Islay Part Two

Scotland Outdoors

BBC

Nature, Society & Culture, Science

4.7 • 709 Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mark and Rachel with the second part of their visit the island of Islay, the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides.

The RSPB has two reserves on the island, one at Loch Gruinart and one at The Oa, which is where Mark and Rachel met warden David Dinsley to try and spot one of the bird species Islay is known for, the chough.

Artist Heather Dewar was born on Islay in the 1940s, and although she moved away as a child, she returned regularly until she retired there. We chat to her about what makes Islay such a special place and hear some of her childhood memories.

Islay is in a strategically important place in terms of shipping and trade. And between 1914 and 1918 the waters around it were an important route for troopships. Two incidents brought the First World War to the doors of the islanders, and author Les Wilson tells us about one of them and the impact it had on Islay. We also hear about a rather remarkable American flag which was made on the island and has been returned there after spending quite some time in the USA.

And we couldn’t visit Islay, and island with ten, nearly 11 distilleries, and not talk about whisky. People come from all across the world to visit the distilleries and taste the drams with their unique Islay style. Rachel chats to Rachel MacNeill from the Islay Whisky Academy about how she gets people passionate about whisky. And we visit the Kilchoman Distillery to hear from Sharon McHarrie about how they are continuing some of the old traditions in their comparatively young distillery.

Transcript

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0:00.0	He tells her that she will be sent to France as a secret agent, and if she's caught, she's going to be shot.
0:09.3	I'm Helen Obalam Carter, and this is history's secret heroes, where I shine a light on extraordinary stories from World War II.
0:17.6	What they wanted was someone to get themselves arrested and sent to Auschwitz.
0:22.0	Tales of deception, an incredible acts of resistance and courage.
0:26.3	She was a born soldier.
0:27.4	She's a freedom fighter in its widest sense.
0:29.9	The brand new series of History's secret heroes.
0:32.8	Listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:35.6	This Scotland Outdoors podcast from BBC Radio Scotland.
0:44.9	Hello and thanks very much for choosing to listen to this.
0:47.4	As you probably know, we build the Scotland Outdoors podcast from the live programme we do for BBC Radio Scotland, which is called Out of Doors.
0:55.2	And this week we continue our journey to Isla, the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides.
1:05.0	I'm Deborah. I'm from the Midlands, Northamptonshire, and we've been trekking around in our campervan.
1:13.0	What do you make of Isla?
1:14.3	Absolutely brilliant, beautiful. Fantastic scenery, welcoming people, fantastic whiskey, of course.
1:21.3	We've done a third bit of sampling already.
1:23.7	I thought you were looking really merry.
1:30.0	It's fabulous, a lovely place,
1:31.8	especially on the daylight today when the sun shines.
1:34.4	Nowhere I'd rather be, to be quite honest, it's gorgeous.
1:37.0	I'm Gabriella.
1:38.1	Everywhere you look, it's beautiful.
	...

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