West Coast Islands Blogs
Blogs (web logs) provide an ideal opportunity to explore the traditions, culture and wildlife of Wild Lochaber. We have put together a collection of local blogs and provide the titles and text snippets to give a taste of each entry with direct links to the main blog entry on the host website. We hope you will find time to explore the full articles and further information on the host blog sites.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any suggestions for blogs you would like to see here.
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Derek Paterson was at Laig Bay, Isle of Eigg, when his photographic interests aroused curiosity. See how others captured ways of looking at places, people and animals in the latest Your Pictures of Scotland from the BBC.Scottish Islands Explorer - plenty on which to focusDigital Edition: takes...
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What a madly busy week we’ve had. Last Saturday we did our cleaning job in the morning and then as the weather was so glorious we collected Davies and Bonnie and some ice lollies in a bag of ice and headed down to the beach near our house. We are about half a mile up a track through oak...
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Life here is starting to shape into what it might look like moving ahead. And it’s a whole lot of part time somethings. Which suits us perfectly. No chance to get bored or feel like we are spending too much time doing any one thing. Life on Rum was a whole lot of part time somethings; working...
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Lifestyles on Orkney are often praised; living near Stromness is highly-regarded; life as a smallholder has its devotees. There's a property, needing attention, on sale at Miran that could attract the attention of some. It comprises a cottage, outbuildings and over six acres - for offers over £150k...
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Neil has now paddled to the east side of Longay to record in NG63Q and in passing had a look at the northern tip of Pabay where NG62U features on the list of VC104 tetrads. The latter, as shown on the OS map, has no land above the high water mark and unsurprisingly, Neil found it to contain no...
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Here are two perspectives of the Ashaig Airfield, Broadford on Skye, concerning which there is news of approval for a resumption of services to Scotland's Central Belt. The Press and Journal has the story.Scottish Islands Explorer - nothing like air travel for accessDigital Edition: likewise has...
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The recent Spring sunshine has meant that once again the attributes of the Isle of Tiree are to the fore. It's accustomed to being one of the sunnier spots of Britain. Take a look at what's on offer throughout this Inner Hebridean island here.Scottish Islands Explorer - Tiree is one of those iconic...
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Orkneylodge was constructed as an hotel in 1997 and enjoys an impressive location on the shore of Scapa Flow. It's now advertised as a 16-bed detached house through Zoopla. Take a look inside.Scottish Islands Explorer - runs to 52-pagesDigital Edition: available through all large houses
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Yesterday Skye Botany Group went to Kilmaluag to record in a poorly recorded area and try to re-find Tea-leaved Willow last reported there in 1997. We added Chara virgata (Delicate Stonewort), Meconopsis cambrica (Welsh Poppy), Scrophularia nodosa (Common Figwort) and Cortaderia richardii (Early...
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Taking a look around Skye online can give refreshing insights. The Isle of Skye Photo Gallery has many images provided by local photographers and Scotland from the Sky has an astonishing re-creation of the Vikings impact on the south of the island.Scottish Islands Explorer - a magazine that loves...
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Plans are being made by some Unst, Shetland, residents, to erect a life-size statue of a ghost, the White Wife of Watlee, that has appeared to single men on a lonely stretch of road on the island. Go to The Press and Journal for details of this rather unusual community project.Scottish Islands...
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I had never been into tetrad NG41P at the southern end of the Cuillins and there were only 21 post-1999 records for it plus about the same from before. Yesterday I went with the intention of doing something about that by visiting the two lochans, the Allt Coir a’ Ghrunnda and the higher rocks...
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The design is remarkably simple, but it's the flag approved for Barra, at the lower end of the Outer Hebrides. Now Eriskay, Benbecula and North Uist - part of the chain of islands further north - wish for designs of flags of their own and you can be part of the process. Look at the BBC item on the...
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A misty morning and crofting cottages on Bressay, Shetland, form the photo taken by Steven Donaldson and featured in the current BBC Your Pictures of Scotland. Here is a varied compilation of images to enjoy.Scottish Islands Explorer - photographic opportunities everywhereDigital Edition: enables...
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Some people commemorate others in remarkable ways. Two intrepid adventurers have followed in the Arctic-based footsteps of the Orcadian explorer, Dr John Rae, and completed the journey. An account of this achievement is in The Press and Journal.Scottish Islands Explorer - takes the level of...
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A walk along the shore and adjacent woodlands near Duisdalemore yesterday was very useful in terms of re-finding plants not recorded in the whole of NG71 since before 2000. Ceratocapnos claviculata (Climbing Corydalis), Mentha aquatica (Water Mint), Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn) and Suaeda maritima (...
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Ronay in North Uist has not been inhabited since 1931, although a hundred years previously it had a population of 180. Apparently it may be rented for holiday purposes and its house looks to be in good condition. The island has, according to Hamish Haswell-Smith, attracted religious interests, with...
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The travel plans of residents of Yell, Unst and Fetlar have been affected by a fire on board the MV Diggri on Monday morning. The ship that normally sails out of Toft on Shetland Mainland is out of service and, once again the vulnerability of island life is evident. The Shetland Times has a...
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For various reasons I’ve found myself talking about me a lot the last week or so. OK, I concede I talk about myself a lot generally but usually that is more habit than actually being asked! The last couple of weeks have meant introducing myself a fair few times – at my friend’s...
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We visited the eastern ridge of Sgùrr nan Gillean yesterday whh was a great day but we again failed to find the Kalmia procumbens (Trailing Azalea) recorded there in 1982. I am now wondering if we should have gone higher. However, we did find Anthostemella alchemillae, a small fungus that grows on...
