Scottish anchorages

Islay

Port Charlotte is certainly a pretty place but I suspect a rather dead village - there seem to be an awful lot of holiday homes. It was founded in the early 19th century as a distillery and agricultural settlement (the Loch Indaal distillery died many decades ago). But, there is the excellent Islay natural history centre in a converted part of the old distillery (ph 01496 850288), particularly the hands on stuff for children, and the excellent Port Charlotte Hotel for tasty bar lunches and suppers, upmarket dinners, and music (ph 01496 850360). It also majors on malt whiskies. I have not been to the Museum of Islay Life in the converted 1843 Kilchoman Free Church. The lighthouse – is Stevenson, of course, 1869.