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Islay, once home of the MacDonald 'Lords of the Isles', is famous for its malt whiskies and birdlife as well as for its farming, fishing and shooting. Hills, moors and machair* are edged around by an infinitely varied coast, with rocks, beaches and dunes, salt marshes and cliffs. Good walking country.
Jura, nearly as large as Islay, is wild and infinitely more rugged; its distinctive landmark hills - the Paps - are visible from vantage points all over Argyll, and from places as far apart as Ben Nevis and the Irish coast. Red deer outnumber people here many times over.
Colonsay, with neighbouring Oronsay, is perhaps the most peaceful and remote of all the inner Hebrides; the ruined but inspiring 14th century Oronsay Priory, with its 4 m tall 'high cross', is accessible from Colonsay across the tidal Strand. The American author, John MacPhee, wrote his excellent 'The Crofter and the Laird' about his return to Colonsay, the land of his forebears.
We stay on Islay, the largest of these islands where four of our walks are located, and make excursions to Jura and to Colonsay.* Machair is fertile ground on wind-blown shell-sand; well-drained and not acid, it can support a lovely short green turf with flowers.
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Northwest islay |
Geology and scenery
Islay has a complex geology, with major differences between the land west and east of a fault between Lochs Gruinart and Indaal. Westwards, in the Rhinns and Ardnave, the rocks are extremely old (their age being measured in thousands of millions of years - say nearly half the age of the earth). The Rhinns, from Bruichladdich to Portnahaven, is mainly made of re-worked igneous-derived gneiss, while north of Kilchiaran to Ardnave, and continued on Colonsay, the rocks are metamorphosed sediments. The low platform of both Colonsay and this western peninsula, dotted with lochs and knobbly little hills, is reminiscent of the outer Hebrides.
East of the fault, the slightly less ancient rocks (shall we say a mere 600 or so million years old) are also mainly metamorphosed sediments - part of structures that continue north-east through Jura and on into the Grampian highlands. Islay's highest hill areas are of quartzite, like the Paps of Jura, whereas the low-lying, wooded coastlands of the south-east corner are underlain by weaker slates and phyllites, with parallel low ridges of hard epidiorite (a metamorphosed igneous rock) from which Kildalton Cross is carved. Across the centre of eastern Islay, roughly from Port Askaig to Laggan Bay, another weak belt of phyllites gives the low land of 'the Glen'; much of it peat-covered, but green where bands of metamorphosed limestone outcrop. Perhaps the most surprising geological feature is the 600 million year old 'Port Askaig Tillite' - a band of metamorphosed glacial deposits; evidence for a much earlier Ice Age than the 'recent' one which only finished shaping these islands a mere 10 000 years ago.
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Islay, Kildalton Cross |
A little history
There's no chance of doing justice to Islay, Jura and Colonsay in a small space, so here are a few pointers only. You can discover more if you come with us.
Now apparently peripheral to the mainstream of Scottish life, in the days when land transport was difficult and the seas the sensible way to get around (not to mention an accessible source of food) these islands were focal points of human activity. Oronsay has several shell mounds surviving from 6000 years or more ago, evidence of Scotland's very earliest inhabitants, and, from succeeding neolithic and bronze age times, Colonsay and Islay preserve a wealth of burial cairns, rock carvings and standing stones, including one incomplete stone circle.
Iron Age times may have brought intensified social and political conflict; the evidence is there in the remains of many fortifications - in all, around 80 on Islay alone. Two of the most spectacular are Dun Athad, in the Oa, and Dun Nosebridge, both of which we'll see . More peaceful activity is commemorated in the remains of several Early Christian chapels and crosses, of which Kildalton is the most outstanding.
Islay played its part in the evolution of a united Scotland and also in resisting it. The very name 'Scotland' derives from the Roman name for the iron age celtic people who, by the 6th century, occupied both Ulster and Argyll (Irish and Scottish Dalriada), perhaps colonising one from the other. From the ruling group of Scottish Dalriada, of which Islay would have been one of the richest parts, came the first king of a united nation in the 9th century. Later, though, especially from the 13th to the 15th centuries, the centralising Scottish state was very effectively resisted by the MacDonald Lords of the Isles - by then practically an independent kingdom. Their power base was at Finlaggan, which thus has an historical significance that demands a visit. In between times, as elsewhere along the western seaboard, Islay underwent a series of viking raids. These were followed, as they were not over most of the mainland, by extensive norse settlement and a period (from 1098 to 1263) under the Norwegian crown. Evidence survives in numerous placenames of norse origin.
The southern clan MacDonald made periodic attempts to revive the Lordship of the Isles until well into the 16 th century, but, despite winning a last great clan battle against the MacLeans at Gruinart in 1598, their power in Islay slipped away, to be replaced, in the early 17th century, by Campbell domination, which continued, in more peaceful form, into the 19th century.
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Port Ellen (photo Philip Robins) |
Modern Islay is a land of farms and of beautiful and distinctive planned villages whose whitewashed houses are a particularly attractive feature. These characteristics, differentiating the island from others in the Hebrides, are partly the result of its geology, topography and relative fertility, but also partly of the management policies of a succession of landowners. Chief among these was Walter Frederick Campbell, laird between 1816 and 1848, who did much to reorganise landholding patterns and to establish planned settlements. Where the Hebrides in general, following the clearance of the old communal farming townships, are a landscape of crofts* as well as farms, and a place where communities are scattered, Campbell bequeathed a landscape of farms and villages.
* Croft: a type of smallholding, with extensive shared grazing. They were very often established on poorer land while wealthier farming tenants got the best. A croft did not, in itself, provide sufficient income for a family.
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On Islay, we'll explore the coastal cliffs and abandoned townships of the Oa peninsula, the northern coast towards Rhuvaal lighthouse, the dunes of Ardnave and the hills of the south-east from Kildalton. We'll also visit the former stronghold of the Lords of the Isles at Finlaggan and in the evenings you'll be able, if you'd like, to explore the attractive eighteenth- and nineteenth- century planned villages such as Bowmore and Port Charlotte.
Jura gives the opportunity for a big hill climb - either the ascent of Beinn an Oir, the highest of the Paps at 785 m (2576 feet), or a traverse of a high pass, but we'll also offer a much gentler alternative on the east coast of the island for those who think a big climb may be too much for them, however wide and marvellous the views. We'll take our transport across the short ferry from Port Askaig to give ourselves the freedom of Jura.
The ferry schedules, on Wednesdays only, allow us to spend 6 hours on Colonsay. Once there, our choice of walk will depend on the tides. If they allow, we can go south across the tidal Strand to Oronsay and its priory, but, if not, rather than risk being only too literally 'stranded', we can head north instead for Kiloran Bay, an equally lovely walk. A relatively gentle day in either case, with the bonus of a wonderful ferry ride between the islands.
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A typical week, subject to variables such as the weather and any alterations to take account of lambing and deer stalking, could be as follows:
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1. Sunday: From Machir Bay to Saligo Bay
3. Tuesday: Bagh na Da Dhoruis (Bay of Two Doors) 4. Wednesday: Colonsay en Oronsay |
Saturday
Meet in Glasgow, early afternoon. Travel to Islay by our minibus and Calmac's ferry from Kennacraig.
Sunday: From Machir Bay to Saligo Bay
Our first walk will be along the west coast of the Rhinns of Islay. This coast gets the surve of the Atlantic which beats on spectacular cliffs that are interrupted by stretches of sands and dunes. We will start at Kilchoman. We will visit the graveyard with its impressive Celtic cross that is 8ft/2.4m tall. The Kilchoman cross is one of the finest of the medieval crosses in the western Highlands en Islands that are dated around 1500. Beneath the cross is a wishing stone. We start the walk with a wolk up a low hill with fine view across Machir Bay to Saligo Bay and Loch Gorm. We will descnet to the sandy beach of Machir Bay and head north, across a peninsula with cliffs with interesting geological features. The walk ends at the second each of the walk, Saligo Bay.
About 6 miles/10 km, with about 650ft/200m ascent, mainly easy walking.
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Monday: The Oa peninsula
The south coast of the Oa peninsula, from Kilnaughton Chapel to the Mull of Oa, via the ruined farming township of Lurabus and spectacular Dun Athad on its narrow headland. 'Bus' is a norse ending, meaning farm. That there are at least a couple of dozen 'bus' placenames on Islay shows the extent of the viking influence here in the far west a millennium ago. That good visibility reveals the Irish coast from the Mull of Oa is a reminder of even older links between Islay and Ireland, perpetuated in Gaelic placenames and the Gaelic speech of many Ilich (Islay people). A much harder day, with quite a bit of up and down along a hilly coast and above high cliffs. Some of the route follows old pathways, while as much is across rough hill.
8 miles/13 km, with an ascent of about 1500 feet/450 m.
Tuesday: Bagh na Da Dhoruis (Bay of Two Doors)
From the island's southern tip, yesterday, to its northern limits to-day. We'll 'play this one by ear', according to how well we've done yesterday. Starting from Bunnahabhain (a famous distillery) we'll explore the coast and hills northwards, passing (or perhaps taking in) the summit of Sgarbh Breac (364 m), and aiming for the sands of remote Bagh na Da Dhoruis (Bay of Two Doors). Mainly path-free going in rough, remote country, with the eye constantly drawn across the Sound of Islay to the Paps of Jura and their glacial scar attributed in legend to a witch who imprisoned her victims, including MacPhee of Colonsay, with a magic thread.
Untethered by threads of any kind, magic or otherwise, we might cover as much as 11 miles/18 km and climb between 1500 and 2000 feet/450 and 600 m. Easy day tomorrow.
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Colonsay, Kiloran Bay |
Wednesday: Colonsay, and perhaps Oronsay
Remote from the other 'Inner' Hebrides (the next stop west is Labrador) and quite small, but with varied scenery and a diverse flora and fauna (otters if you're lucky), Colonsay is the kind of place that draws people back again and again. If you want a strenuous day here, with lots of scrambling over rough, ancient rocks, then Colonsay can give it, but, surprisingly for an island so far west, there are many sheltered corners and much more woodland than you might expect. Add to that some delightful sandy bays and a rich store of prehistoric remains and you have a place in which it's good just to wander quietly and at peace. Kiloran Bay via Colonsay House is one option; another, tide permitting, is to cross the sands to Oronsay, with its high cross and ruined priory. Oronsay preserves traces of Scotland's earliest hunter-gatherer inhabitants from 6000 years or more ago in the form of turf-covered shell middens.
About 6 miles of mostly easy going, some of it on the quietest of roads, is what we'll probably cover (add two miles for Oronsay), but if you prefer to just mooch quietly around at your own pace, then why not just do that? Colonsay has a shop, hotel, café and heritage centre. Don't forget to get back to the ferry in time (we have 6 hours on the island) or you'll be returning via Oban over the next few days!
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Finlaggan and the Paps of Jura
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Thursday: Ardnave Point and Finlaggan
A relatively easy day to break us in gently; in two parts, and without too much ascent. We begin at Ardnave, overlooking Loch Gruinart, and walk around the coast via Ardnave Point. Pleasant going over, sandy beaches, dunes and rocky shores, with wide views towards Colonsay as well as the chance of coming across seals.
In the afternoon we visit a dramatic iron age fort and also Finlaggan, once the home of the Lords of the Isles, before walking on by a wooded track to Port Askaig.
About 8 miles/13 km in total - mainly easy walking.
Friday: Isle of Jura
The route we take will depend on the weather, the stalking season and on how well we've been walking. Probably it's a choice between taking a coast to coast route by threading a pass between the Paps of Jura or a walk up one of lower hills north of the Paps. That would be a maximum of 12 miles/18 km and about 2200 feet /700 m.
Saturday: To Glasgow via an early morning ferry.
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(photo David Fiddes) |
As with all About Argyll's holidays, this is either in selected B&B / guest houses or in hotels, as you prefer. You can rely on the quality of the accommodation that we find for you - its comfort, its food and the welcoming nature of those who run it. If you have particular requirements, please let us know so that we can do our best to meet them.
Details of where you will be staying will be sent to you well in advance of your holiday.
You will need to bring boots with a good tread that provide adequate ankle support, warm clothing, waterproofs (top and over-trousers) and a rucksack big enough for your spare clothes, a packed lunch and whatever else you normally like to have with you (binoculars, a camera, etc.). Boots are especially important. They don't have to be particularly heavy, but wearing ultra lightweight ones may mean your feet get wet and trainers definitely aren't adequate nor, on some of the rougher and steeper going, however short it may be, are they safe.
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Letters Lodge South, Strathlachlan, Argyll PA27 8BZ, Scotland (UK)
Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1369 860272 • Email:
Islay, Jura and Colonsay