(New) IslayBlog.com, a blog about the Isle of Islay, Scotland
Cask Strength since 2006
And he’s done it again. Stuart has put out another great Islay from the air video, mostly filmed during his travels around the island as a taxi driver. This one is a compilation of views from pretty much all over the island, some during the day, some during sunset and you even get to see a rare snowy landscape:
A very enjoyable 5 minutes, I hope you enjoyed the video as much as me or even more. I’m sure there will be more to share over the coming months and years.
From planes to drones with a nice video mostly showing one of Islay’s nicest beaches from the air (you also get a few impressions of Lagavulin distillery). I’ve walked this beach many times, during the Islay walking week, on my own, with my sister Imke and with my late parents. The last one means it has some special memories for me, as it was my mother’s last and my father’s only Islay visit. The beach is around Killinallan Point, stretching out to Gortantaoid. While filmed on a mostly overcast day the views are still beautiful:
If you decide to walk here look out for the tides, it’s much easier to walk at low tide as during high tide the water can come quite close to the dunes. For a circular walk you can walk on the track to Gortantaoid and return via the beach or vice versa.
Regular readers will remember an earlier post about Islay Drone Photography. Earlier today I came across a new video by him I really liked. It’s only a short clip, but it brilliantly shows some of the impressive tidal currents at The Kettle just off Orsay with the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse:
I’m not sure what (if anything) came of it, but that illustrates why there was talk a while back of potentially creating tidal power generation off the south and west of Islay (in addition to the ones long planned in the Sound of Islay). There certainly is a lot of power out there!
John Munday and his best friend went to Islay in March 2022, staying at Easter Ellister Farmhouse. They mainly went for the whisky, but there were also visits to the beautiful beaches and some paddleboarding. Oh, and they were lucky enough to enjoy some amazing weather:
I hope you enjoyed the lovely views from the air and from the water, from the distilleries and from the beaches, all in glorious Islay sunshine. Nice work, John!
This one took me a bit longer to edit than expected, so it’s only going out quite late this Sunday evening. But I hope the wait was worth it and you’ll enjoy this video of a drone flight around Lagavulin Bay. Obviously views of Lagavulin distillery and Dunyvaig Castle (well, the ruin of it). But there’s more, as I flew around the whole bay, so you get to see the Islay Marine Centre, Stormpods, the village of Lagavulin and more. There are also brief distant views of Texa, towards Port Ellen and over to Ardbeg.
And of course there’s something else: How good are your eyes (and attention)? Did you spot the Seal on the rock in the bay? If not you might want to watch the video again and see if you can spot it this time.
I’m hoping to edit another Islay video next weekend as well, but as usual no promises. The topic of the video will probably be Saligo Bay, but I haven’t made a final decision yet.
This video was in a way seven years in the making. as I filmed the footage back in June 2015, edited a teaser in early 2016 and then … progress stalled. Not sure why, for some reason I didn’t edit the full version ‘director’s cut’. But now it’s finally done and I can share 7 minutes of great views around and over Port Ellen from the air with you. The flight starts at Carraig Fhada lighthouse, we then move over to the Port Ellen maltings and distillery warehouses before finishing off around the centre of Port Ellen. I hope you enjoy the views:
As the footage is from 2015 some things have changed in the meantime, one of the main changes I can think of will be Port Ellen distillery which is currently being rebuild. But of course there will be a few more. The character of the place as such won’t have changed though and the views are great in any case.
I’m hoping to continue the current run of a new video every week next week as well, but I can’t promise anything. If I do there’s a good chance of another visit to Saligo Bay in some form, possibly with a sunset in 360° or a sunny beach walk.
Time for a short visit to Islay’s neighbour Gigha. Most people (well, at least those who have travelled to Islay by ferry) will have seen the Twin Beaches near the northern end of the island, this drone video filmed on a beautiful bright sunny day gives you some brilliant aerial view of it. Not to mention other nice views of Gigha:
I hope you enjoyed the video and the Dolphins showing up in the second half.
Taking you over to Islay’s neighbour Jura for an interesting drone video today. The views are mainly of Craighouse, the Bay of Small Isles and the Corran Sands, with the famous Paps of Jura featuring large in the background. And there’s something special about the music playing:
Visitors to the Corran Sands might have recognised where the music came from, as it says in the description:
Original music performed on 2 Sonic Sculptures by Giles Perring at Corran Sands by Sebastian McCallum, Philippa Gregory, Sally Truswell and Joe Truswell
From the video description
I think not many videos can claim this….
Dolphins can be spotted around Islay fairly regularly, in the Sound of Islay where they sometimes play with the ferry and other ships, sometimes in Loch Indaal, or during a ferry crossing. The video I came across yesterday seems to have been filmed from a yacht and possibly also a drone flying above them. Enjoy:
I hope you’ve enjoyed the video, I found it very calming and relaxing, watching the Dolphins as they were swimming, jumping and playing.
In his day job he’s a taxi driver on Islay, but when he’s not behind the steering wheel Stuart is on the controls of his drone. As his job takes him all around Islay he has some opportunities to film all around island, showcasing some of the best of Islay. You can find his pictures on his Islay Drone Photography Facebook page. Not everyone is on Facebook, so luckily he’s also sharing some of his videos on YouTube. Like this one of the Laggan river:
Or this great 360° view of the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse on Orsay:
Or an Otter hunting for food on the wild shores of Islay:
I hope you enjoyed these picks, you can find plenty more on the Islay Drone Photography YouTube channel. Videos of Islay’s distilleries, beaches, roads, landscapes, villages and more.