Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, Argyll and Bute Council’s spokesperson for transport and infrastructure, hopes the assessment will show the service can continue. He explains;
“The passenger service has been very popular with both islanders and visitors as it provides a rapid and direct alternative to the services from Kennacraig. However the service can only carry on if it is financially viable. “The council’s budget is under enormous pressure and we have to consider carefully where funds are spent in the future. While no-one wants to see the service disappear we can’t afford to support private enterprises which are not financially successful. I urge everyone travelling to Jura to consider using this ferry – it will only survive if more people pay to use it.” Argyll and Bute Council has added an extra £5,000 to the £37,500 it has already given to the service. HIE has today added a further £5,000 with £1,700 coming from the Jura Development Trust.

unless £12,500 can be found soon, the first direct ferry service to the mainland in almost 40 years will have to cease in the middle of next month – six weeks before the end of a three-year pilot. If that happens nobody knows whether the ferry, which runs from the beginning of April to the end of September, will ever start again. The fast passenger route was launched by a community company in 2008 with grant aid from Argyll and Bute Council.

Deborah Bryce, community plan co-ordinator with the Jura Development Trust, said the direct ferry was vitally important to the island. “It has carried over 6000 passengers since it began in 2008 and generated around £30,000 per annum to the local community supporting and helping to sustain local businesses,” she said. “If we lost the ferry we would not be going back to where we started, but further back. Since the ferry began we have a new award-winning restaurant, The Antlers, a privately owned hotel and more visitor accommodation. The community have now lost their sense of isolation and look forward to what and who the ferry brings.” She said the trust would be contacting the council to ask for help funding the shortfall so the service can finish its trial. “We now have accurate figures that indicate the ferry needs 55 to 60% subsidy, which I understand is less than the average subsidy given to most transport services in Argyll, but would certainly make it viable,” she added.

Direct access to Jura has been a problem ever since 1972, the last time a MacBrayne’s ferry provided a service to the mainland. For decades there was debate over a ferry crossing between Jura and Argyll that Islay drovers used to get cattle to market 200 years ago. Many feared it would turn Jura into a busy thoroughfare for its more populous neighbour. Perhaps the Scottish Ferry Review can come up with answer to this urgent problem. Looking at the population of the island one might come to the conclusion that they should have their own Calmac ferry, just like smaller islands such as Gigha, Rum, Lismore etc. In the meanwhile the Argyll and Bute council are doing everything they can to obtain the necessary funds to let the ferry run until the end of the summer season but it is by no means sure that they will succeed. Fingers crossed!

Clive Loveless: The other week I was at the London Print Fair at the Royal Academy and walking down the aisle of stands I suddenly see an image which immediately connected. It was an etching by a Jason Hicklin of “The Paps of Jura”, 2008. The image struck me strongly with its brooding quality that I bought it on the spot and, now on the wall of my London flat, it resonates with vibrations and memories of the past. So to explain….

Maybe around 1963 my parents, English and Welsh, not Scots were employed by the Riley-Smith Estate to manage the Craighouse Inn and restaurant. I remember my first trip up there, pre-Christmas 1963 on the MacBrayne’s ferry from West Loch Tarbert, arriving at the quay in Small Isles Bay, in the dark. I fell in love with the island.. its wildness and warmth… right there and then.

I was about 20 and soon meeting the locals, drinking the whisky (the old distillery was just about to re-open again) and joining in the ceilidhs. Then, challenged by another young local man, whose name I think was John James Mackay (?), I climbed with him all three Paps in one day! And what a day it was… adders in the heather… eagles soaring above.. the incredible views.. what a day to share with another young fellow.. a stranger.. but not really!

I truly fell in love with the place, the atmosphere, the light and even took some girl friends up there to share my enthusiasm of the island including the late Wendy Richard of “East Enders” fame who immediately became a star with the locals… if not notorious for fighting off Greater Black Backed Gulls with an oar as they dived upon our little rowing boat and barking Beagle hound on a sunny day in Small Isles Bay.

Another strong memory was a visit by Land Rover and final foot trek to visit Barnhill, the home of my literary hero, George Orwell or “Mr. Blair” to the locals. How extraordinary to set foot in the house where “1984” was written and then feel the experience of the Corryvreckan whirlpool thrashing a few paces away. I’d never seen anything like it!

I can’t believe I last visited after my parents, Tony and Joan, had left the Inn due to the sea strikes of the late ‘60’s.. finally taking my then wife to be, Jane, there in 1970. Maybe the memories are so clear and strong that I don’t want to crack, even shatter, them from so long ago by visiting again…..it all seems so close and recent as I look at my “Paps of Jura” etching on the wall…

For more information on the artist Jason Hicklin visit his website at www.jasonhicklin.com

The nice thing about a sale is that you get a good overview of the estate including detailed information of Jura House and the other outbuildings which is otherwise not so easy to get. The PDF brochure shows some nice interior images of Jura House including floorplans and some really nice images.

Views from the Ardfin Estate

One of the interesting features of the sale is that there it includes seven uninhabited islands: “Each of these is uninhabited with the exception of Castle Island, south of Ardfin Farm, which includes the ruined remains of Claig Castle – a one time stronghold of Clan MacDonald. There are no manmade structures or development of the islands. Off the east coast of the estate, and situated in the bay which faces the settlements of Craighouse and Keils, are four small islands, the English names of which are Flat Island, Rabbit Island, Little Rabbit Island and Goat Island. Lying off the southern coast of the estate on the edge of the Sound of Islay are three more islands called Brosdale, Castle and Green Islands. With no more practical use than being a very pleasant place for a picnic and for grazing by deer, which periodically swim out to them, the islands are a haven for nesting sea and shoreline birds including oyster catchers, ringed plovers, eider and shellduck, and various species of gull. Common seals and otters are also a frequent sight on and around these islands.”

For more information check out this link or read all about the estate in the PDF brochure

“I went a bit wrong early on but I got back to the pack. Two guys had got away but I caught up with them and won by a few minutes.” Jebb said it is a commitment just to get to Jura but he has entered the race many times and should be back in the future, hoping for a third win.

For the full list of the 2010 results visit the official fell race website here

To download the distillery leaflet right click with your mouse on the image and select save target as… to save the guide on your local hard drive. To view the distillery leaflet directly click on the image and it will be opened in your browser window from where you can save a copy too.

Here are this years winners:
Best Achievement for Argyll: Eilidh Steel, with fellow musician Joy Dunlop a close second.
Best Tourism Initiative: Jura Passenger Ferry, with Fiddle Folk / Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop a close second.
Best Environmental Initiative: Islay Energy Trust – way out in front from a early stage, with Seil Community Garden Project in second.
Best Community Initiative: Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop, with the Finlaggan Centre development on Islay a close second.
Best Homecoming Event, Joint winners: The Columba Ceilidh Trail and the Islay Festival in a thrilling last hours dead heat and with Inveraray’s Spirit of the West Festival in second.
Best Major Event: Royal National Mod, a standout winner with the Mull of Kintyre Half Marathon and 10k Run in second.
Best Community Event: Mull of Kintyre Half Marathom and 10k Run, with the Meur Chruachain pre-Mod Ceilidh a close second.
Best Arts Programme: Fiddle Folk / Lochgoilhead Workshop, a runaway winner with the Meur Chruachain Summer & Winter Ceilidhs in second.
Best Activity Website: Islay Wilderness Guide, ahead of Islay Shipping Blog in close pursuit.
Best Wildlife Website: Mull Eagle Watch, a long way ahead, with Islay Birds a good second.
Best Community Website: The Carradale Goat, with a very close dead heat for second between Arrochar and Tarbet and the Kintyre Forum.
Best Local Newspaper: The Oban Times, a flyaway winner with the Ileach a good second.

Check out the ForArgyll website for the full overview