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 Port Ellen and the Ferry Terminus |
Port Ellen, built around Loch Leodamais, is Islay's main deep water harbour and, with Port Askaig, one of two ferry terminals on the island. It is also Islay's second largest settlement, being only marginally smaller than Bowmore.
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Port Ellen was founded in 1821 by Walter Frederick Campbell, then Laird of Islay, and was named after his wife. By 1825 Port Ellen distillery had been founded. Despite the quality of its output this closed, probably for good, in 1983, though a recent coat of paint gives it an attractive air and keeps alive the hope that maybe, some day... The nearby industrial scale Port Ellen maltings continue to operate, and serve a number of Islay's distilleries.
 Beach and Village |
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 Ramsay Community Hall |
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 War Memorial |
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 Port Ellen Maltings |
Port Ellen itself occupies two bays on the loch, between which is the rocky outcrop housing the harbour facilities. The village is made up mostly of the white painted houses and cottages found all over Islay, with a few larger stone faced buildings mixed in. There are two churches, one overlooking each of the two bays: and each bay also offers a beach.
Port Ellen is significant as the centre of the whole of southern Islay. The road to the east from the village leads you past the justly famous distilleries of Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg, the last of which has only recently come back into use.
Overlooking Lagavulin Bay and its distillery are the ruined remains of Dunyvaig Castle. This was a fortress of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles before James IV asserted his authority in 1493. In later life it was besieged and captured in 1612, 1615 and (twice) in 1647. It was largely demolished by the Campbell lairds of Islay when they moved to more modern accommodation in Islay House in 1677.
To the west a minor road takes you along The Oa, the peninsula now home mostly to the deserted settlements of the 4,000 people who lived here before the clearances that saw them resettled in places like Port Ellen, or emigrating altogether. It is worth bearing in mind that the population of Islay in the 1830s was 18,000. Today it is just 4,000, equal to the number who once lived just on the Oa peninsula.
North from Port Ellen you have a choice of roads to take you to the centre of the island. The old "High Road" is a good quality single track that runs across the peat moss in an almost dead straight line to Bridgend, near Bowmore. This must be about the second straightest road in Scotland, the straightest being the "Low Road" that replaced it. This Low Road runs in an unsettlingly dead straight line for the better part of ten miles. En route to Bowmore it passes by Islay's airport.
No visit to the south of Islay is complete without seeing Big Strand, the superb seven mile stretch of beach along west-facing Laggan Bay. This can be reached most easily via Kintra at the southern end or the bay. If you like your beaches large and sweeping, then Big Strand is the place for you.
 Port Ellen's Disused Distillery |
