Visit to Jura

On the week end of 7/8th June, 23 members of the Society travelled to the Island of Jura in order to go and see Barnhill, the house where George Orwell wrote his last great novel,1984. At 16.00 on a glorious afternoon 18 of us boarded 2 Rigid Inflatable Boats (known as RIBs) and had a mirror smooth 20 mile trip from Crinan harbour, the western end of the canal, to Craighouse at the southern end of Jura. On the way we were all invited to have a “wee dram” of the local Jura whisky, supplied by our 2 very helpful skippers of the RIBs. On arrival at Craighouse we were cordially received by the proprietor of the Jura Hotel, who brought his van down to the pier to assist with the luggage. Later on we were joined by the remaining 5 members, 2 having come on their own yacht from Northern Ireland and 3 others, who arrived in time for dinner. After a most convivial evening, where several members were able to enjoy the product of the distillery from across the road from the hotel, we retired to our rooms in the knowledge that we would be on the move a little earlier than planned, due to a weather front coming in sometime after midday on Sat.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny with a fresh breeze and after a thoroughly typical Scottish breakfast, we embarked on our trusty RIBs for the run up the east coast of Jura to Barnhill at 08.30 On the way we were all given a chance to see and photograph a white tailed eagle, before continuing on to stop off once again in a little bay in front of Barnhill for a photo shoot. A few minutes later we arrived at the little jetty to disembark and to be greeted by our hosts, Kate Johnston and Jamie and Damaris Fletcher. Kate and Jamie are the youngest of the Fletcher children, whose parents were Orwell’s landlord. They had very kindly laid on a Land Rover for the half mile journey to Barnhill for the less able .There were few takers, all wanted to walk and enjoy the scenery. Once we were all assembled at the house, we split into two parties and I lead them through the rooms to show where Orwell wrote 1984, where we had lunch and I tried to light an old pipe with fathers cigarette ends, where I severely cut my head and other little anecdotes. I was surprised and delighted when our hosts asked if they could come round with me, as they had no idea of these little stories. They also put on a wonderful tea and home made cakes, which was very much appreciated by the members. Unfortunately time was moving on and the weather front that was promised was beginning to appear. So I was able to do a reading from part of “Such, Such were the Joys” essay before we said goodbye to the Fletchers and Barnhill and made our way back to the boats and continued on with the plan to circumnavigate the island.

Our next sop was in the notorious “Gulf of Corryvreckan” where in 1947, my father , myself and two cousins were shipwrecked on a little rocky island, my father and I landing upside down under the dingy that we were on taking us back to Barnhill after a week end of R&R. We were rescued by a lobster fisherman a few hours later and taken ashore to continue our journey back to Barnhill on foot. By now the weather was getting very dull and soon afterwards it started to rain. We carried on to let the members see if there were any red deer to be seen and also to see the raised beaches, which are very common on Jura. Our boats navigated through some very narrow passages between rocks to let people see the ruggedness on the island. Finally after a run through the Sound of Islay we were back where we started at Craighouse at 15.30. Although it was still raining some of the members went for a run, others went to the gift shop at the distillery and there followed another noisy and convivial dinner, after which some of the members went to the village hall for a bit of a “ho-down” evening. As next day wasn’t be too frantic, the bar was going well quite late on into the evening!

Sunday was a morning at leisure and in the warm sunshine some members went off fell running, quite few took a bus tour and a few of us went for pleasant walk to a local cemetery and on the way back we encountered the elusive red deer and looked at an exhibition of old photographs of island life. In the afternoon we all gathered again the village hall where we were given a short talk and shown some recorded interviews done by young couple about the lives of the older inhabitants of the 40’s and 50’s, reminiscing about their way of life on Jura. Amongst us were a few of the local people, who wanted to see, not only their part, but also to see a documentary about my mother, Eileen and also to see the BBC’s film made in 1983 of “Orwell on Jura” All of this was very well received. By now our two intrepid fell runners had returned and at 19.00 we all gathered in the Antlers restaurant for a farewell dinner. Joining us as our guests were our hosts at Barnhill and the young couple, Jane and Hugh (and their baby daughter, Grace), who had put in so much time making this archival “Jura Lives” After a splendid dinner, we were all ready for a slightly earlier night than the previous two!

Next morning in clear sunshine we embarked for the last time on the RIBs at 08.30 for our journey back to Crinan. Our sailing friends had already left for their trip back to Northern Ireland. We finally arrived back at our meeting point at Crinan at 10.00 and having said our farewells, we then headed off to our respective homes.

This has been a wonderful trip, which I hope the members will remember for a very long time. All the objectives set out in the original itinerary were achieved with flawless execution. None of this would have been possible, but for one member, Quentin Kopp. He has worked tirelessly and not without a little frustration from time to time, to get all the elements in place. We are all indebted, not only to Quent, but also to Liz, who no doubt helped him in the back ground. Thank you to you both and thank you, members, for making it such a pleasure for Eleanor and myself to be with you all.