The village of Port Charlotte
The Isle of Islay
Islay is a place of great beauty and peace. Never “developed” for tourism, visitors come here to see a Hebridean island in its unspoiled state.
It is world-
Islay is a whisky island. There are eight working distilleries, plus one on the neighbouring
island of Jura, and a maltings at Port Ellen. All of these run interesting tours.
Our nearest distillery, Bruichladdich Distillery, still uses its original Victorian
equipment. Bowmore Distillery is perhaps the oldest in Scotland, while Kilchoman
Distillery, which takes whisky-making back to its farm-based roots, only opened in
2005. The owners of Bruichladdich Distillery are starting work on re-opening Lochindaal
Distillery in Port Charlotte, which closed in 1929. This will return to its original
1829 name: the Port Charlotte Distillery.
Bowmore, the administrative centre of the island, with its famous Round Church (no
corners for the devil to hide in) at the top of its Georgian Main Street, contains
the island’s larger Co-
The Gaelic centre, Ionad Chaluim Chille Ile, which is associated with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye, is just outside Bowmore, on the road to Bridgend.
Bowmore has two banks, the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland, both
of which have cash-
There are many historic and prehistoric sites on the Island, including Finlaggan,
the seat of the Lords of the Isles, Kildalton Chapel with its famous celtic cross,
Kilchiaran Chapel, claimed to be the first landfall of St. Columba when he came from
Ireland and before he moved on to Iona, and many long-ago deserted villages.
At Bridgend, eight miles from Port Charlotte, there is a woollen mill using traditional
equipment and manufacturing very high-quality tweed. In Islay House Square, a few
hundred yards outside Bridgend on the Port Askaig road (look for the CRAFT WORKSHOPS
signs) is a batik studio and gallery (we must declare an interest here: Liz is the
batik artist. She is also a very skilled picture-framer. So bring anything you want
framed with you and it will be ready for your return journey), the Islay Quilters
workshop and exhibition, Islay Ales Brewery, Billy Muir a joiner and cabinet-maker,
Sue Wood a maker of chocolate confectionery, Making-Away, which combines an art gallery
with seamstress work, Mark Unsworth, a photographer at Islay Studios, the Islay Family
History Society and Ma McKinnon's Marmalade. The Square, dating from around 1770,
has beautiful architecture and is well worth a visit.
Cars can be hired from D. & N. Mackenzie at Glenegedale, next to the Airport, and from Islaycarhire.com at Bridgend.
There is a telecentre at the offices of our local newspaper, the Ileach, in Bowmore, where you can use Pcs and check your email, etc.. There is also Web access at the Port Mòr Centre, just outside Port Charlotte on the road to Portnahaven.
Considered by many to be the most attractive village on the Island, Port Charlotte
stands on the West shore of Lochindaal, the great sea-
The Port Charlotte Hotel, the Lochindaal Hotel and the Croft Kitchen provide a wide variety of good food. The hotels have friendly bars in which live music is regularly performed. Please note that these are very popular eating places during the summer. If you are relying on the Port Charlotte Hotel or Lochindaal Hotel for your evening meal on the day you arrive, you must book a table well in advance of your journey.
There is a Spar general store, post office and filling station. DVDs can be hired there. Mountain bikes can be hired. Islay is ideal for exploring by bike, the island being about thirty miles long by twenty wide and the roads generally not being too hilly (there are exceptions to this on the West Coast of the Rhinns, not far from Port Charlotte, but the view is so stunning that you’d want to dismount and look at it anyway!).
Opposite the Croft Kitchen is the award-
The view across Lochindaal to Laggan, the Oa and Northern Ireland is breath-
There is a well-
Lochview Cottage
Port Charlotte, Isle of Islay, Argyll
