Tag: Islay

Some interesting Islay links (March 2022 edition)

Islay Links

It’s about time I go through some of my bookmarks and notes from the last couple of weeks (or even months) and share some of the articles and more about or at least mentioning Islay. Hopefully you’ll find something of interest to read and possibly share:

To start with travel writer Peter Irvine shares his favourite spots on Scotland’s loveliest islands, which of course includes Islay and Jura. They are spots 6-9, the Paps of Jura, Geese at Gruinart, Carraig Fhada Lighthouse and the Machrie Hotel.

Not Islay specific (although Islay is of course mentioned, Irvine also calls for islanders to get more control over impact of tourism.

I walked it last year (and still owe you a post about it), the Sustrans website has a lovely article about the new Loch Indaal path between Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte.

Scott Begbie writes about Marvellous malts and pure moments on the magical island of Islay in the Press and Journal. Whisky, beaches, food and sunsets get a mention.

Uproxx (which seems to be a music, film and lifestyle website) writes about a whisky-centric trip to Scotland with a few stops on Islay. The Islay stops are Bowmore Hotel Lucci’s Whisky Bar and Kilchoman distillery. Also an honourable mention for Ardbeg and Lagavulin distilleries. Not to forget plenty Islay pictures.

To close someone from the Sunday Post tried the scones at the Craigard Kitchen at Ballygrant. They were very happy with them and will be back.

I’ll leave you with that for now, hopefully you found something interesting to read. More some other time.

New Islay video: Lagavulin distillery and Dunyvaig Castle with a drone

Islay on Video

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.

Islay’s Lagavulin distillery and Dunyvaig Castle from the air

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.

New Islay video: A visit to the wreck on Kilchoman beach

Islay on Video

Time to share this weekend’s Islay video editing project. No 360° or drone footage this time, instead we actually stay quite low to the ground. For a brief moment we even go under water. We take a closer look at the old wreck of the Patti on Kilchoman beach as it looked in June 2015. As many will know the beach moves almost constantly and with it the visibility of the wreck changes. Sometimes it disappears completely, sometimes only the highest parts towards the stern are visible, sometimes the outline of the whole ship is visible. When I filmed the footage for this video it was the latter:

Wreck of the Patti on Kilchoman beach, Isle of Islay

Not a lot is known about the wreck, I’ve been told the following: It is believed to be an early steamship with a square boiler, wrecked in the 1840s and called “Patti”. That’s about all known about her.

I filmed the footage with a GoPro camera in a waterproof housing, allowing me to get quite close to the ground and at one point even to go under water. Thought a different perspective of the wreck might be interesting for some. Also tried to pass quite low along the wreck, as the GoPro doesn’t have a gimbal its a bit rough, but I think it’s good enough to share. I hope you like what I’ve edited together.

Hoping to edit another video next weekend again, but as usual of course no promises. Haven’t made a decision yet, but most likely it will be another drone video, either of Lagavulin and Dunyvaig or of Finlaggan. As the saying goes, watch this blog (or subscribe to my YouTube channel).

New Islay video: Saligo Bay sunset in 360°

Islay on Video

As mentioned last weekend I was hoping to edit another Saligo Bay Islay video this week. Luckily I managed to do just that and YouTube processed it quite quickly as well (previous 360° videos for some reason took a long time), as this weekend’s new Islay video is a 360° video of a June sunset at Saligo Bay. It’s a about 11 minutes of all round views of the sunset from three different locations, starting down on the beach and ending up on the top of the dunes. I hope you’ll enjoy the views and the light:

Saligo Bay sunset, Islay, in 360°

Similar to previous 360° videos you can spot me loitering around in the background, walking around, enjoying the sunset and taking pictures. If you happen to look into the right direction at the right time you’ll also see me appearing out of / disappearing into thin air a couple of times. Haven’t worked out a way yet to avoid that when cutting together multiple clips from the same location.

Again no promises, but I’m hoping to complete another video next week. Haven’t decided yet what it will be, but I’m currently considering three options: The wreck on Kilchoman beach, Port Charlotte from the air revisited or Lagavulin & Dunyvaig from the air. Fingers crossed I can get one of them done.

New Islay video: Port Ellen lighthouse and village from the air

Islay on Video

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:

Islay’s Port Ellen lighthouse and village from the air (drone view)

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.

Last weekend’s new Islay video: Port Charlotte pier and beach in 360°

Islay on Video

For various reasons didn’t get around to blog it earlier (one reason being that YouTube for some reason took ages to make it available in full resolution, even though it told me it had fully processed it for some time): Last weekend I uploaded yet another Islay 360° video. This one takes you to Port Charlotte pier and beach. Not much happening apart from the waves lapping on the pier and beach, also I’m loitering on the scene at times. Still, I hope you’ll enjoy a relaxing few minutes looking around:

Islay’s Port Charlotte pier and beach in 360°

Remember, as this is a 360° video you can look in any direction you want, you can either use the buttons in the top left corner or just press and hold your mouse button to drag and move the viewport. And if you look in the right direction at the right time you’ll see me appearing out of thin air at some point (not telling you when, you’ll have to find that yourself), this is due to the way I cut the footage I had available.

That’s all I have for today. If everything goes to plan I hope to upload another new Islay video this weekend. Not a 360° this time, possibly a drone video of another Islay village.

New Islay video: Coast at Ardbeg distillery in 360°

Islay on Video

Feels like I’m on a roll, the third new Islay video in as many weeks. This week I’m taking you to the south coast of Islay, to Ardbeg. Here we spend 8 minutes just outside the distillery at the coast, all in glorious 360°. Meaning you can look whichever direction you want, left, right, up and down. Just grab the viewport with your mouse (or finger) and move around in the video. The first five minutes we spend on the pier at Ardbeg, provided you look in the right direction you can spot a group from Kayak Wild Islay passing by. The remaining three minutes we spend on the small hillock above the outdoor cask storage. I hope you’ll enjoy the Ardbeg coast in 360°:

Ardbeg Coast, Islay, in 360°

This is the fourth video in my Islay in 360° collection, I think with the remaining footage I still have I should be able to add at least one but hopefully two more videos. Quite confident about a Saligo Bay sunset one and possibly a Port Charlotte coast video. What do you think about 360° videos, do you like them or do you prefer ‘old style’ videos?

New Islay video: Visit to Bowmore in 360°

Islay on Video

If you like your Islay videos ‘interactive’ I might have a little treat for you: After Kilchoman beach in 360° and Lossit Bay in 360° I’ve just uploaded my third 360° Islay video. This one takes us to Islay’s largest village and administrative centre, to Bowmore. You can take a look at the village from various places, from the Square, from the beach, from just outside the Round Church and from the pier. Because it’s 360° you can decide where you want to look (this is where the ‘interactive’ bit comes in), with your mouse you can move the camera angle in whichever direction you want, left, right, up, down, up to you.

Islay’s Bowmore in 360°

If you look closely you can also spot me loitering in the background in various places. That’s the beauty (?) of 360° video, you can’t hide behind the camera (although on occasion you can hide behind objects like a wall or a car). I hope this doesn’t put you off watching the video.

I haven’t decided yet what my next Islay video will be, but I’m hoping to upload another one in a week or two. What do you think of 360° videos, like them or loathe them?

New Islay video: Saligo sunset far and close

Islay on Video

Took me a bit longer than I had hoped, but the Saligo Bay sunset video I had promised when I shared the Beautiful waves in Saligo Bay video back in January is now live. It’s one of my longest videos so far at just under 19 minutes, so bring a bit of time to watch it. It’s a bit different to the short and quick TikTok, YouTube Shorts etc videos as it’s a long and slow video where not an awful lot happens apart from the waves rolling into Saligo Bay and the sun slowly setting on an early September evening. A mixture of wide angle far views and telephoto close up views of the colourful sun during the sunset, followed by some views during the gloaming after the sunset. So set your clock to Islay time, pour yourself a wee dram of Islay single malt whisky, set the video to full screen, sit down and relax:

September Islay sunset at Saligo Bay – far and close

I hope you enjoyed the sunset and found the video relaxing, if you did please share it with friends and family who need a break. Can’t promise anything, but I hope to be able to upload a few more Islay videos over the coming weeks (or even months).

Islay High School shortlisted at FilmG 2021, vote for People’s Choice

Islay News

For many years Islay High School / Àrd-sgoil Ìle has been participating in the annual FilmG (GD/EN) awards, 2021 is no different. Many years they were shortlisted, on several occasions they even won one of the awards. This year they submitted two entries, one in the Fluent category and one in the Learners category. The entry in the Learners category, “Easga Bhuidhe na Feidh” got shortlisted, this is their entry:

Easga Bhuidhe na Feidh | Ard Sgoil Ile

The entry in the Fluent category, “A’ Lorg” unfortunately didn’t make it on to the shortlist in their category, this is their entry:

A’ Lorg | Ard Sgoil Ile

However, both entries qualify for the People’s Choice award, you can vote for them by going to the respective entry (use the links above to go there directly) and then clicking on the heart above the VOTE HERE / BHÒT AN SEO text. You’ve got until Monday 24/Jan/2022 to submit your vote. So please hurry and get your vote in!