Islay Blog News Feed - Short Version

Video of Nissan Leaf at Bruichladdich Distillery

ron — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:35:14 +0100

Mark Reynier, MD of Bruichladdich Distillery, talks about sustainable energy and his Nissan Leaf which is powered via the BioWayste system that generates electricity from the distilleries' waste products. Enjoy!

Tag: bruichladdich ...

Islay High School Students Going for a John Muir Award

ron — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:53:26 +0100

This summer on Islay we’re seeing an innovative new project - Comunn na Gàidhlig are coordinating a project involving 5 high schools in the Highlands and Islands where, for the first time ever, pupils can gain a John Muir Award in Gaelic. 4 Islay High School pupils have been working on this since the beginning of the year, focussing on Loch Gruinart as their ‘wild place’, an area known both for its abundant wildlife and its fascinating hist ...

New Bird Hide for RSPB Loch Gruinart Islay

ron — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:00:52 +0100

On Tuesday 24th April the Islay birdwatching club officially opened the brand new hide on RSPB’s Loch Gruinart reserve. It couldn’t have been a better evening; with beautiful weather, home baking, entertaining calves, active wildlife, and a whisky dram for all.

Islay birdwatchers in front of the newly opened hide at Loch Gruinart

Th ...

Celtic Pillage Video

ron — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:25:20 +0100

I found a photo compilation this morning on Youtube of the Islay and Irish rowing crews getting ready to pillage whisky in 2003. Besides views of the rowers, Port Ellen and other images I noticed a nice picture of someone sitting on a yellow submarine holding a USSR flag. Enjoy!

Tag: video ...

What's on on Islay Weekly PDF

ron — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:25:37 +0100

Now that the 2012 Tourist Season is in full swing, even more so with the Feis Ile coming up in a few weeks, you can expect regular PDF downloads on this blog with all the activities listed by day on Islay titled "What's on on Islay".

The initiative for the "What's on on Islay this week" was started in 2009 by the Islay and Jura Marketing and Tourism Group. Up until last year Maggie Woodman provided the weekly updates but Maggie retired from ...

Stunning Jura Pictures by Niall Colthart

ron — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:43:57 +0100

Today I'm taking you on a virtual tour to the neighbouring island of Jura. Niall Colthart was kind enough to sent me ten breathtaking images of a trip he made yesterday up the Paps of Jura. In between the pictures you can find Niall's comments. Niall: The initial intention was to see how far up the highest Pap, Beinn an Oir (the mountain of gold) I could get my bike as the ground here is fairly dry at the moment. When I arrived at Port Askaig the cloud was completely covering the Paps and I seriously considered plan B which was ...

Northern Studies Conference in Islay

ron — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:50:39 +0100

The Scottish Society for Northern Studies, a society founded in 1968 to explore the relationships between the Scandinavian, Celtic and Scottish cultures, invited all 'Ileach’ readers to an evening of free talks on Islay landscape and heritage in the Round Church, Bowmore on Thursday evening 12th April. Attending the evening of talks were 50 or so conference delegates, joined by the 'Ileach’ and a few other Islay people. The event’s organisers ...

Take Care in The Countryside this Spring

ron — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:20:53 +0100

The National Farmers Union of Scotland (NFUS) gave important advice for people in the countryside on Islay and other parts of Scotland: As people head out to enjoy the countryside this spring, NFU Scotland reminds everyone to take special care around newborn lambs and calves and to be careful not to disturb them. Spring weekends are traditionally taken as an opportunity to get out and enjoy the countryside, but this period also marks one of the most important and busy periods for livestock farmers when lambing and calving is well under way. While encouraging the public to go out and enj ...

An Islay Cuckoo and more on Flickr

ron — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:11:00 +0100

Flickr has a huge amount of Islay pictures and a quick search on keyword Islay learns that there are currently around 53,613 pictures somehow related to Islay alone. Perhaps when I search for other Islay related keywords there are likely even more images available.

Today I've found a nice collection of Islay and Jura images taken by Dutchmen Ted van den Bergh. His ...

Design a Tartan for 18th Birthday of Friends of Laphroaig

ron — Sat, 05 May 2012 15:15:49 +0100

Last week over half a million whisky and Islay fans all over the world received an email from John Campbell, distillery manager of Laphroaig Distillery, about the 18th birthday of the Friends of Laphroaig (FOL). In fact, there were 502,015 friends of the Islay Distillery to be precise who received this email and these are staggering numbers. This month it's 18 years ago that Laphroaig started with the FOL activities and I myself joined ...