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A short history of the Round Church in Bowmore
Thursday, November 20 2008
There can be no doubt that Islay’s most iconic building is the Kilarrow Parish Church which is better known as the Round Kirk at Bowmore. It continues to attract visitors from around the globe and all are impressed by the building’s unusual design, its sense of history and the palpable peace experienced within its sanctuary. The church was commissioned by Daniel Campbell, the Younger of Shawfield, then laird of the island, and was opened for public worship in 1769. The building work was carried out by Thomas Spalding at the invitation of Campbell who was well acquainted with Spalding’s trade skills as they were often utilised at mainland properties owned by the laird’s family.
Spalding was a native of Fife and a member of an old Scottish family who had been yeomen to the Earls of Moray. Following the completion of the Round Church he continued to live on the island where his services were much in demand in roads and bridge building locally and on the isle of Jura. Proof of his esteem and success as a builder led to Campbell offering him free land in any part of the island which appealed to him. Spalding, a man of independent mind, did not accept his benefactor’s generous offer. At the advanced age of 103 years, he laid the foundation stone to the extension Campbell was adding to his Islay House mansion at Bridgend. He died two years later at the patriarchal age of 105 years and is buried in Kilmeny cemetery. Continue reading....
Introducing Lesley Lutomski - Candles and Web Design
Wednesday, November 19 2008
She makes candles, he repairs bicycles, she builds websites, he paints pictures, he runs (half)marathons, she also likes knitting and tatting and they both live in Port Ellen. Do you have a clue already? This post is about Lesley Lutomski, wife of Jim Lutomski of whom I wrote a while back. I was triggered to write this post by an ad in last week's Ileach where I noticed a new website with a funny name I hadn't seen before. The address of the new site is www.webaflame.co.uk and belongs to Lesley Lutomski. Time for a wee introduction:
I'm Lesley Lutomski and I would like to welcome you to the only Web site I know which offers Web design services and hand-made candles. I live in Port Ellen, on the Isle of Islay in the Hebrides, where it has long been considered normal for folk to have more than one occupation. At first glance, Web design and candle-making may appear to be very different skills, but they have certain things in common. Since I was a child, I have been fascinated by colours, shapes and patterns, and these are important considerations in both parts of my business.
Lesley builds websites for starting and growing businesses on Islay and so far she created sites for Made on Islay Craft Markets, Becky Williamson, Islay and Jura Credit Union and for her husband Jim Lutomski to promote his art and bicycle shop. More information on web design can be found here. I was impressed to see all the images of the candles she made from Beeswax, Palm Wax, Paraffin Wax and Soy Wax. Lesley sells her candles on the Made on Islay markets and she has quite a large candle collection on display on her website which can be ordered by email, order form or by phone. Time for you to have a look at www.webaflame.co.uk
Tag: web design candles website made on islay
Ileach Calendar 2009
Wednesday, November 19 2008
The 2009 Ileach calendar will be on sale from Tuesday 11th November at the Ileach office. We were delighted to receive literally hundreds of photographs from readers following our appeal, and our staff had the pleasant, if difficult, task of choosing those they thought most appropriate. Photographs from Jan Walmsley, Charlotte Hannett, George Robertson, Carl Reavey, Graham Logie, Stanley Hunter, Oliver Straub, Donnie McNeill, Lloret Allan, Alistair Hutchinson, Pat Elliott, Ron Steenvoorden, Emma Reid, Susan Campbell, and Robert Fitzsimmons were finally chosen.
We are grateful not only to these contributors, but also to those whose work we were unable to use owing to the unfortunate limit imposed by the Romans on the number of months in the year. Many thanks everybody.
The 2009 calendar, which contains superb views of Islay, see image below, can be ordered by sending an email to calendar@ileach.co.uk. The calendars are ÂŁ7.50 each, two for ÂŁ14 or three for ÂŁ21 (plus postage where applicable). Order now to surprise a friend, family member or as a present for yourself.
Click on the image for more detailed calendar images
Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum
Tuesday, November 18 2008
There is more going on at Bruichladdich than whisky, given the press release Bruichladdich submitted last week about the 2008 collection of Renegade Rum. To get you in the mood, first some information of a previous press release from last year. "A new premium brand has been launched specialising in rare, single-distillery rums. The Renegade Rum Company offers small batch bottlings of quality unvatted Caribbean rums, from distilleries - and even specific stills that often no longer exist.
The big rum names Bacardi, Captain Morgan etc are well known; yet very little is known about the old local distilleries, their celebrated stills and style differences. The brand is the work of Scotch whisky specialists Murray McDavid – the Islay based independent bottler – renowned for pioneering cask policy and selection. The RRC’s Mark Reynier: 'Three years ago we began to explore rum, tracking down casks from single distilleries, even specific legendary stills, many now defunct. The Rum market is similar to the whisky world in many ways: both are dominated by multinationals, big marketing, and blended spirit destined for mixers & cocktails. Equally the distilleries: Scotland’s Port Ellen, Brora and Lochside were history before anyone could discover their true star status; so it has been in the Caribbean. And many plantations were founded by Scots. That overseas money led to a Scotch distilling boom - and a hint of post-colonial and slavery-induced guilt I expect. It’s this puritan aura of ill-gotten gains that may have prevented Rum from being taken too seriously. Continue reading.....
Second Silo Taken down at Port Ellen Maltings
Monday, November 17 2008After the first silo at Diageo's Port Ellen Maltings collapsed in the early hours of Friday last week, the second silo was taken down as well due to the fact that this one was damaged by the collapse of the first silo and became instable. At this moment the main road is still closed and there is a lot of police on the scene, I don't think Islay has seen so many policemen on the island at the same time before.
The pictures below, in chronological order, tell the complete story. They were taken by Yvonne Anderson who lives close by. Thanks Yvonne.
Islay Nature Report 45 - Long Tailed Duck
Sunday, November 16 2008
Welcome to this weeks Islay Nature and Wildlife report. The format of the Nature Report has changed somewhat and from now on the report will be solely written by Jeremy Hastings, apart from the weeks that he is not able to.
This weeks Islay nature report, nr 42, by Jeremy Hastings, the Islay Wilderness Guide: Well what a week! The continuous storm was quite something blowing steady till thursday. It started in the south and slowly headed west with Tuesday night at gale force 8 to 9! Trees are now naked and birds cling on to anything they can, I watched barnacle geese at the start of the week heading from Laggan roost to Port Charlotte and ending up flying towards Craigfad - two kilometers south! Waves were breaking over Shore Street in port Charlotte. Luckily these are empty in the Winter save one or two so the folks will not be too washed out. No wonder we have to whitewash the houses yearly!
As the wind blew itself out so the weather turned and we were back on flat calm by Wednesday. Superb for birding and the clients I had with me - who had been a couple of times before fancied exploring Loch Indaal. We started at the ICCI - the Gaelic Centre. As we set up I heard the calling of the Whooper swan, seven of them arrived. We watched in awe and they settled down with other Whoopers calling to them and they returned the call. Then, after only ten minutes they took off heading southerly down the Loch. Just arriving and then gone. We held our breath amazed at witness them and their migration in action. It was the start of an amazing day. We saw all three species for diver, Red Throat - with their supercilious , nose-in-the-air, attitude, the Black Throated; 's' shaped neck and white 'thigh' marking which shows just above the water line, and the Great Northern Diver - nuclear submarine like - sitting dark and purposeful on the flat calm sea. We even spotted a couple in a remnant of summer plumage. Continue reading.....
Ardbeg's Visitor Centre Best in Scotland
Saturday, November 15 2008
The Glenmorangie Company’s Ardbeg Distillery Visitor Centre has been named 'Best Visitor Attraction' at the Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky awards in Glasgow. The Visitor Centre, which remains one of the leading visitor attractions on Islay, already carries a Visit Scotland '4-star' rating and more recently has undergone a significant refurbishment programme during 2008. Glenmorangie Company Chief Executive Paul Neep said: 'This is a prestigious award from one of the leading whisky industry magazines. There is no doubt that passion and pride our people have for their work and brands and the tremendous welcome they deliver for all visiting the Ardbeg Distillery has had a major influence on the decision,' he added.
The Glenmorangie Company’s unveiled a major two-year investment programme in the summer worth £45 million, which will see the Company focus on building its highly successful, premium single malt Scotch whisky brands – Glenmorangie and Ardbeg. The two-year development programme includes the relocation of its headquarters to central Edinburgh, the construction of a new bottling facility and increasing the capacity at the Glenmorangie Distillery in Tain and at the Ardbeg Distillery. The company also scooped the prestigious Whisky Magazine’s 'Innovator of the Year' award for three bold new product innovations including Ardbeg Blasda.
This story was published with kind permission of the Ileach local newspaper. Image courtesy and copyright Mark Unsworth of Islay Studios.
Tag: ardbeg award visitor centre
Islay Panorama Kilchoman Road Looking North West
Saturday, November 15 2008Every now and then I have a look at my panorama images of Islay. I don't know how you look at them, but for me looking at these panorama pictures is almost like actually being there and seeing everything all over again. This week I want to show you a panorama picture which I took a couple of weeks ago on a passing place at the Kilchoman road. It had been raining all night and early morning too and suddenly the rain cleared and the sun came out. The panorama shows the houses on the left near Machir Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and Loch Gorm. Click on the image for the full panorama (in a new window).
Tag: panorama photography kilchoman loch gorm
Storage Bin Diageo Collapsed
Friday, November 14 2008I received the following email from George Rhind this evening: A quick e-mail to say that one of the two huge conical storage bins at the North end of the Port Ellen Maltings, owned by Diageo, collapsed this morning, fortunately without injuring anyone.  I did try to get you some pictures but the light was so poor and I couldn't get close enough to take anything worthwhile.  Some of the nearby Argyll Community Housing Association houses were evacuated, presumably on the grounds that if one bin has collapsed then the structure of the other one would need to be checked out and it would be a wise precaution to move adjacent tenants until this has been done. The main road into and out of Port Ellen is closed and traffic is being diverted over the single-track road at Emerivale.
Three questions occur to me in the short term:
(a) In the present circumstances, will the Maltings continue to operate?
(b) What about the malt which the Malting supplies to two (or is it three?) other Islay Distilleries?
(c) How soon can we have the main road opened? The Emerivale road is unsuitable for the heavy articulated lorries which regularly come off the CalMac ferry at Port Ellen.
More information will be published when it comes available
 
Islay Seasonwatch - Pinkfoot Geese
Friday, November 14 2008
A very warm welcome to this new series of Islay Seasonwatch. Ron has kindly invited me, Teresa Morris of Islay Wildscapes to make a regular contribution to his Islay weblog on a Friday evening. I will be exploring Islay's tremendous wealth of wildlife and special landscapes during the coming months by focusing on individual species or habitats and providing some interesting facts and figures on the marvels of nature at its very best. This will complement the excellent Nature Reports which are reported on a Sunday evening. By discovering more about Islay's wildlife it will help you to enjoy your walks on Islay throughout the ever changing seasons or if you are reading this from afar you can enjoy the very special nature of Islay.
As we are now moving into winter and the majority of geese have arrived from the north or are still migrating southwards to their wintering grounds it is timely to reflect on the range of seven geese species which can be seen on Islay. Last Sunday I introduced the Greylag geese to you. If you were able to visit the Loch Gorm area recently you may have been fortunate to see the small number of Pinkfeet Geese interspersed with the wintering mixed flocks of Barnacle and Greenland White-fronted Geese as passage migrants on their southward journey during September and October feeding in the stubbles.
Pink Footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus), Icelandic and Greenland Population, by Teresa Morris from Islay Wildscapes. (Picture shows Pinkfoot Geese in the foreground together with Greylag in the background)
Population and Distribution: The entire population of Pink Footed geese are migratory. The breeding Icelandic and Eastern Greenland birds which travel via Iceland, mostly arrive in Scotland from late August until October. Skeins of passage migrants stop over on Islay and the Western Isles on their southward migration to mainland Britain to feed on grass and stubble fields. As winter progresses the flocks become more fragmented and disperse on the British mainland according to weather conditions and availability of food. The geese start to return north to their breeding grounds from late April to mid May.
The Pinkfoot Goose is an internationally important Species of Conservation Concern listed as amber. Information on the Pinkfooted Goose conservation and population status is provided by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in conjunction with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. They undertake an annual programme of monitoring the Icelandic Breeding Goose Census. The results of the 2007 monitoring can be read in the WWT report, 2007 Status and distribution of Icelandic-breeding geese. Continue reading.....
