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This is not a guide to the islands of Scotland. This is not a tour to be followed, nor is it travel advice. This is a richly anecdotal and personal exploration. Richard Clubley shares the sense of freedom he finds in the Scottish islands as he discovers their individual character, beauty and diversity. He meets locals and learns a few realities of island life. He almost perished on Ailsa Craig, before finding fresh water dripping from the roof of a cave, but spends two idyllic nights alone on Mingulay, with a fabulous coal fire in a bothy. His passion for Scottish islands shines through every chapter. Curl up by the fire, pull the blanket close and sip on your dram. You're about to escape to the islands. Prepare for addiction. A book for islomanes to savour in sips. Night caps are suggested; that way the addiction can be controlled. MAIRI HEDDERWICK
Richard Clubley once again shows his love for the Scottish island of Orkney through this new book, recording the special way of life that exists only on Orkney. With full colour images and illustrations, his ode to the island is formed of articles from Living Orkney magazine and the students of Kirkwall Grammar School.
I'm not the only one with islomania – lots of people have the same affliction, for which there is no known cure, thank goodness. I have a similar affinity for boats and I think the similarity is that they are both tiny worlds, bounded by water. Richard Clubley makes no secret of his love of Scottish islands. In fact, it's his mission to spread the love through writing about all the islands he has visited. The Sea All Around is a very personal appreciation of these places – 'remote' to some, but the centre of the world for those who live there. Richard gets to the heart of island life, picking up on the particular character of each island he visits by making friends and learning about local history and lore, such as the story of the exploding float on Lunga, the ingenious defence of the garrison at Cairn-na-Burgh on the Treshnish Isles and the Battle of Bloody Bay on Mull. I still love a blank sheet of paper and the first sentence of a new island story.
Spending seven months in Orkney during 2015 and 2016 in order to delve into the secrets of the islands, Richard Clubley was keen to get as many local views as possible. He gathered interviews with lighthouse keepers, farmers, archaeologists and climbers – and many others! On dreich afternoons during the short days of winter, Richard ate home bakes with locals and recorded their memories. It was at one such hearth that someone said, 'You know about so-and-so of course, you come to Orkney all the time, so how could you not know?'. Richard didn't know. While there are still a lot of unearthed stories hidden in Orkney, Richard has collected a fair few in this beautifully illustrated book. Richard Clubley loves Scotland's islands, but it is Orkney that has stolen his heart. In this book, he portrays the northern Scottish islands fairly and honestly, with stories that even Orkney locals may not have heard before. Travellers from elsewhere will be charmed by Richard's descriptions of the Orkney landscape and way of life.
Riddoch on the Outer Hebrides is a thought-provoking commentary based on broadcaster Lesley Riddoch's cycle journey through a beautiful island chain facing seismic cultural and economic change. Her experience is described in a typically affectionate but hard-hitting style; with humour, anecdote and a growing sympathy for islanders tired of living at the margins but fearful of closer contact with mainland Scotland.
After moving permanently to the island he's always dreamed of, Richard Clubley here sets out to capture the experience of life on Orkney, from the history of Neolithic sites to a future in renewable energy, telling the stories of countless Orcadians along the way. Determined to travel further afield than his home on Mainland, Richard takes to the Outer Islands to meet the people who live there and tell their stories. Orkney: A Special Way of Life is a delight for any lover of Scotland's remote places, filled with rich descriptions of the islands.
“An island history almost without comparison . . . one of the finest Highland books of the 21st century” from the renowned Scottish historian (West Highland Free Press). The tiny diamond-shaped island of Pabay lies in Skye’s Inner Sound, just two and a half miles from the bustling village of Broadford. One of five Hebridean islands of that name, it derives from the Norse papa-ey, meaning “island of the priest.” Many visitors since the first holy men built their chapel there have felt that Pabay is a deeply spiritual place, and one of wonder. These include the great 19th-century geologists Hugh Miller and Archibald Geikie, for whom the island’s rocks and fossil-laden shales reveal...
SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR In Island Dreams, Gavin Francis combines stories of his own travels with psychology, philosophy and myth, shedding new light on the importance of islands and isolation in our collective consciousness. Francis draws on thirty years of island adventures from the Faroe Islands to the Aegean, from the Galapagos to the Andaman Islands. He contrasts these quests for freedom with the demands for commitment required as a doctor, community member and parent. Island Dreams riffs on the twin poles of rest and motion, independence and attachment, never more relevant than in today’s ever-connected world.