Islay Info Updates

In the last couple of months several new pages have been added to the Islay Info website which I'd like to point out to you. The first new page is titled "Islay and the Sea" and is created together with Susan Campbell. This page explains the relationship Islay had, and still has, with its surrounding waters. Subjects like the boat building, commercial fishing, climate and weather, the Geography and most of all the history are covered. The sea has been the natural highway to Islay and the Scottish islands and coasts since the last Ice Age, connecting peoples and places for trade, war and all the cultural aspects of life. Only in recent times have lochs, rivers and seas been seen as borders or barriers. For thousands of years, the seas around Scotland allowed, even encouraged, people to move between the coasts and islands. In this respect it's easy to understand the relation between Islay and Northern Ireland. There will be a follow up on this page soon which will contain information from the underwater parts of the seas around Islay including the wonderful wildlife that lives in these waters. Here is a link to the new Islay and the Sea page. Continue reading...

The next two new pages, published in the Ileach, both describe tragic events in Islay's history. In the first page Rona MacKenzie recalls Islay's worst World War II tragedy, in which nine men lost their lives when a Sunderland flying boat crashed at Blackrock on Islay. The page contains some fascinating information into the events that lead to this terrible tragedy. Attached to this page is a letter from James Johnston which contains even more information and new insights. In the first World War another tragedy happened not far from the place where the Sunderland Flying boat exploded. It was on a a bitterly cold February evening in 1918 when the Anchor liner Tuscania was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the Irish Sea some seven miles south-west of Islay. The page describes in great detail what happened after the Tuscania was torpedoed and it's a real horror story. 166 soldiers and seamen lost their lives, now 92 years ago. A memorial was erected on the Mull of Oa by the American Government in 1919 which we now all now as the "American Monument".

The fourth new page is totally different from the three already mentioned. I decided to dedicate a page to the Tourist Information Centre in Bowmore. A place where quite a few visitors start their discovery of Islay/Jura, where you can get practical tourist information and where you can book/find accommodation. The page contains general information, opening hours and contact details.

Note: All the updates I make on the Islay Info website will be published on the Latest updates page.

Tag: islayinfo updates