Small and Short

Wyre, at just over a square-mile in extent and 105' at its highest, is one of the smallest islands to be inhabited in the Orkney archipelago. Its population is under 30. The 12th Century St Mary's Chapel, in the middle of the island, has Romanesque features and suggests that the Norse influence had some cosmopolitan aspects.

The settlement of Bu (above) enjoys the shortest of names - tying with Ae in Dumfries & Galloway and Li on the Knoydart peninsula.

Scottish Islands Explorer - the delayed issue is now available throughout the UK

Isle Take It!

Tanera Mor, the largest of the Summer Isles, failed to sell last year and has now re-appeared in the property market at a reduced price of £1.95 million. A comprehensive and fully-illustrated account of its position and attractions appears in the website of Mail Online. If you are interested in buying or merely browsing, just click and go. Your virtual visit will not be disappointing.

Scottish Islands Explorer - on sale, in the island shop

Shetland Soaring

According to recent research, house prices in Shetland have doubled during the last decade. Some details and analysis are to be found in this Shetland News item. Compare and contrast a house on offer - at Liradale, Walls - through Tait & Petersen, with what is available in your area. The Scandinavian-style construction enjoys views over the island of Linga. Another view from a different angle towards the same isle is presented below, featuring two properties that are not, as yet, available.  

Scottish Islands Explorer - likes viewing islands and their housing stock

Remote Boat Building

For those who like to uncover remarkable features in remote places, the Islands Book Trust walk on Saturday 3 May has a compelling appeal. The destination is Cuiriseal, beyond Lemreway, Lewis, where a tradition of boat-building will be revealed. The details of arrangements appear on the Islands Book Trust site and an outline of what is on offer makes good reading in a Stornoway Gazette item. Here is a place that will probably be receiving more visitors in one day than over several years!

Scottish Islands Explorer - will be covering this excursion

Almond Off Rocks

This eight-week-old otter now at the Scottish SPCA's National Wildlife's Rescue Centre at Fishcross, Clackmannanshire, was found wandering on a croft in Luskentyre, South Harris. She has been named Almond and an account of what is planned for her appears in the Stornoway Gazette. 

Scottish Islands Explorer - also appreciates a good home

Deerness

The image of this rider on Newark Beach, Deerness, could be appearing in more places within a year. An appeal for a fundraising calendar for 2015 has been issued in this Orkney parish and local photographs are wanted. Read about it in The Orcadian and consider whether you have been in camera action in the vicinity.

Scottish Islands Explorer - looks forward to seeing the selection

Five Hundred to Three

The old saying about big fish in a small pond applies to the staff and pupils at Foula Primary School. However, the current roll of three children on the island of 32 residents will be welcoming a new permanent headteacher, Shetland-born Jayne Smith. She is featured in a Shetland News item where reference is made to her leaving a position at Cults Primary School, Aberdeen, which educates 500 pupils. Certainly its from a large pool to a small pond.

Scottish Islands Explorer - always looking for increased circulation

Millport Memories

Here is Millport, Great Cumbrae, in picture postcard format from 1904. It was a popular place for trips by Clyde steamers and its heyday as a destination resort was probably in the 1920s & '30s. Film footage of these days has been secured by Video History Scotland and presented in their Memories of Millport.

The appeal of the place can be seen in these recent panoramic views of the town and from the bay. However, to capture the the excitement experienced by throngs of people you have to be transported to a past era, not by boat, but by video history.

Scottish Islands Explorer - aware of excitement past and present

Destination and Inspiration

The Gatliff Hostel on Berneray provides a place of destination on an island of inspiration. May I suggest that you make a cup of tea (at home or work, if you are not at the hostel), sit in front of this screen, click the button here and settle down for just under ten minutes to see, hear and experience something of this accessible and stimulating accommodation in its setting of an idyllic environment. The YouTube creation of Julian Paren will transport you from the building ...

... to the beach ... and beyond.

Scottish Islands Explorer - take the 'tube' and start your journey

Protrusion, Explosion

The Scotsman has a full account of this mine that has just been dealt with by a Royal Navy bomb disposal unit in a controlled explosion on the island of Eigg. It was thought to have been a buoy and was used by children and animals as a plaything, until recent storms and sand movements revealed something sinister. The composition of Eigg itself, with its protruding volcanic core, makes the wartime mine appear to be a microcosm of the island's geological past.

Scottish Islands Explorer - elements can spark interest years later