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.
wondering wanderers
-
As in we are having days of needing suncream and midge spray closely followed by days of needing coats and even having the fire lit of an evening. Rum is forever consistent in her inconsistency! On the sunny days – of which there have thankfully been a fair few we have been outside making the...
Scottish Islands Explorer
-
The MV Filla, on its regular service to the Out Skerries jetty on Bruray, will not pass Bound Skerry, the most easterly point of Britain, but it will afford a good view of Easter Skerries (below) and, perhaps, a glimpse of Mio Ness, the 'narrow headland' (bottom) at the south-west end of...
-
The island of Ulva is well within the boundaries of Mull, but public access is currently by the passenger ferry above. It is not a large craft for the 4,600 acres that have been owned by the Howard family for over a century. Their £4.25 million sale of the island, recently announced, has been...
-
Thanks to Andy Strangeway, advocate and adventurer, we have an image of Bound Skerry, the most easterly point of the British Isles. The lighthouse, built in 1857, in the Out Skerries group of Shetland also had its means of construction and of delivering supplies - a railway. Apparently it was...
-
When it comes to remote railways in Britain, the one on Sule Skerry, 40 miles west of Orkney, comes into the extreme category. It is on the South Landing and was used for conveying rocks during the 1892 - 94 construction of the 88ft lighthouse on the 35-acre islet that rises 45ft above sea level....
-
Here is the lighthouse and dwelling on Little Ross, the island featured on the blog yesterday and still on the market today. The Caithness-based publisher, Whittles, is preparing for the October launch of its new book, Life and Death on Little Ross by David Collin. The author was there on the day...
-
Lighthouses have their secrets, but what happened on Little Ross, off the Dumfries & Galloway coast, in 1960 became a big news story. Now it is being revived with the prospective sale of the 29-acre island for an asking price of £325k. The details of the past are in the Daily Telegraph; the...
-
The Knowe of Swandro archaeological site on Rousay, Orkney, continues to spring surprises. The latest is the discovery of a mid-4th Century Roman coin. The last to be found in a comparable position was in sand dunes on the Western Isles about ten years ago. Go to the BBC website for the full story....
-
Both the design of the window and the view from this dwelling on Loch Duich are compelling. Take a look at more features of the house at Letterfearn and then learn about the Skye-based architectural company, Rural Design.Scottish Islands Explorer - subject to design and scrutinyDigital Edtion:...
-
Getting up the Old Man of Hoy has never been easy, but going there and back by tight-rope took Alexander Schulz, a German adventurer, into new dimensions - measuring 450ft above the sea and almost 200 yards for a one-way journey. The story from Orkney is covered by the BBC.Scottish Islands Explorer...
-
To find the connection between Stroma, the deserted Caithness island, and Neon Waltz, the John O'Groats-based band, go to the BBC website. The clue is an abandoned musical instrument that can still be played.Scottish Islands Explorer - brings the forgotten back to memories ...Digital Edition: ......
-
Iain Robertson, photographed here by Scott Mooney, will be joining the team of R&B as its whisky distiller at the new Isle of Raasay Distillery. It's due to open in September and will be the first legal still on the island. He is a recent graduate of the Heriot Watt Brewing and Distilling...
-
The official opening of the £16.5 million extension to Lerwick Harbour, Mair's Pier, has taken place. More cruise ships will be appearing on the horizon and their passengers thronging the town as well as visiting the island. Read about the new facilities on the BBC website.Scottish Islands Explorer...
-
When Daniel Start made a selection from his Hidden Beaches - Wild Things Publishing - for the The Telegraph, he chose three of his secret and stunning locations in Scotland. Two of these were on the islands - Fidden on Mull and Uig on Lewis. Take a quick look now, ready, perhaps, for a summer jaunt...
Plants of Skye, Raasay & The Small Isles
-
If anybody out there can help with these large sawfly larvae, I would be very grateful: Initially on Oenanthe crocata (Hemlock Water-dropwort), then on adjacent Juncus acutiflorus (Sharp-flowered Rush).
-
Last night’s moth trap had some fine specimens: Light Emerald Coxcomb Prominent and quite a few more.
-
Now available on the BSBI VC104 page . Derived from material presented on this blog.
-
I visited Suarbie near Maligar in Trotternish today. The day was neither as dry or as calm as had been forecast and the plants of tetrad NG46S were not that inspiring. The only previous records for the tetrad were of 11 species found in an unnamed loch in NG4664 by the NCC Scottish Loch Survey in...
-
An idle few moments on a wet day has led to this: No further comment , really…..
-
Yesterday, I parked at Keistle and headed east to record in tetrads NG45R & S. The former had one previous record – for Koenigia islandica (Iceland-purslane) with the comment “Needs checking – based on dots on photocopied map. W end of Beinnn an Lochain”. I found no sign...