What can we say? My aunt told me to be careful what I posted, or to edit the blog, but there is no reason to.
I finally achieved a very long held ambition to find my father's family. And that I did. We flew from Glasgow airport on Wednesday morning to Isle of Islay, but first we had to walk a mile to get to the terminal. We wondered how passengers got on in the wet and cold weather, with no protection from the drop of point until inside the terminal.
The reason we learnt later on. The sun was shining, and I was able to capture some photos from my window seat, and the flight is just 25 minutes long.
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| Looking north along the coastline of the West of Glasgow |
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| Farmland outside of Glasgow |
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| Above the woolly clouds |
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| Now if you have a really close look at the white building you will find it is the Laphroaig Brewery |
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| The Round Church looking up from the centre of Bowmore |
And there to meet us was my Aunt. Our first stop was the magnificent Round Church where my g.g.g.grandparents and her g.g.grandparents were buried. I think I got that correct, I have to add an additional "g" for my line.
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| Pat and I at our Gillies grandparents grave, he was a distiller at the Laophroig distillery |
The church is quite magnificent and stands at the top of a hill overlooking the town of Bowmore, below, it was built in the round fashion (one of only two in the UK) to ensure that the devil could not hide in any corners!
Like many churches and communities this one does not fill very often, except in the case sadly of a funeral
And then if you open the entrance doors you can look straight through to the harbour
We tried for coffee in the town, but most places were not open at 10.00, because a lot of produce comes over on the ferry, and it hadn't arrived, so we headed off to Pat's home for coffee before she took us to meet my 3rd cousin. The views from her home are stunning, overlooking the straits, and the Isle of Jura with the magnificent mountains called the Paps.
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| The ferry crosses all day |
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| Looking across to the Isle of Jura |
Then we went to meet a wonderful lady, 87 years young, and just so interesting, funny and enjoyable to spend time with. She has travelled through her life, and retired just 4 years ago after 39 years as the housekeeper for one of the "big houses" owned by wealthy family, with business interests also in US.
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| The view from her front door |
We went to lunch as Ardbeg distillery, and we were entertained the whole time by her amazing stories, and her wonderful zest on life.
The place was full, with people doing tours, when we left, one group were out walking to the next distillery.
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She reminded me of Mrs Doubtfire, with all her expressions, I know she said I talk all the time!
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Several days a week she makes scones and pancakes for her ex-staff, and loves to cook. She loves also to travel everywhere via her television and documentary shows, and she is an excellent flatterer! We enjoyed afternoon tea with her, and then left to visit Port Ellen.
Lovely wide beach with real sand!
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| The houses are all painted white, and it all looks beautiful |
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| The kids were swimming! 19 degrees |
Back to admire the views from home and this time we saw one of the Tall sailing ships pass through the channel
We enjoyed a fantastic Scottish meal, with Islay scallops, which are probably larger than ours, (King size) that is, and a beef roast and a lovely Scottish dessert, raspberries, whiskey and oatmeal and cream, delicious. On our part we were thoroughly spoilt. My cousin is a physiotherapist, and she took to John's shoulders, and gave them a working over, his verdict.....she is really good!
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| So here we are, cousins uncle and aunt |
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| Pimms for me and Islay beer for John |
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Glasgow airport was bombed by terrorists 7 years ago, you might remember, and since then they have revamped the airport so that no car can get anywhere near the front door, which was how it was attacked.
Islay has 8 whiskey distilleries, all top notch brands, and Donald Gillies way back in 1901 was a distiller and the family lived next door to the famous Laphroaig distillery. . Now that house has been demolished, but our cousin bought her home in 1974, I guess many people would think that was "heaven" living next door to their favourite distillery! I know one of my brother-in-laws could take that sort of life!
So now to whet your appetite to travel to this lovely spot. Rugged, craggy, and with friendly people, it dates back to the pre-historic times, and was a base for the Vikings. In the mid 1800's these areas of Scotland faced the "clearing" when landlords often burnt down the homes belonging to those who worked a "croft". Not unlike what happened in Ireland, although not all were merciless. One landlord relocated all his tenants to Canada. At the time there were 10000 people living there and the land could not support the huge number of people.
Like Ireland, the small lots were then amalgamated into larger land holdings, and given over to sheep and cattle grazing. And boy there are some contented animals munching their way through the greenery. The sheep are bred for lambs, and not usually kept for wool. The waters are pure, hence the whiskey making.
Peat bogs are found, and the farmers used to pay the landlord for the right to work a section of the land to get peat. Fishing is in abundance, the scallops are yum! and then there is the crabs as well.
Tourism is huge. The number who come to walk the whiskey trails is increasing yearly, and the second reason is those seeking, like I did, their family connections.
If ever you intend to visit Glasgow, then I would recommend a couple of days, But the hotels don't have many rooms, so pre-booking would be advisable, there are about 100 self catering apartments, and B&Bs. The flight from Glasgow arrives about 9 am and then if you overnight and return on the 6.00 plane the next night, you will have a short break where I guarantee you will
feel totally relaxed, and have all the time to test drive each of the distilleries, if that is your choice.
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| Bowmore walking down from the Round Church towards the harbour |
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