Lord Dunderheid

Mull, at around 340 square miles, is the third largest island on Scotland’s west coast after Skye, at around 640 sq.mi., and before Islay, at around 240 sq.mi. (with the largest being Lewis at around 685 sq.mi.) - and fourth largest of the British Isles with Mainland Shetland being larger than Mull but smaller than Skye. Note that none of the above includes mainland Britain or Ireland (which, after all, are islands off the north west coast of mainland Europe). If not for the sound of Mull, running roughly west to east, it would not be an island at all but the southern most section of the West Highlands (the Scottish landmass west of the Great Glen). Mull can be considered as three separate sections. The easternmost is mainly the Ross of Mull which turns west and extends towards Iona along the southern shore of Loch Scridain but also (for me, anyway) all the land east of Glen More. The middle section lies between Loch Scridain and Loch na Keal on the west and between Craignure and Salen...

Colonsay is a small but attractive wee island located at the mouth of the Firth of Lorn, between Mull and Islay (and Jura) but slightly closer to Islay than to Mull.. It is about eight miles long by about two miles wide at it’s widest (around 4074 hectares) with a population of around 130. Note that most Internet articles say it’s about two miles wide but Wikipedia says it’s about three miles wide - and I’m not sure which is more accurate. Using my online map, and a rough estimation using a piece of card in conjunction with the scale shown, I actually think it looks closer to three point four miles between Sguide an Leanna (on the west) and Rubha Dubh (on the east). The island is served by a circular road around the main part of the island with an arm leading to the north, from Kiloran to Kiloran bay, and another leading south to Garvard and the tidal island of Oronsay. From Kiloran Bay a track continues northwards to Balnahard near the northern tip of the island. The main centre, and ...

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 ...

As I start to draft this post (1st March 2022 at 05:30) the Russian invasion of the Ukraine continues - although not quite as swiftly as Putin probably wanted or expected. This is down to the stiff resistance of the Ukrainian people - but a resistance which, I fear, is bound to fail in the long run without more direct support from the West. I have so far not made any comment on this horrendous situation. This because I have been both shocked and perplexed by what is happening. Having said that, I did, in a previous post, indicate that I was concerned about both the EU and NATO seemingly encouraging ex-soviet countries to seek membership of those Western organisations, and how I feared this was seriously angering Russia. I noted that the Ukraine was an independent country and that it should be free to follow whatever path it wanted - but that I felt encouraging it to look towards the West was not conducive to peace in the region. Sometimes, in such circumstances, what is wanted needs to...

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 w...