Sunday 28th 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 18th 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!
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