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!