweed fabric in a colour combination he had designed was being created before me. However, I noted that the mill’s water wheel had fallen into disrepair, and other dusty machines were there for display only, as processes like washing, dying, combing and spinning were done elsewhere, and the cones of thread bought in, ready to go.

One of the culinary delights of Islay is its seafood, but most of it is caught and exported off the island, so sourcing any for sale is a matter of who you know! A detour en route to the Laphroaig distillery led us to the back of beyond and resulted in a triumphant Kate emerging from a remote farmhouse with a beautiful box of Islay oysters for our meal that night. We were led via the pretty harbour at Port Ellen, onto the Laphroaig distillery by the characteristic aromas on smoke and peat which typify the Islay malts. Set in a small, pretty cove, this is the producer of Prince Charles’s favourite whisky, and is world famous. More tastings followed and I bought a 10 year heavily peated malt to take home.

That night Kate, a talented cook, created a wonderful meal that starred Islay oysters subtly infused with a prize-winning Port Charlotte whisky,  chicken stuffed with porridge oats and rolled in streaky bacon (a recipe Kate had tried on Orkney), and a conjunction of Scottish raspberries and egg custard to finish.

Another wonderful day, but tomorrow it is onto a new Hebridean paradise island….

DAY 9: MUSEUM OF ISLAY LIFE AND THE BRUICHLADDICH DISTILLERY TOUR

Monday 29^th July

I was keen to get some contextual background to the island of ISLAY and so a visit to the Museum of Islay Life was a must. Housed in a small converted church, the eclectic collection of images and artefacts take the visitor on a snapshot- JOURNEY across 10,000 years of the island’s history. The display begins with flints used by the people who first arrived on Islay after the retreat of the Ice Age glaciers -Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who lived off the rich supplies of shellfish, wild animals, nuts and berries. Then there were the tools and pottery of the Neolithic inhabitants who developed a farming economy; significantly 50 yards from where Bellulu is pitched, there are the remains of a chambered Cairn created by these ancient islanders. Other displays tell the story of the important WHISKY industry (more of this later), and the equipment used by craftsmen including the wheelwright and blacksmith who were so vital to the rural island economy which has long been heavily based on farming; obscure items of farm machinery and implements used for dairy processes like butter and cheese making and old veterinary paraphernalia all evidenced the need for self-sufficiency in this remote part of Scotland. Reconstructions of a 19^th century croft kitchen and a Victorian bedroom also threw light on life on the island across the social divide. In more recent times, I learnt of the tragic shipwrecks of the troopships Tuscania and Otranto and the squadron of Sutherland Flying boats that were based on Islay in WW2; I was inspired to buy the book ‘The Tartan Pimpernel’ as my holiday read, which tells the story of the Rev. Donald Caskie, a Church of Scotland Minister from Islay who worked undercover in Paris and helped 2,000 allied service men to freedom, during the dark days of the Nazi occupation.  The Curator kindly brought out folders of information from the Museum archive about weaving on the island for me to do research from, and it included written accounts by surviving workers from the 1950’s, samples of tartans and tweeds from the local mills, and photographs of the workers and machinery of this once thriving industry. I resolved to search out the one remaining Woollen Mill on the island to do some primary research that I could share with my students who are keen on this traditional craft.

Islay is of course famous worldwide for its whisky and has 8 distilleries that have their own distinctive products. Kate is a fount of knowledge about all things whisky, as it was the golden drink that first brought her to the island several years ago, when she attended one of the Whisky Festivals, that are a heady mix of tastings, fine food and Scottish music and dancing. She is now an avid collector of the specialist bottles that are released at key points in the year, and her passion has even involved driving up to Islay and queuing in a distillery car park over night to get her hands on one of the limited edition releases to add to her connoisseur’s collection. On a previous Scottish tour, I had been to the Talisker Distillery on the Island of Skye and developed my own interest in whisky from that experience. The tour of our first distillery- Bruichladdich, was educational, and I learnt about the JOURNEY the whisky takes from the smoking of the barley using local peat, to give it the distinctive Islay character, the pure spring water brought by the farmer from the field above the premises, the recycling of the spent barley to the farmer’s cattle as fodder (very sustainable), and the other stages in the highly skilled production of this important Scottish export. We were shown into one of the storage sheds where hundreds of carefully labelled wooden barrels of whisky worth several million pounds are stored, and often bought for investment purposes and kept for decades. Back in the Distillery Shop we had ‘wee dram’ tastings of several types of malt whiskies and I selected an affordable bottle of 10 Year Old Laddie 10 to take home, (my preferred choice Octomor  turned out to cost £110!) along with a couple of the specially designed Bruichladdich tartan scarves and a throw for Kate.  As the whisky worked its magic and the warm glow it imparted led to good-humoured chat about using the ever-present Ruskin for their next whisky bottle label, we reluctantly left our generous hosts and travelled onwards to Bowmore.

In Bowmore the major town on the island with a population of 800, we saw the unusual circular church (built in the round “so the devil would have no corners in which to hide”), and bought supplies from the good old Co-op, where even my essential Earl Grey Teabags were sourced. That evening Kate was wined and dined back at Bellulu and brought along her delicious version of summer pudding. We enjoyed a blind tasting competition of the various whiskies we had bought (me rubbish, mistaking bog-standard Bell’s for Bruichladdich’s finer single malts! Clearly more practice needed before the Islay JOURNEY comes to a close methinks…)

'Heaven' is an open-air sunshine breakfast of porridge drizzled
with cream, whisky, and Scottish heather honey, and this view ...

DAY 8: SEAFOOD LUNCH AT THE PORT CHARLOTTE HOTEL, ISLAY HOUSE AND RSPB RESERVE AT LOCH GRUINART

Sunday 28^th July

My friend Kate Jones, who like me originates from Shropshire, has a delightful whitewashed terraced cottage up the road in Port Charlotte, called ‘Cillebhride’, and she was my mentor and enthusiastic guide around the island for the next 5 days. Kate showed me around her delightful, renovated home and garden which is typical of the island, and then we planned our itinerary over an excellent seafood lunch at the adjacent Port Charlotte Hotel. Our first car drive was to the elegant Islay House, which dates back to the 18^th century, and its extensive walled kitchen garden that originally supplied the household. It has now been redeveloped as a Community Garden, tended by volunteers and  where members of the public like me can pick out and buy their own delicious organic produce.  

Then onto the RSPB reserve at Loch Gruinart, where we strolled along lanes and through meadows brimming with a profusion of wild flowers, and butterflies such as meadow browns, green-veined whites, tortoiseshells and small blues. Such sights remind me of my childhood and walks around the country of lanes of Tilley where I grew up. It is heart-warming to know that environments still exist in the UK that seem to have escaped the corrosive impact of pesticides and pollution. From the bird hide we looked out over wetlands where farm animals grazed in a landscape that has remained largely unchanged for centuries. Thousands of geese flock here every winter and shy corncrakes call from patches of nettles in the spring. We had hopes of eyeing a golden eagle - reputed to fly in this terrain, however, we were to be disappointed and concluded that they must all be taking an afternoon nap! 

DAY 7: FERRY CROSSING AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ISLAY

Saturday 27^th July

After breakfast and the tricky manoeuvring around the dips and ditches required to evacuate my picturesque hilltop campsite (not really compatible with a 22’ motorhome!), it was a short drive from Corran Farm to the ferry departure point of Kennacraig Port Ferry Terminal.  The impressive Caledonian MacBrayne ferry boat, the ‘Hebridean Islands’ sailed into view and docked and the embarkation procedure swung into action. The queuing vehicles entered up the ramp in single file and disappeared into the bowels of the ship in a sort of conjuring trick, as vans, cars, large articulated lorries, petrol tankers, camper vans, cyclists, motorbikes and foot passengers, were all effortlessly slotted into the available space, cheek by jowl. Bellulu was the last vehicle to board and the ferry immediately set off on time at 9.45am for the sea voyage back along West Loch Tarbert, and into the Sound of Jura. With Ruskin in tow, I left the car deck and made my way to the 4 upper decks which consisted of restaurant, lounge, coffee bar, small shop, information point, toilets and bar. The outer decks had seating for viewing the water and wonderful west coast of Scotland scenery, taking in the sunshine and sea air and blowing the cobwebs away. I was relieved that it was a very calm and smooth crossing as I am a poor sailor (see my post ‘My Great Barrier Grief’ from my Australia trip!) The small Isle of Gigha passed by first, and within an hour or so I had my first views of the islands of Jura with its landmark mountains called The Paps, and then Islay, which was to be our home from home for the next 6 days.  We sailed into the harbour of Port Askaig at 12.10pm to a sunshine welcome. 

The magic of Islay swept me up instantly with a colour palette that seemed intensified and jewel-like; the sea shimmered with dancing reflections and appeared a beautiful shade of blue, the fields that spread down to the white sandy seashores, surely greener than I had ever seen before? This was a special place indeed, and I felt a sense of anticipation at what lay ahead on my first JOURNEY into the heart of the island. It was soon apparent that life on Islay is lived at a leisurely pace; drivers are courteous, locals smile and wave at passers-by, and the contented-looking cattle and curly horned sheep nonchalantly stand in the roads that hug the shoreline, never doubting that vehicles would naturally slow to a standstill and cautiously drive around them.

Fellow road users on Islay!

It was an hour’s drive from Port Askaig to Port Charlotte and the municipal campsite at Port Mor on the edge of the village. Bellulu was soon replenished with water and plugged into the mains electric on a lovely pitch that has panoramic views over Loch Indaal to the other side of the island, and over to the Isle of Jura lying in wait across the calm waters. 

The campsite at Port Mor

Stunning views from the motorhome pitch over Loch Indaal

DAY 6: ON THE ROAD AGAIN- THE JOURNEY TO THE MULL OF KINTYRE AND GATEWAY TO THE INNER HEBRIDES

Friday 26^th July

This 7-hour JOURNEY began with an unscheduled detour to take Lord Ruskin to the Academy Vets Practice in Stranraer to check that he was on the mend and had no lasting ill-effects that could cause problems when island hopping later on. After 3 injections and a brief skirmish in the waiting room with a Siamese cat – well… it was presented like a ‘dog’s dinner’ in a posh pink designer cat-carrier and surely intended as bait to test Ruskin’s levels of recovery… I felt comforted that he was nearly back to his old irrepressible self.

Hugging the coastline for much of the route, the first dramatic sight was Ailsa Craig (“Fairy Island” in Gaelic), a giant muffin shaped island that seemed to follow me as an intriguing presence on the horizon for over an hour. Now an RSPB Reserve and home to thousands of seabirds including 40,000 gannets, the island was the safe refuge for persecuted Catholics who escaped there during the Reformation. Its granite is also used for making the finest curling stones.
Also of note was the Isle of Arran, shaped like a kidney bean, and taking centre stage in the Firth of Clyde. The island marks the transition point from the Lowlands to the Highlands of Scotland. Driving from the slower pace of life of rural Ayrshire headlong into the screeching motorway traffic of Glasgow, was a sudden jolt that flung me back into the 21^st century. Crossing over the mighty River Clyde Bridge my thoughts drifted from the grey and dilapidated relics of this former industrial powerhouse, to the city’s magnificent 19^th century architecture seen on previous visits, such as the elegantly streamlined Art Nouveau designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and the dynamic cultural developments that have rejuvenated Glasgow in more recent times.  Emerging on the other side, the natural world beckoned once again, with the familiar sights of Loch Lomond, and with it the towering and majestic mountains that have stayed with me from other tours. However, this time my JOURNEY was to take me further westwards into new territory, through the Argyll Forest, up the ‘Arrochar Alps’, along the claw-shaped Cowal peninsular and along the low-lying shores of the breathtakingly beautiful Loch Long and Loch Fyne. Making progress in this sort of terrain requires patience and care as the roads are narrow and meandering, but it was an exhilarating drive and rare to see another vehicle. The stunning scenery and constantly changing light as the weather switched from rainstorm to brilliant sunshine were uplifting. I love to see new places, and for me this JOURNEY opened up new horizons of a part of Scotland that was totally unspoilt and devoid of the horrors of the ugly face of tourist development. Having said that, I could not resist stopping off at Inverary for a whisky crunch ice-cream and photo-opportunity with a picturesque sailing ship in the harbour! 

By 6.30pm ‘Bellulu’ was settled in for the night at Corran Farm overlooking West Loch Tarbert, happily coping with no electricity, main sewers, television or mobile phone signals.  I fell asleep with the setting sun and far off cries of the seagulls that called me onto the next stage of my adventure early the next morning, and my ferry crossing to the Inner Hebridean Islands of Islay, Jura and Colonsay.

 



 

 

 

 

DAY 5: THE BLACK LOCH OF CASTLE KENNEDY CASTS ITS DARK SPELL ON RUSKIN!

Thursday 25^TH July

What a magnificent day this was! A dramatic thunder storm in the night had freshened the atmosphere, but the blue skies and gentle sunshine made a welcome return for my visit to Castle Kennedy Gardens, a 40 minute drive inland. A salad lunch was enjoyed overlooking distant views of the rolling countryside of the outer reaches of the 75 acre estate that was the inspiration of the 2^nd Earl of Stair in the 1730’s. I immediately detected the influence of landscape designer ‘Capability Brown’ in the way the natural features such as water, hillsides and grazing flocks of farm animals are visually ‘borrowed’ and integrated into the formality of the planned heart of the gardens through tantalising glimpses afforded at the ends of straight avenues of trees, gateways opened up in walls, and elevated vantage points. The Romantic ruins of Castle Kennedy, built in the 16^th century, but burnt down in 1730, provide a wonderful picturesque motif within the formally landscaped grounds. Two natural fresh water lochs, The White Loch and The Black Loch divide the estate, and in the 18^th century an army of men with horses and carts were used to mould and move the landscape into its what you see today.  One attraction I had to see was the famous 160 year old avenue of Monkey Puzzle Trees, planted with seed collected by the famous botanical explorer, Joseph Hooker, and I was not disappointed. (The Monkey Puzzle Tree was the subject of a project done with my students). Their towering canopies appeared to claw at the clouds above with their silhouetted spikey fingers, and the mature tree trunks had wise old ‘eyes’ that peered out, where once branches sprouted, and seemed to be watching Ruskin and I on our promenade along the avenue. These Chilean pine trees were under planted with rhododendrons and azaleas that must give a splendid effect when in flower, and I resolve to come back to see these unique and inspiring specimens again. Other memorable features were the giant 2 acre circular pond, filled with rare Victorian water lilies, and the spectacular vistas of trees leading to glimpses of the lochs and focal points, including the elegant Scottish Baronial Gothic styled family seat of Lochinch Castle. Ruskin’s ‘lowlight’ was his swim in The Black Loch, which was cut short by an untimely inhalation of water into his wee lungs which left him trembling and uncharacteristically subdued for the next few hours….

 

My planned excursion that evening to the RSBP reserve of The Mull of Galloway, Scotland’s most southerly point, was aborted en route, as a thick pea-soup Scotch mist dropped down into the narrow lanes I was endeavouring to drive along, and Ruskin’s demeanour became even more dour…..