From Holm to Whole World

It may be almost six months since this item appeared about Little Green Holm, but it's worth reading and then looking at its source, Vladi Private Islands News. There are insights here into islands throughout the world.

Scottish Islands Explorer - confined to UK coastal waters

Work or Play?

There is a good choice available when visiting Sanda, Scotland's most extreme south-west island that's half-way to Northern Ireland. There's a day-trip, a menu of fine meals, various luxuriously-appointed bedrooms ... and work available. Find out more about the 25 March - 2 September 2012 season or the two jobs on offer.

Scottish Island Explorer - offering just a good read

Giving Out The Line

The unaccompanied singing of the Gaelic Psalms is a musical experience to be savoured. The lead is given by a male precentor, a presenter adept at 'giving out the line', in Presbyterian churches throughout the Hebrides as well as in the Highlands. Those not within reach and wanting to hear, should access Ridge Records and click on their audio buttons. The presenter's lead is indicated by the primary line and the congregation follows with the psalmic litany.

Scottish Islands Explorer -  presents songs of praise about the islands

Hey Bristow!

There are changes coming in the areas of  Search and Rescue. Bristow Helicopters will soon be taking over operations, in Stornoway and Sumburgh, from CHC. The involvement of RAF and Royal Navy helicopters will be phased out after 2016.  The lie of the land and the waters around the Western and Northern Isles are not places in which to engage in escapades.

Scottish Islands Explorer - how to venture beyond, without leaving home

The Bus Comes First

The Shetland Times has issued a list of its best-selling books. At the top of this literary league-table comes The Shetland Bus by the late David Howarth. It describes the war-time service between Shetland and Norway and has been in print for 60 years. The photograph above is of a restored vessel involved in these operations and now in the harbour at Scalloway, while the one below shows a comparable craft in the North Sea during those now distant years.

Scottish Islands Explorer - at 12 years old, it is one-fifth the age of the 'Bus'

The Queen of the Isles

Westray, which enjoys the regal title of 'The Queen of the Isles', is the second largest of the North Isles of Orkney. This aerial photograph of Pierowall, where the ferry departs for nearby Papa Westray, was taken by the late Adrian Warren. He died on 5 June 2011, aged 61, and some of his work and achievements are commemorated on the website of Last Refuge Ltd, his small company dedicated to the support of endangered environments and species through films, images and research. It also specialises in aerial photography and filming.

Scottish Islands Explorer - not, as yet, by royal appointment

Forty Years On

Robin Hardy was directing The Wicker Man (1973) on location some 40 years ago. Now, at the age of 82, he looks forward to making another film with the working title of The Wrath of the Gods. It will feature Norse mythology and be set on Shetland. The scenes for the earlier film, though featuring the fictitious Hebridean island of Summerisle, were shot very much on the mainland - mainly in Dumfries and Galloway, with some of Culzean Castle in Ayrshire and Plockton, Ross-shire. The opening sequences were of  Skye and, in particular, Quiraing and The Old Man of Storr. Read about the new project for this veteran director, an Older Man on Shetland.

Scottish Islands Explorer - looking forward to its fortieth

Fuel for Thought

We are back on Jura, with this photo of a (perhaps 'the'?) petrol pump, at Craighouse. Costs are obviously higher on islands than on the mainland and some details of the differences are available on the BBC. So if you are having to make that ultimate 'reluctant purchase' today by filling up the tank, be grateful, if you live in Inverness or somewhere having comparable prices.

Scottish Islands Explorer - for the price of a couple of litres

Green and Pleasant

Sailing the shorter routes on the Clyde and Hebridean waters will, in the future, have a different sensation. Hybrid vessels will be bringing eco-economies to the operation. The hills of Skye and Raasay will be the background to the first of this new member of the fleet. Read the business item on the BBC website.

Scottish Islands Explorer - seeks savings where needed

A Frequent, Far Ferry

Diurachs - the Gaelic for the inhabitants of  the Isle of Jura - have no direct link by vehicular ferry to the mainland. Their first, or on the return leg, final step must involve crossing the one kilometre of water from Feolin to Port Askaig on Islay. In bad weather the service can be prone to cancellation. However, its frequency, at approximately 30 minute intervals from 7.30 - 18.30, is high for the outlying Scottish islands. There are on the island around 200 residents, about 5000 deer, but only one designer of the magazine, Scottish Islands Explorer. Broadband links allow the swift transmission of the finished pages to its printer in Hastings. Now that's a real north-west / south-east crossing. Think of how slow all aspects of life were back in the 1740s, the time that the print (below) of the Feolin Ferry was created.

Scottish Islands Explorer - designed by a Diurach