(New) IslayBlog.com, a blog about the Isle of Islay, Scotland
Cask Strength since 2006
I spent a wonderful late afternoon and evening on a beautiful sunny June day in Lossit Bay on the west coast of Islay. Filming video, taking pictures and just generally looking around. Here’s a first taster of it, a one take one minute clip of walking along the beach and then turning around for a glimpse of the approaching sunset:
There’s plenty more to come, both pictures and video.
The Islay Pipe Band is busy with the competition season at the moment. Yesterday they performed at the first competition for the season, the British Championships in Paisley, achieving a very respectable 8th place (out of 14) in Grade 2. Here’s a video of their performance:
They were only one point behind the 7th place, but 4 points ahead of the joint 9th/10th place. Hopefully a successful season ahead of them.
Time for a nice Islay video again. Today Dan Bell takes us out to the far north west of Islay. I think he pitched his tent just south of Mala Bholsa, I believe I recognise some of the caves and arches as well as the waterfall. But now over to the video:
PS: I’m not so sure about some of his hacks though. Freezer bags to ‘waterproof’ your boots?
Taking you to Islay’s neighbour Jura today for not one but two videos, showing some of Jura’s beautiful remote nature, wildlife and landscape. The first one is a longer video taking us on a walk to Cruib Bothy, showing what they saw during the walk and the stay at the bothy:
The second one is a bit shorter and takes us on a drone flight over Ruantallain Estate. Some brilliant views and scenery:
I hope you enjoyed the two videos, Jura is definitely worth an excursion from Islay.
Some Islay wildlife not in their usual setting on dry land, but in the water at the south coast of Islay. Deer are good swimmers, they swim across the Sound of Islay between Islay and Jura quite regularly (I think someone even told me that occasionally they even swim across the Gulf of Corryvreckan, but I’m not sure of that). This stag was spotted by Jean Connor swimming near Kildalton:
Living and working in the south of England I don’t get many opportunities to hear live traditional/folk music, in particular from the vibrant Scottish scene. The main opportunity for me are my regular Islay visits, in particular the Islay Sessions when I can. That’s where I got to know Jenn & Laura Beth in November 2017 (after hearing Laura-Beth back in 2015). The sound quality isn’t as good as I would have liked (my microphone or more likely my recording capabilities struggled with the louder sections), but here’s a nice memory from the concert at Bruichladdich Hall:
Now here are some good news for those living in the south of England who would like to hear the two live and/or refresh memories from the Islay Sessions: They will play two shows in the south in early March.
I’ve got a ticket for the latter, very much looking forward to the concert! If you live further north (or in Belgium, they are coming over in Sep) check their website for further shows.
Update:
Unfortunately these two concerts (and more) had to be cancelled due to the “Beast fae the East” and “Storm Emma”, I hope they can be rescheduled for some other time. As a tiny consolation I’ll try to edit the remaining footage I’ve got from the Islay Sessions this weekend and get them uploaded.
Well, I had planned to share a short video from the Islay Sessions tonight, together with a mention that the artists in said video will soon be visiting the south of England. But then I spotted an error in the video, so it will have to wait for another day. Meaning I’m going to pull forward a video I had saved for another day, a very nice video about the Museum of Islay Life:
I hope you enjoyed the video and if you haven’t been yet (or even if you have been) it encouraged you to visit the museum (again).
Thought I’ll take you up in the air above Islay again today with two drone videos I’ve come across. The first one according to its title was more of a test, but as it has some very nice views of the snow capped hills of Jura (including the partly cloud covered Paps of Jura) I thought it was still worth sharing:
For the second video we travel across the island to the southern end of the Rhinns of Islay, to Portnahaven:
I hope you’ve enjoyed the videos from across Islay and Jura.
Linsay is, and she has prepared this warning for the competition, be ready for the Islay Pipe Band in 2018:
Looking forward to a successful 2018 season for the Islay Pipe Band!
Earlier this year I asked you to vote for Islay High at FilmG 2017. Almost a year has passed and now it’s time to vote for FilmG 2018 (GD/EN). However, if you read the title of this post carefully you’ll have noticed a subtle but important difference. I’m not just asking you to vote for Islay High’s entry, I’m asking you to vote for Islay’s entries. Plural. For this year there are two entries from Islay:
Let’s start with the newcomer: Bowmore Primary School has entered for the first time with a wonderful story of the Bowmore crimebusters apprehending a cake thief:
To vote for it you need to go to either the CÈIC NA FÌRINN (GD) or the CÈIC NA FÌRINN (EN) page (depending on your language skills) and click on the yellow voting button. You can also read more about their entry.
Moving on to the older ones at Islay High and their entry for this year. They have a strange and spooky tale of a jealous wife:
To vote for them you’ll have to visit the A’ BHEAN EUDACH (GD) or A’ BHEAN EUDACH (EN) page (again depending on your language skills) and use the yellow voting button. Again there’s a synopsis of the film you can read as well.
The awards ceremony will be broadcast on BBC Alba on Sunday 11/Feb/2018, so get voting soon to help Islay being well represented at the event.