Arran - Islay - Jura - Gigha
Posted: Thursday, 23 June 2005 |
Arran
I hadn鈥檛 been in Arran for years and years and I almost missed the first ferry at Ardrossan, but made it and enjoyed the swanky 鈥楪oat Fell View Caf脙漏鈥 in the bows.
The first thing I liked about Arran were the great place-names: 鈥楤lackwaterfoot鈥, 鈥楲amlash鈥 (sounds like somewhere to get very drunk), 鈥楽hiskine鈥, 鈥楽liddery鈥, 鈥楧ippin鈥, 鈥楽annox鈥 and 鈥楲ochranza鈥.
To be honest most of the time I was in Arran I couldn鈥檛 see more than ten feet in front of me.
After a meeting in the south of the island I drive past a sign saying 鈥榃aterfall鈥 and decide to park and explore. Up a winding path through the thick fog I go. It鈥檚 all getting a bit Tolkienesque as the path winds through a thicket of trees. There鈥檚 a sound of rushing water and to my right an amazing vista opens a sheltered glen appears. A strong-running stream runs out of land/rock and launches itself off a cliff some 100 feet high (?) You can see the peatiness of the water as it cascades off the side of the hill. In front of me stands a sign saying 鈥楲ibrary鈥, which is not really what your expecting half way up a hillside in the middle of a forest walk.
Round the corner and into a clearing sits a turfed building, open, unattended, doors wide open. It was a dream-like experience.
The waterfall stands only a mile or so from Kildonan village yet few of the local people had been able to visit it. The forest has been thinned out, carefully managed paths carved out and the project 鈥 a charitable trust 鈥 aims to create an ecology centre and renewable energy and education facility to showcase sustainable practice. Albert and Paris, the people behind the work welcomed me with cups of coffee and a tour of the whole thing. For more go to there site here:
Memories of Arran? Wet, grey, lush. Big rocks.
Islay
Onwards and Westwards. Lochranza 鈥 Claonaig then across Kintyre to Kennacraig 鈥 Port Askaig. My motto of 鈥楴ever Book on Calmac鈥 is catchy but self-defeating. I was subsequently grilled by a terrifying woman when my address didn鈥檛 register on her computer. 鈥淐omputer says no?鈥 I ventured, reassuring her that I did live there, and I wasn鈥檛 inventing the address as some kind of elaborate ruse.
Visited various distilleries in search of a whisky writer, the things you have to do for the 麻豆官网首页入口! We鈥檙e looking for someone who lives on the island, can write knowledgeably about Islay and other whiskies. Went to the award-winning Port Ellen Cyber Caf脙漏 run by Spike McGilviray. What a great place 鈥 take a look at their site here:
Also visited the Ileach to meet Brian Palmer and hear the latest island news, such as the Geep (Sheep mates with Goat) and the story of the fishermen who picked up a yellow-submarine belonging to the MOD, only for the MOD to deny any such thing.
Also had a great visit to the impressive new Iomairt Cholm Cille / Columba Initiative (a prject inspired by the 鈥榙emand from Gaelic speakers in Scotland and Ireland for the chance to meet each other more often, and in so doing to learn more of the language, heritage and lifestyles of one another鈥) to meet D脙虏mhnall Angaidh.
Some cool green initiatives on Islay. The school swimming pool is heated by the excess energy from the Bowmore distillery, the gaelic centre (Iomairt Cholm Cille) is powered by solar panels and the electric bus is powered by a wave energy scheme at Portnahaven, though admittedly some locals cast doubt on this last project鈥
Lasting memories of Islay? It鈥檚 much much bigger than I鈥檇 thought, Finlaggan (home of the Lord of the Isles) was amazing as was Machir Bay. Thanks to everybody I met who was very friendly and helpful.
Jura
Jura is an amazing place, somewhere I鈥檇 never been to before and was looking forward to. For most of the day the thick mist rolled off the hills or shrouded the Paps, with deer occasionally roaming out of the gloom towards me as I drive North along the East coast. 鈥楢tmospheric鈥 doesn鈥檛 really do it justice.
Visited with Elaine and others at Craighouse where the weather was 鈥 however briefly 鈥 lovely. Was encouraged to sample the Venison Burger and can highly recommend this free range organic lunch treat.
Travelled North after lunch and got as far as Ardlussa, but didn鈥檛 really have time to explore the beaches and caves properly. Like everywhere I went vowed to return for a proper visit soon.
Also visited the Feolin Centre by the ferry, who鈥檚 huge site you can visit here,
Gigha
The short trip from Tayinloan to Gigha takes fifteen minutes or so, and from half way across you can see the 鈥榙ancing sisters鈥 of Gigha, which provide the island with most of its energy and create revenue projected at around 脗拢64,000 a year towards community funds. Not exactly a King鈥檚 Ransom but a tidy sum. There鈥檚 but as the site says: 鈥淕igha's windmills are ground breaking. This is Scotland 's first community owned, grid connected, windfarm. Perhaps even more significantly, the financial model that has been developed to underpin the project is very robust and capable of widespread replication by communities throughout Scotland . In this way we anticipate that where Gigha's 鈥榙ancing ladies' have led the way, many more community windfarms will follow.鈥
I spent an afternoon at the Achamore Gardens, which were amazing, with tremendous views across the West coast of the island.
Thanks to everyone I met on the trip. Hope you enjoyed the photos.
Mike
I hadn鈥檛 been in Arran for years and years and I almost missed the first ferry at Ardrossan, but made it and enjoyed the swanky 鈥楪oat Fell View Caf脙漏鈥 in the bows.
The first thing I liked about Arran were the great place-names: 鈥楤lackwaterfoot鈥, 鈥楲amlash鈥 (sounds like somewhere to get very drunk), 鈥楽hiskine鈥, 鈥楽liddery鈥, 鈥楧ippin鈥, 鈥楽annox鈥 and 鈥楲ochranza鈥.
To be honest most of the time I was in Arran I couldn鈥檛 see more than ten feet in front of me.
After a meeting in the south of the island I drive past a sign saying 鈥榃aterfall鈥 and decide to park and explore. Up a winding path through the thick fog I go. It鈥檚 all getting a bit Tolkienesque as the path winds through a thicket of trees. There鈥檚 a sound of rushing water and to my right an amazing vista opens a sheltered glen appears. A strong-running stream runs out of land/rock and launches itself off a cliff some 100 feet high (?) You can see the peatiness of the water as it cascades off the side of the hill. In front of me stands a sign saying 鈥楲ibrary鈥, which is not really what your expecting half way up a hillside in the middle of a forest walk.
Round the corner and into a clearing sits a turfed building, open, unattended, doors wide open. It was a dream-like experience.
The waterfall stands only a mile or so from Kildonan village yet few of the local people had been able to visit it. The forest has been thinned out, carefully managed paths carved out and the project 鈥 a charitable trust 鈥 aims to create an ecology centre and renewable energy and education facility to showcase sustainable practice. Albert and Paris, the people behind the work welcomed me with cups of coffee and a tour of the whole thing. For more go to there site here:
Memories of Arran? Wet, grey, lush. Big rocks.
Islay
Onwards and Westwards. Lochranza 鈥 Claonaig then across Kintyre to Kennacraig 鈥 Port Askaig. My motto of 鈥楴ever Book on Calmac鈥 is catchy but self-defeating. I was subsequently grilled by a terrifying woman when my address didn鈥檛 register on her computer. 鈥淐omputer says no?鈥 I ventured, reassuring her that I did live there, and I wasn鈥檛 inventing the address as some kind of elaborate ruse.
Visited various distilleries in search of a whisky writer, the things you have to do for the 麻豆官网首页入口! We鈥檙e looking for someone who lives on the island, can write knowledgeably about Islay and other whiskies. Went to the award-winning Port Ellen Cyber Caf脙漏 run by Spike McGilviray. What a great place 鈥 take a look at their site here:
Also visited the Ileach to meet Brian Palmer and hear the latest island news, such as the Geep (Sheep mates with Goat) and the story of the fishermen who picked up a yellow-submarine belonging to the MOD, only for the MOD to deny any such thing.
Also had a great visit to the impressive new Iomairt Cholm Cille / Columba Initiative (a prject inspired by the 鈥榙emand from Gaelic speakers in Scotland and Ireland for the chance to meet each other more often, and in so doing to learn more of the language, heritage and lifestyles of one another鈥) to meet D脙虏mhnall Angaidh.
Some cool green initiatives on Islay. The school swimming pool is heated by the excess energy from the Bowmore distillery, the gaelic centre (Iomairt Cholm Cille) is powered by solar panels and the electric bus is powered by a wave energy scheme at Portnahaven, though admittedly some locals cast doubt on this last project鈥
Lasting memories of Islay? It鈥檚 much much bigger than I鈥檇 thought, Finlaggan (home of the Lord of the Isles) was amazing as was Machir Bay. Thanks to everybody I met who was very friendly and helpful.
Jura
Jura is an amazing place, somewhere I鈥檇 never been to before and was looking forward to. For most of the day the thick mist rolled off the hills or shrouded the Paps, with deer occasionally roaming out of the gloom towards me as I drive North along the East coast. 鈥楢tmospheric鈥 doesn鈥檛 really do it justice.
Visited with Elaine and others at Craighouse where the weather was 鈥 however briefly 鈥 lovely. Was encouraged to sample the Venison Burger and can highly recommend this free range organic lunch treat.
Travelled North after lunch and got as far as Ardlussa, but didn鈥檛 really have time to explore the beaches and caves properly. Like everywhere I went vowed to return for a proper visit soon.
Also visited the Feolin Centre by the ferry, who鈥檚 huge site you can visit here,
Gigha
The short trip from Tayinloan to Gigha takes fifteen minutes or so, and from half way across you can see the 鈥榙ancing sisters鈥 of Gigha, which provide the island with most of its energy and create revenue projected at around 脗拢64,000 a year towards community funds. Not exactly a King鈥檚 Ransom but a tidy sum. There鈥檚 but as the site says: 鈥淕igha's windmills are ground breaking. This is Scotland 's first community owned, grid connected, windfarm. Perhaps even more significantly, the financial model that has been developed to underpin the project is very robust and capable of widespread replication by communities throughout Scotland . In this way we anticipate that where Gigha's 鈥榙ancing ladies' have led the way, many more community windfarms will follow.鈥
I spent an afternoon at the Achamore Gardens, which were amazing, with tremendous views across the West coast of the island.
Thanks to everyone I met on the trip. Hope you enjoyed the photos.
Mike
Comments
The big rock is called The Cat Rock. Glad you enjoyed Arran, I'm a Shiskine exile!
Christine from Ayr
Glad you enjoyed Arran. I've never been to the Kildonnan waterfall & your post may be the push I need to go and have a look. Whenever I pass the sign I always think, "This is daft, I've never been up there", but always have somewhere else to be. Will go look this weekend.
Susan from Arran
I've just started this blogging thing & done a post for Arran. It's a bit boring. If there's no posts on an island page does that mean that no one one the island is doing it? Is this really new then?
Susan from Arran
Hi Mike, sounds like you have a great time of it. Pity you didn't come along the east side of Kintyre else you could have dropped in on us and I'd have bought you a Guinness down at The Glen Bar. Cheers Gary
Gary Sutherland from Carradale
Hi from Gigha - our turbines are called the 'Dancing Ladies'. Individually they are named Faith, Hope and Charity in Gaelic (which I cant spell...). We will make over 脗拢 70K a year but need to pay off our investors at the moment as well as invest in the various bits which will need replacing. We want to see more renewables across the islands as the income helps us build a more sustainable future. Folks on Gigha were not at all taken with this blogging business as we are busy running the place! Did we give you a hard time? Glad you enjoyed the visit anyway.. Over out and out of control
Button Diva from Gigha
Ex Pirnmill. Always called the stone outside Corrie "the Cat Stone"(clach a' chash) My brother and i can climb it four different ways.
alan from south lanarkhire
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