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:
Isle of Islay, Laggan river
Or this great 360° view of the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse on Orsay:
Islay lighthouse ( Portnahaven )
Or an Otter hunting for food on the wild shores of Islay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE-PpzEiL4w
Otter in the wild on The island of Islay, scotland
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.
The wooden walkway to Eilean Mòr at Finlaggan, the ancient seat of the Lords of the Isles on Islay, has gone through a few iterations over the decades. Because of the harsh conditions at Loch Finlaggan the wood starts to decay and the wear and tear at some point makes the walkway unsafe. Over the years there have been different walkways, this is how it looked in 2006:
Finlaggan walkway in 2006
In 2007 it was replaced by a new walkway built by the Army 39 Engineer Regiment after removing the old rotting walkway. Visitors soon enjoyed good access to Eilean Mòr again:
Visitors after crossing a new walkway in 2007
In 2008 the visitor centre also saw some significant renovation and extension, making it the valuable place to learn about Islay’s history it is today:
Finlaggan visitor centre under construction in 2008
The walkway built in 2007 has now aged so much that it needs to be replaced to ensure continued access to the site. To do this the Finlaggan Trust needs support. The Finlaggan Trust writes:
We have already secured partial funding from a number of sources and are able to contribute a certain amount ourselves, but there remains a £30,000 shortfall in the £86,000 total nonetheless. If successful in our fundraising we hope to begin work in September/October 2021, with a five- to seven-week timescale for completion of the build, C-19 restrictions and weather conditions permitting.
If you want to support the Finlaggan Trust you can make a donation at The Finlaggan Walkway Project JustGiving campaign. As of writing this in the early days of the campaign 8% of the target have been reached, hopefully that will jump up soon and continued access to Finlaggan can be secured:
Rock climbing isn’t something I’ve heard of much on Islay, as far as I can tell there doesn’t seem to be much opportunity to do it. Nevertheless Roger Brown did just that (with a stopover on Skye for some more rock climbing) and made a video about it:
Rock climbing trip to Islay 2019
Some of it seems to be near Port Wemyss on the Rhinns of Islay, not sure where the rest was. May be on the Oa or at Sanaigmore? There are certainly some steep and impressive cliffs at both locations.
I hope you enjoyed the video, I found it very interesting (and a bit scary) to see them climbing above the waves rolling in at the steep cliffs.
As mentioned previously the Islay Sessions 2020 had to move online due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Originally the plan was to hold them on the original weekend in November, but for various reasons that didn’t work out and the event had to be pushed out. Two days ago as of writing this it finally happened and the live stream went ahead. I put on my finest tartan, poured myself a wee dram and sat down in front of the computer to watch. While of course not as good as a real live event it was still a great evening! All credit to the organisers and the musicians for making this such an enjoyable event.
Greig Shaw was our host, I believe from his garden shed, which he had very nicely decorated for the event. Greig led us through the evening, talking about his late brother Fraser in whose honour the Sessions are now being held and very ably introducing the musicians. The musicians were be Daimh, Maeve MacKinnon, LB Salter & Jenn Butterworth and David Foley & Jack Smedley. Of course there was also a prize draw with some rare whiskies and other goodies.
The individual concerts were pre-recorded, which I think was a wise move. I’ve attended other online concerts, which were plagued with problems, sound and image being out of sync and more. Here the stream worked well and it was a joy to hear the musicians play as well as talk about their music.
As I had hoped the live chat was available, which I found very enjoyable. A lot of people I know personally as well as virtually were chatting while listening to the concert, many of the musicians joined in as well. Memories were exchanged, virtual rounds bought and more.
If you missed it or would like to see it again the Fraser Shaw Trust has made the whole event available on their YouTube channel (don’t forget to subscribe, if you haven’t yet):
Islay Sessions Complete Show
Thanks again to the Fraser Shaw Trust, all the organisers and all the musicians for such a wonderful evening. Hopefully we can see each other again in person soon for some real live music!
From Peru in my previous post back to Scotland with this post, to the far north of Islay. A year ago I shared a view from the lighthouse, this time I’ve found a nice drone video of Rhuvaal lighthouse. Some nice views of the lighthouse, the surrounding coastline and down the Sound of Islay:
Rhuvaal Lighthouse, Islay
Some nice work by Steven Muir, who has a few more nice Islay videos on his channel. I’m sure I will come back to his channel and share a few more videos.
As many will know there are two Islays (at least), the Islay in Scotland this blog is mostly about and then there’s another Islay in the Arequipa region in Peru. It looks like they’ve got a similar problem with litter and rubbish washing up on their beaches and people having to go on beach cleans to tidy it all up. While I don’t speak any Spanish I’m pretty sure that’s what a good part of this video is about:
HOMENAJE A ISLAY 2020.
Looks like they picked up at least two big sacks of rubbish, some good work there! I hope that you’ve enjoyed this view of the other Islay and learning that they share some of the same issues.
Same as so many other events this year the Islay Sessions 2020 will take place online. They will also be a bit shorter this year, taking place on Saturday 21/Nov/2020 in the evening. However, the line-up is as good as ever with some familiar faces (as in, they have performed at previous sessions) and some new artists. Today the organisers uploaded a short teaser:
Fraser Shaw Trust – Sessions 2020
This years sessions will be broadcasted live on the Fraser Shaw Trust YouTube channel, starting at 19:30 on Saturday 21/Nov/2020. The musicians performing this year will be Daimh, Maeve MacKinnon, LB Salter & Jenn Butterworth and David Foley & Jack Smedley. I hope we will be able to use the live chat function, while not the same it would allow us to chat with the musicians and listeners, something I’ve always really enjoyed at the real live sessions.
Back in December 2008 when I first launched the Islay Pictures photoblog the number of 3,333 wasn’t really on my mind. The journey was the goal, not hitting any numbers. I don’t really watch the number of posts on it, but on Friday evening when preparing the post for Saturday morning I noticed by chance that said post was going to be the 3,333rd post. After posting it on Saturday morning I took a screenshot for posterity:
3,333 posts on the photoblog
So how did I get to 3,333 posts?
As I said it all started in December 2008 when I first launched the photoblog, back then using the “Pixelpost” CMS. My original goal was to post a picture every day and see where it would take me. It worked really well, people seemed to like it and I enjoyed the daily posting. Unfortunately in November 2012 “disaster struck”: Because of some server changes the Pixelpost CMS (which wasn’t maintained any more by that time) stopped working. With a heavy heart I had to delete over 1,300 posts and start from scratch.
For the second incarnation I decided to go with the popular WordPress CMS, my reasoning being that I could be quite confident it would be supported for quite some time. The layout I’ve kept largely unchanged since going live in December 2012, main change I think was adding the header banner, a picture my sister Imke took of me taking pictures in Saligo Bay.
Islay Pictures Photoblog screenshot Oct 2020
I continued posting daily, initially even twice daily to “repost” the pictures from the original blog. There were a few breaks, mainly when I was travelling (to Islay) but also when I was too ill to post through an injury and when I had my heart operation. But overall I’ve kept it up. While most of the pictures are taken by me there are also guest pictures. The majority of them by my sister Imke from her Islay visits, also a few from my late mother and some from Keith Wood.
Not having been to Islay this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic I’m currently heavily relying on my archives from over 20 years of Islay visits. I’m hoping to be able to visit again at some point in 2021 to restock my supplies. As long as I can find something I think is worthwhile posting I’ll continue posting.
Some new media from Islay to write about. Back in August the This is Islay podcast was launched. Its goal is to bring you voices from Islay, news and events with interviews from the community. It is intended for both locals and listeners further afield to give an insight into what is happening on Islay and how the community experienced events. The intention is to complement other news sources (e.g. The Ileach), not to compete with them.
At the end of November 2025, Beth Newman returned from her second visit to Lviv, Ukraine in support of Pickups For Peace, a charity initially organised by Scottish farmers to support Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion. Beth, Islay's local vet whose practice is based in Bowmore, tells Glen and Jolyon about her experience driving from Islay to western Ukraine in a used pickup (trip 1) and a used van (trip 2), each packed with vital supplies and heading to provide urgently-needed support to the front lines in eastern Ukraine. She also explains how we can each support this charity.For more information, visit https://pickupsforpeace.co.ukOr contact the Islay Vet Surgery by email at vet.islay@gmail.comAcknowledgementsGuest: Beth NewmanMany thanks to Beth for sharing her thoughts about her trips to Ukraine with the Pickups 4 Peace network and the support she received from Islay and Jura residents.Hosts: Glen Roberts and Jolyon ThurgoodMusic :  Carol of the Bells – This version is from White_Records on Pixabay 171731 This song is derived from a traditional folk song celebrating New Year, which kids used to sing while walking around the village from one house to another collecting presents and lollies. The original name of the song is "Shchedryk" – generosity in the Ukraine language. Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OUJLYLtqSs for a traditional version of this song.Production: Jean MacLellan, Greig Barker, Gordon Bermingham and Jolyon Thurgood
I hope you’ll enjoy the podcasts as much as I did and will subscribe to them (I’m using Google Podcasts, which works really well for me, but various other services including Spotify are available). With the latest developments around Covid-19 I found the information about the Islay Resilience Group very interesting and how it will help with possible future developments. But of course there are plenty of other interesting topics as well.
This evening marks the start of my two week staycation in West Berkshire. As I wrote earlier I’ve decided not to travel to Islay as originally planned. Since I’m not going to Scotland I’ve ordered a bit of Scotland to come to me. And yes, there is an Islay link here….
Harviestoun Heaven Cent
The beer I’m enjoying this evening (with a nice pizza, although sadly not from the Peatzeria) is a Harviestoun Heaven Cent. Now you might say, Harviestoun Brewery, isn’t that in Clackmannanshire? And you would be right. However, the IPA in question was created by Lisa Matthews. And you probably guessed it, yes, the youngest Scottish female brewer grew up on Islay.
While I’m not an expert I think Lisa did a fantastic job. To me it tastes very well balanced, just right between the bitterness and the fruitiness (or whatever you call it). I love it. While I ordered it blind I’m pleased that I took the risk and trusted Lisa doing a great job. I’ve got two mini kegs (which is how I was able to take a picture of a closed keg and a full glass next to it), one for this weekend, the other one probably for next weekend. I hope it will become part of the regular line-up at Harviestoun.
