Inhabited west coast Scottish islands - Jura and the Corryvreckan whirlpool

Jura is Scotland’s eighth biggest island by area. It has also one of the lowest population densities (of Scotland’s inhabited islands) with around only two hundred inhabitants. The latter statistic is not surprising as the island, unlike Islay to the south of it, is unremittingly wild and rugged with only a narrow strip of land, mainly around the east coast, where habitation might be reasonably easily established. It is almost two separate islands with Loch Tarbert almost cutting it, from the west, in two. The southern part hosts three mountains, all around 2500 feet high. These are known as ‘the Paps of Jura’. The term ‘Paps’ means breasts - as in human female breasts. I can only presume that whomever gave them this name was thinking of a very young woman (lying on her back and before gravity took over) as their conical shapes are unlike any woman I have ever seen. As mentioned, there are three of them - also unlike any woman I have ever see (although, to be fair, usually only two of them are seen at any one time). Apart from the Paps, the rest of the southern half is rough and hilly - but there is nothing else quite as high as the Paps. The same applies to the whole of the northern part of the island where the highest hill, Beinn Bhreac, is just over 1500 feet (467 meters). With only a narrow coastal strip suitable for crofting, the rest of the island is mainly given over to sheep and deer herds.
There is only one ‘proper’ road on Jura. This runs south from Feolin Ferry before gradually turning through almost one hundred and eighty degrees to run up the east coast - or most of the east coast as it gradually fades away into a track north of Ardlussa before degrading further around Lealt. After that it becomes an off-road track running towards Kinuachdrachd (which is just north of Barnhill, the house where George Orwell wrote much of 1984). There are, it should be made clear however, several small roads off the ‘proper’ main road. These, however, are all only short branches leading to townships and not main routes to far flung corners of the island. Having said all that, it is around thirty years since I was last on Jura so, by this time, there might be a six lane motorway running all the way to the northern tip of the island.
Shortly after turning north, the road comes to Craighouse, which is main village on the island. Craighouse provides most of the island’s facilities for both local and tourist alike This includes: hotel with pub, shop, tea room and filling station. As well as the facilities just mentioned, Craighouse is home to the Isle Of Jura malt whisky distillery. In recent years a rum distillery also opened in the village and further north, at Ardlussa, a gin distillery opened in recent years. Apart from the distilleries, Jura’s sources of income would appear to be from it’s estates (deer stalking and fishing, I presume), crofting and tourism. There was no mention in what I read of fishing (by fishing boat) but I’m sure there must be some - maybe just not enough to effect employment and the island’s economy?
Jura, like Islay, was not on my bucket list as I’d been to Jura twice in the past. The first time was with my parents, during the Islay holiday with them in the sixties, and the second time was with my partner of the time (JT) in the early nineties. Both visits were brief and did not include any degree of actually checking the island out. The first visit was because my mother knew someone who lived near Craighouse - and that was really a personal visit with a brief car run towards the north afterwards. The second visit, with JT, was during my Islay holiday with her when we made a failed attempt to get to the northern tip of the island to see the Corryvreckan whirlpool. We did get to the northern tip of the island but failed to see the whirlpool (but more about that later). As a result of only those two brief visits, there is not a lot I can say about Jura from personal knowledge and I have, because of this, mainly had to limit what I write to what I have gleaned from the Internet (articles and on-line map). There are, indeed, many articles on Jura to be found on the Internet - and blogs which are far more detailed and extensive than mine (although I would point out that my posts are intended to provide a list of Scotland’s west coast, inhabited islands, with a brief description of my impressions of them, and not a detailed tourist guide).
I did not spot any sandy beaches on either of those two previous visits - but I wasn’t looking for any. However, the Internet (articles and on-line map) suggest that there are several coves up the east coast which are sandy and should be easily accessible from the road. From what I read, Corran Sands, at Knockrome, is a fine beach that’s easily accessed and there are a couple of standing stones nearby which can be checked-out at the same time.
There also appears to be a few on the west coast. Those, on the whole, are not easily reached. One exception, however, is the beach at Glenbatrick (at the end of Glen Batrick). There is a long track (or path) from the main road, just north of Knockrome (signposted Evans Walk), which goes all the way to Glenbatrick and ends close to the beach. From what I’ve read, it’s a fine beach in a lovely location. However, it’s a long twelve miles (roughly) in and out again - and rather than a circular walk, which I always prefer, you have to go back out the same way as you came in - unless you want to undertake some wild hill walking with no paths to follow.  The head of Loch Tarbert is also marked as sandy on my Internet map and is only a short walk from the main road near the village of Tarbert - but I suspect this beach is more mud than sand. In short, there do appear to be several beaches on Jura which would be attractive to visitors, especially (but not exclusively) families with children.
What else does Jura have to offer? Apart from the track to Glenbatrick, there are several other tracks (or paths) which lead into the wilds of the island. I suspect these were made, or just developed, to facilitate deer stalking and loch fishing but they should provide easy access to the uninhabited areas of the island. If it’s deer stalking season, however, then just make sure that it’s safe to walk in the area of your choice before you head off. There are also a fair number of Neolithic sites that can be visited, like standing stones, stone circles and cairns. I did spot a couple of Internet photographs of standing stones which looked like they were worth visiting (if interested in such things) and, like on Islay, it could be fun using a map to locate and visit some of them. There are also several more historical sites, like ruined castles and churches, that can be visited. Most of the above, both Neolithic and historical, are located in the currently inhabited east coast areas so should not be too difficult to find. There are, of course, also the three Paps to climb, if so inclined to do so (and maybe all in a single day for the more dedicated hill walker). None of them are Munro’s (all three, as previously stated, around 2500 feet) but all of them probably provide spectacular views from their summits. Jura also provides the usual range of wildlife to go looking for like: eagles, buzzards, seals and otters. So, all in all, Jura offers a wide range of activities to enjoy. A week might be enough for this but two weeks would be fine if also just seeking some ‘down time’ to relax and enjoy the views or muck about on a beach. There are not a huge number of tourist facilities - but Craighouse does provide what is needed. If staying on Jura it is also easy to take a trip or two to Islay (rather than the other way about as in my previous visits). If time and money allows (ferry fares for cars being what they are), I would like to visit Jura again - and explore it a bit more fully than on my previous two visits.

Although (obviously) not an island (inhabited or otherwise) I am going to include, here, a bit about the Corryvreckan whirlpool. This whirlpool is either the third or fourth biggest in the World (depending upon which online article you read - although third is more often mentioned rather than fourth). It is actually a lot closer to Scarba (to the north of Jura) but I’m including it with Jura since Scarba is uninhabited and is, therefore, not included on my bucket list of islands to visit.
I had long wanted to see Corryvreckan so I included in my bucket list while in this area of the west coast. What causes the whirlpool is not totally clear to me. It was originally thought to be caused by an underwater pinnacle, to the east of where the whirlpool forms - but a 2012 sonar survey (or multi-beam echo sounder) discovered an underwater buttress to the west which was then thought be the cause - but maybe it is a combination of both? While drafting this I read another recent article which suggests that the pinnacle to the east is actually more of a flat topped plateau which presents itself to the inrushing tide as a wall. So, from what I can understand from this article, this wall, plus the buttress to the west , create eddy currents which head westwards through the strait against the tide - and that it's a combination of all of those factors which produces the wirlpool. I have read that the Royal Navy once designated the strait as “un-navigable” - but I suspect, if true, that that was in the days of sailing ships as that is clearly no longer the case. I have also read, however, that the above is not true but that this designation was applied to the Grey Dogs, which is the name given to the narrow passage between the northern tip of Scarba and Lunga. The whole area is one of islands, large and small, with narrow stretches of water between them - and these stretches of water are all subject to strong tides which can make them dangerous to those who don’t know them well.

Anyway, my first attempt to see Corryvreckan in person (as opposed to just photographs or TV documentaries) was during my Islay visit with JT, back in the early nineties. Our vehicle at that time was a LWB V8 Land Rover. This was ideal as it allowed us to drive far further up the road than a normal vehicle would have managed (without possible damage to it). We knew the last stage of getting to Jura’s northern tip would be over open ground with, maybe, only a path for the final couple of miles - so being able to drive as far as possible was a big help as there was a time constraint in getting back to Feolin before the last ferry back to Islay. We eventually came to a closed gate across the track. It wasn’t locked but we decided that the gate probably indicated private land on which motor vehicles were not welcomed, so we parked up, clear of the track in case we blocked the way for a working estate vehicle, and headed off by foot. It was by no means the longest walk we’d ever undertaken - but it was quite a slog. Unfortunately, we had not done our research on Corryvreckan and it was slack tide when we arrived at Jura’s northern tip (where we figured we’d be able to see the whirlpool from). The strait of Corryvreckan was as calm as a mill pond! We sat down, had some lunch, and waited about fifteen minutes to see if anything interesting developed - but we could not wait for long in case we missed that last ferry. Nothing changed. The stretch of water between Jura and Scarba remained flat calm - so we had to head back to the Land Rover and back to Islay with the expedition a failure (although we did have a fine walk). Having failed to see the whirlpool on my visit with JT I decided, given that failure, to include it in my bucket list. A bit of research showed that there were many operators running trips to Corryvreckan (along with whale spotting trips etc.). I decided on one which operated out of the island of Seil. It turned out that the chap who ran this trip was a marine scientist who had been involved in much of the diving and investigations into what caused the whirlpool (which was helpful as he knew more than most about what probably caused it). The problem with this trip was that I had selected a time of the year when it was a Spring Tide as I’d figured the whirlpool would be more easily seen at such a time. This turned out to be not quite the case as the the waves were so high that getting a clear view of the whirlpool was almost impossible. This was because the waves running through the strait often hid the whirlpool and, when this wasn’t the case, the standing waves around it also hid it to some extent. It was, however, great fun to ride the maelstrom and I did get to see Corryvreckan - if just not as clearly as I’d hoped to.
So, for anyone else wishing to see Corryvreckan, if you plan to get to the northern tip of Jura, check the tides first - and make sure you don’t get there at slack tide. However, I have to say that I’m not sure that you will see much from such a distance as, as explained, the whirlpool is actually very close to the southern cliffs of Scarba and might be too far away to see anything more than some rough water. Apart from flying over it, the Scarba cliffs above the whirlpool might provide the best vantage point. The only problem with that is that Scarba is uninhabited and privately owned - so getting on to it might not be easy. In addition to that I suspect that any jetty on Scarba is at it’s northern end (near the estate house which is probably only used, if at all these days, at deer stalking time) which would then require a long tramp the length of the island (then back again). In addition to that there are wild goats on the island. I wouldn’t be too bothered about them because, given my experience on Kerrera, they are pretty tame - but I’ve read that the owners of Scarba have now put wild boar on the island, and I wouldn’t want to come across them.
One positive aspect of joining a tour is that they only take place when the tide is right and the seas are not too rough - so time and money will not be wasted. It might, however, be an idea not to go at a Spring Tide as, as explained above, the standing waves around the whirlpool might well hide it. Checking this with a few tour operators first might be an idea. As also mentioned above, possibly the best way to see Corryvreckan might well be from the air. I know someone who flew from Glasgow to the Outer Hebrides and he told me the plane flew over it and provided an excellent view. I also asked at Oban airport and I was advised there that the flights to Colonsay and Islay flew over it - although I’m not sure if any of those flights always fly over it or only when the whirlpool is expected to be visible.

I finish, as always, with a few photographs. Having only made two brief visits to Jura, I have very few of the island itself - but I have included a few from my trip through the strait of Corryvreckan. 

A note here. I have seen several names for the water between Jura and Scarba including the Strait of Corryvreckan and the Gulf of Corryvreckan. I have used the term ‘strait’ as, for me, a gulf is surrounded on three sides by land - which this bit of water clearly isn’t.

 

The above photo is of the Paps of Jura from the mainland. I decided to include this shot from my trip to the island of Danna because of how few I actually had of Jura that were taken on Jura (and which I thought worth including). It was shot from near New Ulva on the unmarked road to Danna. It’s looking across Loch na Cille over the low lying finger of land, Rubha na Cille, south of Keillmore. It’s always difficult identifying mountains from photographs but, given that I know where the picture was taken from, I’m confident that the mountains pictured are the Paps and, left to right, Beinn a Chaolais, Beinn Shiantaidh and Beinn an Oir. Note that ‘Beinn’, as far as I know, is one of the several Gaelic alternatives to the English ‘Ben’.
Note also that I took this shot on zoom. Going by the meta data (saved with the photograph) I didn’t zoom in by very much - just enough to frame the mountain as I wanted. I could provide all sorts of technical detail about this (like focal length and magnification factor) but they won’t make much sense to anyone who’s not into photography - and are pretty meaningless, anyway. It might be clearer just to repeat that the Paps are around 2500 feet high (760 metres) and are about eleven miles away (17.7 km), and did not look anything like as close with the naked eye.

 

The above photo is of one of the Paps taken from the main road on Jura. I’m not certain but, after examining the previous photo, I figure it’s of Beinn Shiantaidh with, maybe, Beinn Chaolais just showing over the left hand shoulder of Shiantaidh. A wide angle shot might have helped - but I didn’t take one and the shape of the hill does look very similar to the photo of the hill in the centre of the previous photo from New Ulva. It’s possible that it’s of Beinn Chaolais with Shiantaidh out of shot to the right. I certainly don’t think it’s of Beinn an Oir as it’s tucked in behind and to the west of Shiantaidh in such a way that having a clear shot of it, without Shiantaidh also being in the frame is, unlikely.
Note that this was also a ‘zoomed in’ shot but since I was using, in those days, a film camera there is no meta data to suggest by how much. Given that I was on the main Jura road I don’t think I had zoomed in very much at all. Note also that I attempted to identify which of the Paps this photograph was of by looking at pictures on the Internet. I did, indeed, find several similar shots - but none of them identified which of the three Paps it was, either.

The above photo is of JT striding out ahead of me as we approach the Strait of Corryvreckan (that is, over the wild ground north of Kinuachdrachd). The piece of water in front of us is the eastern entrance to the Strait of Corryvreckan and the land beyond that is the south eastern corner of Scarba. The land to the right of the photo is, I figure, a mixture of Luing and Shona with the higher land beyond possibly being the mainland around the Kilmelford area, but I would have to have known exactly where I took the picture from and then used a map and compass to be certain.

The above shot is from the Sound of Jura, to the east of the strait as we approached it. I have included it because I hope it shows how calm the water was around the boat I was on - but that it also shows the wall of water heading towards us out of Corryvreckan.

The above two shots are included to further demonstrate how rough the strait was on my trip. If the first shot is carefully examined it will be seen that there are two small boats cresting a wave (there were lots of small boats all around us doing similar trips). The second shot was taken seconds later - and both boats have vanished. That is because they had dived into a trough - one that was not clear from the photos, or in reality, at the time, although the second shot does show a roller sweeping in from the Firth of Lorn. Both boats started to appear again but the boat I was on had, itself, just started to dive into a trough and I didn’t have time to steady myself to take another shot. Each time the boat I was on dived into a trough all sight of the other boats vanished behind a wall of water. Note that the land beyond is of the northern tip of Jura with (most likely) Eilean Mor also in the frame.

The shot above (taken on zoom) is of a standing wave just east of the whirlpool. A part of the more central area of the whirlpool can be seen to the left of the picture. I was probably trying to photograph this central area but, with the boat plunging up and down, it was difficult keeping the camera pointing exactly where I wanted it to. At the same time, this shot does capture the standing wave rather well.

The above shot is of the whirlpool (taken without any zoom or framing - or close to how it actually looked to the naked eye from the boat). Wave after wave rolled through the strait but there were a couple of brief intervals when all seemed calm - for a second or two. I took this shot during one of those brief, calm intervals (just after the previous picture). This, due to the conditions, was about as close as we actually came to the whirlpool as it would have been dangerous to make a closer approach. I suspect I had decided that getting a good shot in zoom mode was going to be difficult so I zoomed back into the basic view (24mm focal length on the camera I was using) in the hope of capturing the whole whirlpool - which I could then zoom into on my computer if I wanted to.