Scottish Islands Explorer Magazine Sept-Oct 2019 Vorige editie

The September / October 2019 issue contains a significant announcement as well as the usual crop of articles. Islands, as it happens, ending with the letter ‘a’ feature - with a review of life on Canna; the historical phases that have influenced Flotta; the off-grid elements that are evident on Gometra; the ways in which Scarba has affected a father and son.

The Back of Beyond series takes in Hyskeir and its lighthouse, while the Island Issues section considers the need to be venturous, particularly on Skye. The work of the South Uist artist, Michael Felix Gilfedder, occupies the Centrepiece; the Islands Beyond focuses on the state of the Gaelic language on Cape Breton Island, among other areas of Canada.

The now defunct Postbus service is the Responses topic, while Island Incidents looks back to a dreadful wartime collision at sea involving the RMS Queen Mary. Getting to Muckle Flugga, at the top end of Shetland, can be part of a ‘Crossways’ route taking in the other three points of the compass, at least locally. The magazine introduces you to places through people who enjoy where they are going.

The Island Quiz compiler, David Hoult, who always presents a challenge to readers, shows how verbal tongue-twisters involving place-names are very much in evidence on the islands.