Isle of Islay – 3

The civilian airport at Glenegedale started out as an RAF airfield during WWII and is close to the Machrie golf course and hotel. Bowmore is Islay’s administrative capital and is the second largest village on the island, founded in 1768 by the local land owner. The main road heads from the round church – designed so that there were no corners for evil spirits to hide in – straight down the hill to the pier. The distillery is on the left and is the oldest on the island, dating from 1779. Bowmore has a malting floor where the barley is dried out. The cereal is 3-4 inches deep and it is someone’s responsibility to rake the entire malting floor and turn over the cereal on an hourly basis. Visitors are encouraged to have a go and it’s a lot more difficult than it looks, chiefly because the rake is rather heavy and you have to drag it behind you, so you’re using muscles you don’t normally use. Some tastings at Bowmore take place in what I would term caves that might just be under the sea or under the beach at least. 

Skirting around the head of Loch Indaal via Bridgend, the bus goes through the village of Bruichladdich and the small town of Port Charlotte in the direction of Portnahaven. Port Charlotte is a lovely small place that is the home of the Museum of Islay Life. The museum opened in 1977 with the principal aim of conserving and displaying items representative of life in Islay over the past 12,000 years. It is housed in the former Kilchoman Free Church and has built up a collection of nearly 3000 objects and several thousand photographs. It’s the sort of place where you will find many items of interest regardless of your hobbies, pastimes, and knowledge.