Inhabited west coast Scottish Islands

Islay is Scotland’s fifth largest island. It is also the southern most of the Inner Hebrides - with only Arran and Holy Island in the Firth of Clyde being further south. From the southern tip, at the Mull of Oa (the ‘a’ is not pronounced), the coast of Northern Ireland can clearly be seen (on a good day with no clouds obscuring the view).
Having been to Islay several times (three that I can recall - but see below) it was not on my bucket list but it is, of course, an inhabited, west coast Scottish Island, so (like many others I had already visited prior to creating my bucket list) I have to include it in my list of islands which meet the above criteria.
Islay, in many respects, is a very varied island. There are low lying areas which are farmed and other hilly areas which are home to sheep and deer herds. The hills are not particularly high, with the highest, Beinn Bheigeir, reaching to only just over 1600 feet (which, I suppose, is high enough). The island’s population is about 3200 which is spread around the island (apart from in the wilder area on the east coast between Port Askaig, Ardtalla and Port Ellen along with a couple of smaller areas). There are a couple of what can be described as small towns, namely Port Ellen and Bowmore (the Capital). In addition to that there are many villages and small fishing ports dotted around, like Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte, Portnahaven and Bridgend. In addition to those there are many smaller hamlets and villages dotted all around the island. It is also the stopping off point for several species of geese which is a sight to behold if you are there at the right time of year.
Islay is is reached by Cal-Mac ferry from Kennacraig on the west coast of Kintyre or, once a week (normally), by ferry from Oban which goes via the island of Colonsay. There are two routes to Islay from Kennacraig, one sailing to Port Askaig in the Sound of Islay and the other sailing to Port Ellen on the south coast of the island. There is also an airport so you can fly to it from both Glasgow or Oban. There are also many beaches, so an ideal place to visit for those who wish to enjoy the sandy beaches along with hills walks and visiting historical sites. The historical sites include the ruined church at Kildalton with it’s excellent Celtic cross, which is one of the finest in Scotland. There is also another ruined church at Kilnave, on the western side of Loch Gruinard, with another interesting, if badly worn, Celtic cross and another at Kilchoman on the Rinns above Machir Bay. There are also several ruined castles including: Dunyvaig, on the south coast east of Port Ellen, and Finlaggan in the north of the island, a short distance west of Port Askaig. The latter is particularly of interest as this, for a time, was the seat of the Lord of the Isles and therefore of great historical importance. The more inhabitable areas are also littered with standing stones, stone circles and cairns - although, never having visited any of these, I cannot say how worthwhile visiting these would be. I did not come across any photographs of those so I would suspect they are not outstanding examples. Still, it might be fun using a map to locate and hunt some of them down. As mentioned above, there are many small villages and hamlets scattered around the island and several days could easily be spent visiting these and wandering around in them. This is helped by a network of roads which provide many possible routes to explore. The main industries of Islay are; farming, fishing, tourism and, of course, malt whisky production - so, in addition to all the other activities mentioned above, visiting the many distilleries is another which can be undertaken. It’s normally stated that there are eight such distilleries - but some fold and new ones open, so giving an exact number is not wise. Many of these (maybe all) have visitor centres, so another day or two can easily be spent visiting some of those - although adding this to village and beach visits, on any particular day, would ensure a day well filled. Having said that, once you’ve visited one distillery then you’ve visited them all as they are all basically the same. In addition to all of that, Islay provides much in the way of visitor facilities, including hotels, places to eat, a golf course (on the shores of Loch Indall, not far from Port Ellen) and a putting green in Port Ellen. There is also a bus service which might be helpful for those visiting without their own transport. If there is a down side to Islay it’s that it more often seems like a part of the mainland rather than an island.
I am not going to say any more about Islay because there is an extensive Wikipedia article on it. This article includes, for example, a detailed explanation of the island’s varied geography and for anyone visiting it is well worth reading. It has to be said that Islay itself is well worth visiting and it provides much of what most visitors to Scottish islands would hope for and a stay of two weeks, or more, would be easily filled. One word of warning, however. From my experience, last time I was on Islay, it can be very expensive. This was in 2012 and I was there with a group of friends to scatter the ashes of another friend, of many years, who had sadly succumbed to cancer. This friend loved his malt whisky and his sister (I presume it was) decided that scattering his ashes at one of the distilleries was apt. The friends I was out with were all in couples or in groups but I travelled alone. On the morning of the day we were due to return home I found myself alone in Bowmore - and needing breakfast. I found a small cafe on Bowmore’s Main Street. I was shocked at the menu prices - but I needed, as said, my breakfast. I ordered a full, fried breakfast as I didn’t know when my next meal that day would be (maybe not until the afternoon sailing back to Kennacraig) - which came at a cost of just under £10. At that time I could have purchased, in my home town of Greenock, a breakfast of similar quality and quantity for around £3. I know that areas that rely on tourist business, to generate the money to see them through the winter, need to boost their prices a bit when they’ve got the trade - but I figured £10 for a cooked breakfast, back in 2012, was a bit extreme. So, be warned, unless this was an exception, that a holiday on Islay might be costly.
A mention of how Islay should be pronounced is also probably in order. I have always known it pronounced as Isle-a. That is, ‘isle’ as in the word ‘isle’ - as in Isle of Skye - followed by ‘a’, as in land. However, the Wikipedia article seems to suggest it should be pronounced as ‘eye-la’. That, however, might be down to me not understanding the phonetics used to assist pronunciation as the included audio clip suggests my pronunciation is correct. However, the audio pronunciation in another article suggests it should be Ee-la (a long E which tails off). The pronunciation of place names do change so it is difficult to say for certain which is correct and my experience, over the years, suggests that even locals will use slightly different sounds. What is certain is that neither the S nor the Y are pronounced.
As mentioned above, I have been to Islay three times. The first time was with my parents way back sometime during the sixties.. I did not own a camera in those days and only have the few photographs my mother took. The next time was in the early nineties with my girl friend of the time (JT). At this time I had deliberately cut back on my photograph taking as, having only a film camera in those days, I had got fed up taking hundreds of shots, paying a fortune to get them developed - only to find that most of them were not that good. So, although I have photographs from that visit I do not have very many. My last visit was, as mentioned above, with a group of friends to scatter the ashes of another friend. I still hadn’t discovered digital photography by this time and do not appear to have any photos of this visit (travelling by bus, and only being away for a couple of days, I probably decided to travel light and a camera was something I didn’t need on this trip). As a result I do not have very many even reasonably good photographs to include here - but I will attach what I consider to be the best ones. Note also that all of my photographs of Islay were before the days of GPS so, since I did not identify them right away, I have had to guess at some of the locations using their position in the film spool to help in this (and then double checking with Internet photos). I’m fairly confident, therefore, that the locations of the the shots which follow are accurate - but only ‘fairly confident’ as there is no guarantee that the physical photos did not get misplaced at some point within the envelope. Also, to save repeating myself, the square photos are my mother’s from the sixties and the oblong ones are from my early nineties visit.

The above photo is of the Port Askaig Hotel - which is, basically, all of Port Askaig (apart from, I presume, a Cal-Mac office of some sort). I only include this photo because it provides a starting point for my photo tour of Islay.

The above photo is of the Sound of Islay looking south. It was taken somewhere on the road between Port Askaig and Bunnahabhain - probably just above Bunnahabhain.

The above shot is of the ruins of Finlaggan Castle at the northern end of Loch Finlaggan.

The above photo is of Dun Nosebridge - roughly in the centre of the island.

The above photo is of Port Ellen. Although a very old photo it seemed to me, in 2012, that not much had changed - and that’s probably still the case.

The above shot is of the American Monument at the tip of the Mull of Oa. This monument commemorates the loss of two American ships during WWI and the many lives lost.

The above photo is of the Lagavulan Distillery, just east of Port Ellen.

The above shot is of the ruins of Dunyvaig Castle, just east of Port Ellen.

The above photo is of the ruined church at Kildalton, also a bit east of Port Ellen.

The above photo is of the excellent Celtic Cross at Kildalton Church.

The above picture is of a carved slab mounted in the wall of Kildalton Church. There are also several carved grave slabs at the site worth taking a look at.

The shot above is of the circular church at the top of Main Street in Bowmore.

The photo above is of the ancient cross at Kilnave, on the western side of Loch Gruinart. I don’t know but I’m assuming this cross is no longer complete and has weathered badly.