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.
Scottish Islands Explorer
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The search for a new teacher on the Isle of Muck is over. There were eight applicants for what appears to be an idyllic island post. There are nine pupils in the primary school and a thriving community of around 30 - who get by without a church, shop or post office. So it's an appointment that...
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Here is one of the images captured by Tomasz Szatewicz of a rare rainbow show on Skye. He is a landscape photographer and his early morning assignment on the island appears in the Daily Record.Scottish Islands Explorer - new issue soon dawning on doormats and shelvesDigital Edition: see what's on...
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If you have sufficient capital and commitment for a project, here's an opportunity to purchase three-and-a-half acres, a fine view from Vinbreck, Sandwick, Orkney, a farmhouse and extensive out-buildings albeit in a derelict state - with offers of over £160k invited. The courageous could...
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Alistair McIntosh, from Sydney, was heading for Staffa when his camera lens caught the eye of a dolphin. The image now features among the gallery of entries in the BBC's Your Pictures of Scotland from 3 - 10 August.Scottish Islands Explorer - vigilant and watchful about island occurrencesDigital...
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First comes the long-established human-activity of stone-balancing on a beach. Then comes a craze for the interest as at Skaill Beach, near Skara Brae, Orkney, where the micro-landscape is altered.Finally an expert appears - claiming, understandably, that the pastime leads to meditation. Read about...
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There is something particularly appealing about this Victorian villa with views over a harbour, holms and beyond. It's in an elevated position in Stromness, a significant access port for Orkney, where people rate the quality of life rather highly. Offers are invited over £310k. For images plus...
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Here is a house where 'getting-away-from-it-all' applies. It's the former Head Gamekeeper's House at Valamus at the southern, seashore end of the Pairc which is in the south-east corner of the Isle of Lewis. The aerial shot from Scotlands Places shows its proximity to its only access route, the sea...
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The Inner Hebridean island of Raasay is branching out with trials of different varieties of barley. The names of three of the four have a Nordic ring to them. There's the Icelandic Iskria; the Swedish Anneli; the Norwegian Brage; together with the British Golden Promise. Discover more through the...
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There is quite a contrast between the high point on the Flannan Isles, where the lighthouse keepers worked, and the almost suburban look to their former shore station, where they rested and families lived, at Breasclete, Lewis.There are plans for a prospective community bid to acquire the latter to...
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When three of the so-called Storegga Landslides occurred along 180 miles of the Norwegian continental shelf in approximately 6225 - 6170 BCE, some 8000 years ago, tsunami resulted. Research into these happenings is being currently undertaken in Orkney and features on the BBC website.Scottish...
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Plastic is currently receiving a bad press. Here is a stag threatened by entanglement in South Uist. Read the story in Hebrides News.Scottish Islands Explorer - bundled in cardboard; dispatched in plasticDigital Edition: free of it
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On Tuesday 15 August there will be a new, official route on the marketing map - The Hebridean Whisky Trail - taking you through Skye to Harris. Click here to see what's on offer.Scottish Islands Explorer - carry a copy on the journeyDigital Edition: click to discover the essence of an edition
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This example of Giant Rhubarb was photographed at Brodick, Arran. Its variety originated in South America and has been grown successfully in mild, moist climates as an ornamental plant. However, it has become a nuisance in parts of the Western Isles, particularly on grazing lands. Plans to...
Plants of Skye, Raasay & The Small Isles
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A few days ago I discovered that a batch of records from the 1987 NCC Freshwater Loch Survey had an incorrect grid reference, putting them in tetrad NG33J rather than NG33Z. NG33J had looked moderately well recorded in terms of numbers of species and had not got onto my To Do list. However, once...
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Two recent visitors to our garden: a Spiked Shieldbug (Picromerus bidens) Picromerus bidens not all that common in the northwest, and a Diving Beetle (Dytiscus semisulcatus) Dytiscus semisulcatus that appeared to mistake our black car for a dark peaty pool. It took off and flew around for a while...
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Back in June, Joyce and I found Inula Hookeri (Hooker’s Fleabane) at Knott and now, in addition to the clump by Storr Lochs, Seth has found a third colony at Uig. Inula Hookeri There were no previous records for VC104. Martin has been finding Cryptogramma crispa (Parsley Fern) around Glamaig...
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John has found Acaena inermis (Spineless Acaena) on the Quiraing path – a totally new area: Seth, Tony and I went to the Storr yesterday to check out some of the rarities but on the way back Tony spotted a large yellow fleabane by the roadside which turns out to be Inula hookeri (Hooker...
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If I could get our cucumber to do this all the time, I reckon they would be worth a fortune Cuke 1 Surely chefs would love this: cuke 2
wondering wanderers
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It’s August. When I was a child August was the summer really, the whole of the month was school holidays. My parents were both self employed and so school holidays were often spent going to work with one or other of them – with Dad that meant riding in the back of his van (in the days...
Treshnish Farm
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The fields have had a late summer coat on for a couple of weeks now. A canopy of flowing grass seedheads of golden above the tiny Eyebright, Red Bartsia and Hawkweeds below. Breaking up the grasses are the piercing blues of Devils bit scabious.It was such a huge relief to get the water...