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10/Jun/2006
Favourite Islands
It should be obvious which island is my favourite island and which islands I think you should visit. Let's see what the national and international press writes about favourite islands and Scottish islands in general:
Paul Edwards writes about The islands that time forgot in The Sydney Morning Herald and illustrates the article with a picture of Portnahaven. About Islay and Jura he writes:
The Paps of Jura - towering mountains in the centre of a sparsely populated island - are so prominent they can be seen from the coast of Northern Ireland, even though the large island of Islay intervenes. Islay is a place of pilgrimage for lovers of fine whisky from around the world. Its six distilleries make single malts with a tang of the sea. The boat to Port Ellen provides a scenic journey between the long Kintyre peninsula and the two islands.
The Times takes six writers to write about their favourite Scottish island. Three of the four islands I intend to cover in this blog get a mention:
Ben MacIntyre covers Gigha, which I've only visited once so far. I also visited Achamore Gardens, where he writes:
The jewel of Gigha is Achamore Gardens, which surround the island’s big house and are open year-round. A combination of judicious 19th-century tree-planting and the warm North Atlantic Drift has created a unique microclimate, where albino peacocks wander among the palm trees.
Juliet Clough visits Colonsay and claims Colonsay has everything a fantasy island should have. She's certainly right about the beaches, more about that in another entry:
All the best fantasy islands come equipped with a bit of everything. Colonsay does it for real, packing into its modest 17 square miles a miniature mountain range, complete with eagles and rugged heathland; dazzling white beaches; beech woods and meadows.
And finally Kate Patrick is looking out for her pirate from Islay:
An American friend used to sign her letters with a cartoon of a perfect island that had one palm tree and a person sitting under it. “An island for you,” she wrote. “Perhaps a pirate will come to the rescue.” I didn’t believe I would ever discover that place, but Islay came close.
I'll need to check if I've got a good picture of the palm trees somewhere, if I do I'll post it in a future entry.
What is your favourite Scottish Island? Let me know and/or write to The Times with your thoughts.
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