The number of articles I've published on this blog about the Scottish Ferries Review is an almost endless list and they were either speculations of a possible outcome, opinions from the Ileach Newspaper or articles from the Scottish Government regarding the procedure of the Ferries Review and the relevant doucments. The title of this article shows that things are about to change and not for the better so please bear with me.

Let me take you back to the beginning. A few years ago the Scottish Government started the Scottish Ferries Review: "Scotland’s island communities make a substantial contribution to the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of our nation. Ferry links to these islands and our remote communities are therefore an integral part of Scotland’s transport network. That is why we have placed so much importance on carrying out the Scottish Ferries Review."

The Ferries Review so far:
The Scottish Government tried to ensure that the focus of the Review was on the cost of the ferry services, the level and type of services, who is responsible for providing these services and are they done in the most environmentally friendly way. The Ferries Review Consultation Document from 2010 asked for opinions about how ferry services could be delivered in the future. The outcome was written down in a Draft Ferries Plan for which consultation followed later that year. At the end of 2011 the "Final Draft Plan for Consultation" was published and again the government asks for your opinion to finalise the Draft and to create a Final Plan for the next ten years, which is a long time making this a very important phase in the whole process. Continue reading....

The Argyll and Bute Council issued a press release today about the status of the pier reconstruction in Port Ellen: "Dredging works within the inner and outer harbours will be commencing 8th February 2012 and will continue for approximately 1 month. Immediately thereafter, rock armour will be placed within some of the dredged areas and this work is estimated to continue for a further period of approximately 1 month. Both operations will involve a number of vessels manoeuvring around the inner and outer harbour. All vessels will display appropriate navigation lights and marks at all times.

"In addition, works to complete sheet piling around the new pier, which are being undertaken from land, will require the pier head navigation light to be moved (both in plan position and elevation) during the next phases of construction works. The position will remain within 10 metres of the published position (55°37.605’N 006°11.444’W) and the contractor will ensure it is visible at all times. It is expected that the construction works will be advanced enough by mid-March 2012 to enable a new navigation light to be permanently installed, at which time a further press release will be issued.

"The main pier will remain closed to all vessels for the duration of the works. The fish quays will remain open for the duration of the works and safe navigational passage will be maintained at all times for all commercial and recreational users of the inner harbour at Port Ellen. All harbour users are advised to navigate with care at all times."

Tag: port ellen pier ferry harbour

Below is a fragment of what looks like something from a BBC Alba show. In the video you can see the cattle of James Brown from Octomore at the Islay Auction Mart in Bridgend. The Islay farmers had a good day with over 1,400 cattle for sale that day and you meet Heather, apparantly the woman who ate a cow. Enjoy!

Tag: video islay auction

Mark from Islay Studios sent me a couple of interesting pictures of works presently being carried out in Port Ellen. The severe storm in January caused quite a lot of roof damage to Ramsay Hall which is now being repaired by a builder hired by the council. Below you can see the current state of the works.

Repairs to the roof slates at Ramsay Hall in Port Ellen

Another work in progress is the extension of the pier in Port Ellen to be able to moor the Finlaggan Ferry which wasn't possible before. Port Ellen is currently closed for all ferry traffic and the planning is that the Calmac terminal will re-open somewhere around the start of the summer timetable end of March, although it's not sure if that date can be met. The shot of the pier below shows the shuttering in place and the digger on the end of the pier who is demolishing the old mooring dolphin. A new one will probably be put in place.

The pier in Port Ellen under construction

Continue reading.....

The Ellister Show by Jane Dawson: The Ellister Show was started in 1979 and continued for 13 years to 1992. The idea of it was that as there was only one show a year, pony people didn’t get the opportunity to get their ponies accustomed to the sights and sounds of a show. Many mainland folk attend a show most weekends during the summer; we wanted to provide another chance for ponies to do a “practice run” before attending the Islay Show.

Ellister Show in earlier days

Having organised her wedding at Ellister last year, my daughter Lucy came up with idea of starting up the Ellister Show again, so perhaps rather stupidly (since I am somewhat immobile) I agreed. The purpose will be to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK, while encouraging an interest in native ponies and minority breeds sheep and hopefully having entertaining events at the same time. Continue reading....

I've been playing around with various ideas for mobile devices for a while now and I recently came across something interesting. Since Smartphones have the future I decided to start a new way to keep Islay Info website visitors connected with the latest updates, an Isle of Islay Info Android App, which is now live in Google's App Market.

This new App combines several Islay Info newsfeeds into one stream with the possibility to "star" items for later reading. Individual items in the stream can be shared via the connected social media platforms available from your phone. There is a search option to find the locally stored articles and the App has a button which shows the latest ten articles.

The App has a settings screen with many options. The stream of articles refreshes itself by default every 12 hours but it can also be set to a shorter interval together with various options for refreshing with WiFi, during roaming or you can choose to update manually. There are also options for a different theme, various fonts and font sizes, the way articles appear and many many others. You can also delete feeds from the app and add your own feed. The app comes in almost any language, the articles only in english. Another great feature is widgets, you can add widgets to you homescreen of each individual feed.

In the next weeks I will monitor the usage of the App and see what recommendations I receive which will then be used for future updates. Here is a direct link to the App in the Android Market. You can also find the App on your phone's Market by searching for the keyword Islay. I hope you enjoy the App and I welcome any feedback.

Tag: android smartphone app

I've found a lengthy article today about billionaire merchant banker and landowner Bruno Schroder, owner of Dunlossit Castle near Port Askaig, and his family. The article, completely in German, paints an interesting portrait of the bankers family, their history, and their current (financial) position. I've translated a section of the page, the part that relates to Islay, into English with a little help from Google Translate. A translated quote:

"The Schroders company has its headquarters in London. In 25 countries they operate 32 offices with 2,900 employees. It manages assets for private and institutional investors and pension funds and is active in private banking. Bruno Baron von Schroder, as he is known in Germany, lives on the Dunlossit Estate on the Scottish island of Islay. There are not too many people, but 30 000 sheep - 2,000 of them are his own - a few thousand stags, a place called Black Rock and the Laphroaig distillery, which burns a fairly strict Scotch to match the climate of Scotland's west coast. Schroders favorite dram comes from Bruichladdich, also on Islay, and does not taste quite as peaty." Continue reading....

I found out about Laddie TV last week when the first videos were uploaded. On Saturday I posted a video of Jim McEwan and Mark Reynier in which they discussed how one should enjoy an Islay Single Malt Whisky. What I forgot to mention is that the video was one of many videos in the new Laddie TV Youtube channel. Today Mark Reynier reminded me of that fact when he posted a new blog on the Bruichladdich Website.

Mark wrote: "For the first time in one place we have various tasting videos, distillery profiles, special events and general video clips taken over the last decade. Laddie TV has a wide variety of film, both in quality with some professionally produced, like the Crow's Nest Films distillery profile used for a bank advertisement, and others which are more spontaneous, off-the-cuff, amateur video. We have chosen the video for the content, not necessarily the production values."

I think it's a great selection already and I look forward to seeing more new videos arriving online!

Tag: bruichladdich youtube laddie