Mark Gillespie of WhiskyCast is probably mainly known for his whisky related podcasts. However, he also produces videos and I think I probably have shared one or two of his videos before. Recently he published a video about a visit to the Port Ellen Maltings, a place not many get to see, although he kind of picked the wrong day (for reasons explained in the video):
In the video Mark mentions that today only a handful of distilleries do any of their own malting. If memory serves me right there are only about six or seven distilleries left in Scotland who do this, three of them are actually on Islay: Laphroaig, Bowmore and Kilchoman.
As during every winter Islay is being battered by storms again. Donald and his dog Lady were visiting over Christmas, just as two storms were passing over. So Donald picked up his camera and went out to film some of the action. And Lady just enjoyed being out to investigate what the storm brought:
Something a bit scary today. I’m not sure how I came across these in the David Ramsey Historical map collection a while ago, but essentially it looks like there was at least some material covering Islay for plans by the German Wehrmacht to invade Britain during WWII (known as Operation Sea Lion, which would have mainly focused on England, but they also seem to have prepared information about Scotland). The material seems to be from 1940 and 1941, i.e. still during the early years of the war. A search for Islay initially turns up three results:
They were filmed 10 years apart, but both are a bit older, showing Islay 33 and 43 years ago respectively. The first one seems to be some old TV footage filmed in 1983, showing Port Charlotte and a few other places on Islay in a short clip:
Going back a further decade to 1973 we can watch some fascinating old footage with some long gone history, starting with the MV Arran ferry (not to be confused with the MV Isle of Arran, which was much later) leaving from the old West Loch Tarbert pier:
The rest of the film shows a variety of familiar places, some in a way now gone: The Oa with the American Monument I believe before it became an RSPB reserve (not sure which year that happened?). Port Askaig long before it was redeveloped to what it is today. Ardbeg distillery with smoking pagodas. A brief glimpse of what I think is Western Ferries’ MV Sound of Jura. An excursion to Jura with of course plenty of deer.
The filmer seems to have also had some interest in birdwatching. I think there were a number of Whooper Swans (the quality of the footage isn’t great, making it difficult to see) and there’s some footage of the Barnacle Geese as well.
Announcing the relaunch of the blog this morning I hinted there might be a second ‘Christmas present’ coming up. Having only finished editing it late in the evening on Christmas Evening I still had to upload it this morning. But it all worked out and I can proudly present my latest Islay video. It’s a bit different from the videos I’ve made previously. To start with it has music. Then it’s monochrome. And it’s quite fast paced. A bit of an experiment, I’m very curious to see what people think. Here it is:
In 4.5 minutes I’m taking you on a quick journey around Islay, taking in as much as possible in such a short period. Admittedly some of the selections were influenced by the availability of footage, in other areas I had to make difficult choices what to show and what to omit. Here is a list of the places you can see in chronological order:
Port Ellen buoy
Port Ellen lighthouse
Port Ellen warehouse
Port Ellen houses with passing Islay Coaches
Port Ellen Maltings
Port Ellen pier/marina and village
Laphroaig approach from loch
Laphroaig smoking pagoda
Laphroaig stills
Dunyvaig castle and Lagavulin
Lagavulin distillery
Bowmore distillery approach from sea
Bowmore Main Street
Round Church
Barnacle Geese in front of Port Charlotte
Barnacle Geese at top of Loch Indaal with Paps of Jura
Bruichladdich approach from sea
Bruichladdich over distillery
Bruichladdich spirit safe (making Port Charlotte spirit)
Past Loch Indaal lighthouse to Port Charlotte
Port Charlotte pier from above
Port Charlotte Main Street towards Port Charlotte Hotel
Loch Indaal lighthouse with breaking waves
Waves breaking over Port Charlotte pier
Saltire flying in Portnahaven
Rhinns of Islay lighthouse and fishing boat
Seal in Portnahaven
Waves breaking near Port Wemyss
Single track road towards Kilchoman
Approaching Kilchoman Church
Ruin of Kilchoman church from the air
View of Machir Bay
Beach view in Machir Bay
Otter in Machir Bay
At the wreck in Machir Bay
Above the wreck in Machir Bay
Breaking waves in Saligo Bay
Waves blown back by wind in Saligo Bay
View towards Sleeping Giant / Opera House Rocks in Saligo Bay
Saligo Bay from the air
Barnacle Geese feeding at Gruinart
Barnacle Geese lifting off at Gruinart
Barnacle Geese over the Gruinart marshes
Barnacle Geese over grazing cows
Approach to Finlaggan from the air
View of the house ruin at Finlaggan from the air
MV Hebridean Isles arriving in Port Askaig
Passing McArthur’s Head lighthouse
I still think that’s quite impressive for 4.5 minutes, also a sign of how much Islay has to offer. It might be too fast and hectic for some, but then it might be exciting and fresh for others. I’m normally not a big fan of music for videos (certainly for my videos) and prefer more natural sounds, but here it felt appropriate so I used some. To avoid any rights issues (not to mention that the lyrics I feel often don’t really fit) I didn’t use any big hit(s) known to many but used some free music offered by Google. No lyrics, so no risk of conflict there either. The style of music will probably not be to everyone’s taste, I like the speed and energy in it.
Now it’s over to you, I hope you enjoy and like the whirlwind tour of Islay. Let me know what you think.
Mark Gillespie of WhiskyCast is probably mainly known for his whisky related podcasts. However, he also produces videos and I think I probably have shared one or two of his videos before. Recently he published a video about a visit to the Port Ellen Maltings, a place not many get to see, although he kind of picked the wrong day (for reasons explained in the video):