Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Island 83 - Ulva, Inner Hebrides

Ulva is accessed by a passenger ferry from Ulva Ferry on Mull.  It is only a 5 minute boat trip. It is linked to the neighbouring island of Gometra by a bridge but it is a 5 mile walk each was across Ulva to get to it and I was feeling too lazy to do the walk!  I will be back to 'collect' Gometra on another occasion.

Ulva has been inhabited for thousands of years and it was owned by the Clan MacQuarrie for 500 years until the late 18th Century.  It was then owned by the Macdonalds of Boisdale, then in 1826 by Charles Macquarrie and in 1835 by FW Clark.  It was bought by Lady Congleton in 1945 and has been in her family ever since.

In the late 18th century and early 19th Century kelp burning was a profitable industry, as the product was used in soap and glass making but this ceased after the Napoleonic Wars.  The demise of this industry, plus a run of poor harvest and the potato blight led to forced migration to America, Australia and Mull.

The Boathouse is a pub on Ulva.  

Sheila's Cottage, which is a reconstructed thatched croft house, which was lived in by Sheila MacFadyen until early in the 20th Century, has a display of local history information.

Instructions for summoning the Ulva ferry at Ulva Ferry

The Boathouse

Ulva Ferry

Ferry ticket office on Ulva

Signpost

Church

Inside the church

Standing Stone

Wooded track

Cascade

Ulva House

Community Garden near Ulva House

Sheila

Sheila's Cottage

Wreck near The Boathouse and ferry

No comments:

Post a Comment