Photos and the City

Tag: travel

Rinns of Islay

I continued my drive around the Rinns of Islay. From the South head back to Port Charlotte along the western coast.

The Rinns of Isay is a peninsula in the west of Islay.

Lossit Bay

A short walk on the beach in Lossit Bay.

Kilchiaran chapel

Bruichladdich – Port Charlotte

There are nine working distilleries in Islay, the first one I visited was Bruichladdich in Port Charlotte on the way home.

Bruichladdich was built in 1881 by the Harvey brothers. The Harveys were a dynastic whisky family that had owned two Glasgow distilleries since 1770, and they used an inheritance to open up a third one in Islay. Back then, it was a state-of-the-art, modern working distillery, especially compared to other ones in Islay, which started in farmhouses.

23/05/2024
Kilmartin Glen

In between the islands, I spent a few days on the Scottish mainland in Argyll & Bute. My house was along a canal, and I enjoyed hours just watching boats go by. And do little excursions in the area.

The Kingdom of Dál Riata (Dalriada) occupied most of today’s Argyll & Bute and part of Northern Ireland. The Scoti were a force in their area from before 500 until after 800.

The last King of Dalriada was Kenneth I, who went on to gain control of the Pictish crown in 834 and merge the crowns of the Scots and the Picts to make a single kingdom, Alba: what we would today call Scotland. (Undiscovered Scotland)

The seat of this kingdom was Dunadd – I had visited the fort a few years ago. But I visited another part of the kingdom, the stunning Kilmartin Glen.

Kilmartin Glen is located between Oban and Lochgilphead, surrounding the village of Kilmartin, on the west of Scotland.

The area spans 5,000 years with a multitude of cairns, standing stones, carved rock, stone circles, forts and castles. Kilmartin Glen is considered to have one of the most important concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in Scotland. (Visit Scotland)

Carnasserie Castle

But my first stop was a more modern one, the Carnasserie Castle, built by Master John Carswell, rector of Kilmartin, in 1559.

Carswell built the castle for his patron, the Earl of Argyll, and incorporated an earlier building already on the site. It was a magnificent building until Royalist forces partly blew it up during Argyll’s rebellion against James VII in 1685.

Kilmartin

Kilmartin is a lovely village with a museum that was unfortunately closed, a cairn and a parish church known for its remarkable collection of early grave slabs.

A collection has been put together, some grave slabs are of early Christian design, and some are medieval.

05/03/2024
Iona Abbey

Part two of my day in Iona starts with visiting the Abbey of Iona.

Iona Abbey was founded by St Columba in 563, but we don´t see a lot of the original buildings. Columba’s monastery survived until the end of the 12th century, despite repeated Viking raids. It was one of the oldest Christian religious centres in Western Europe and was a focal point for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland

Around 1200, the sons of Somerled – ‘King of the Isles’ – founded a Benedictine abbey here. Pilgrimage to St Columba’s Shrine continued to thrive, though monastic life on Iona ended with the Protestant Reformation of 1560.

It’s thought that the world famous Book of Kells was made here, along with other great works of art. (Historic Enviroment Scotland)

In 563, Columba arrived in Iona from Ireland with twelve companions and founded the monastery. It developed as an influential centre for the spread of Christianity among the Picts and Scots.

The monastery they founded was one of the most important and influential in the British Isles. It sent missionaries to northern Britain to convert people to Christianity. (Historic Enviroment Scotland)

This hill is Tòrr an Aba, the little hill above the abbey where St Columba is said to have had his writing hut.

Four tall, intricately carved crosses, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, once stood close to the abbey. Three can now be seen in the Abbey Museum, while one is still in place. Iona was a leading artistic centre from the 8th century, and sculptors, metalworkers and manuscript illuminators flourished here. (Historic Enviroment Scotland)

I said good bye to the Abbey and walked back to the village to explore some of the beaches.

Another one of the standing crosses near the heritage centre.

It was about time to leave Iona and go back to Mull, but I will be back. The Isle of Iona is such a special place!

13/02/2024