Category: Blog
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The Island Life Calendar Competition Winners – 2023
Thank you to everyone who took part in our Island Life calendar competition! We’ve been blown away by all the brilliant entries! The judges had some hard choices to make, and in the end we decided that two images should appear for each month – a main image, and a smaller inset one. Without further
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From Barra to Lewis and back
My mission was to travel from Barra to Lewis interviewing artists, artisans, crafters, producers on behalf of isle20 and the Scottish Islands Passport. Join me on my journey to meet these incredible Island Makers – from Barra to Lewis and back!
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The Ultimate Island Autumn Gift Guide
Tis’ the season to get cosy! Finally there are no reasons not to sit down, cosy up and relax when you get in from fresh beach walks in beautiful autumn light. We have put together ALL that you need to make the most of the darker nights the cosiest season of them all! For more
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The Tiree Ultramarathon
What makes a great run?…….How about sandy beaches, blue skies and an unspoilt landscape? Tiree Ultramarathon offers ALL of that and it also helps that it’s pretty flat too! This year’s Tiree Ultramarathon takes place on Sunday 4th September. 35 miles of stunning Hebridean scenery and I’m fairly sure some good times after you’ve reached
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Where in the Scottish islands can you see Orcas?
It’s a question asked by many visitors to the Scottish islands every year. The numbers of orcas, whales and other sea mammals has been a bit of a nature success story in the Scottish islands in recent years, which is GREAT news but there are no guarantees! So, where in the Scottish islands can you
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Five things you didn’t know about Highland Cows.
Who doesn’t LOVE a Highland Cow? They’re cute, they’re fluffy and does anything say Scotland more than a Highland Coo? Here are five things you didn’t know about Highland cows. So here are FIVE things you didn’t know (or maybe you did) about everyone’s favourite bovine – Highland Cows! Highland cows are known collectively as
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Scottish island gins
When it comes to gin Scotland is right up there producing the FINEST in the world. In fact over 70% of the UK’s gin is made in Scotland. So, what makes Scottish gin and island gins in particular so good? Well, it’s all down to the AMAZING ingredients, distilling skills which are rooted in island
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Puffins – Everyone’s favourite sea bird
Puffins are by far the cutest wee sea bird that you will find on our island cliffs. From April to August puffins return from a winter at sea to their cliff side burrows to nest and bring out a chick. The arrival of the puffins is a sure sign that summer is on the way!
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Comann Each nan Eilean – Gàidhlig air isle20
Eriskay Pony cards, t-shirts and more! Tha Liam Crouse an sàs ann an Comann Each nan Eilean ann an Èirisgeidh. ‘S e catharnas a th’ann an Comman Each nan Eilean a a chaidh a chuir air bhonn ann an 1972 gus ha h-eich dùchasach seo a dhìon. Liam Crouse is part of the Eriskay Pony
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Jazz Buchanan Creations – Gàidhlig air isle20
Highland cow cards and more from Elgol in Skye! Tha Jazz Buchanan stèidhichte san Eilean Sgitheanach, ann an Elgol. ‘S e dealbhadair a th’innte agus bidh i a’ tarraing dhealbhan àlainn. ‘S iad crodh Ghaidhealach na rudan a bhios i a’ tarraing as trice! Jazz Buchanan is based in Elgol in the Isle of Skye.
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Why doesn’t isle20 have a Gaelic translation?
isle20 is based in the Scottish islands, but it doesn’t have a Gaelic translation of the site. Just an oversight, or deliberate? Find out…
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Christie Country Crafts – Gàidhlig air isle20
Cross stitch cards, keyrings and more! Tha Fiona bho Christie Country Crafts a’ fuireach ann an Eilean a’ Cheò – no an t-Eilean Sgitheanach mar a th’againn air cuideachd. ‘S e cross stitch a tha a’ còrdadh rithe agus bidh i a’ sgrìobhadh na pàtrain aice fhèin. Fiona from Christie Country Crafts lives in the
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Honest Coffins – Gàidhlig air isle20
Gaelic signs, driftwood jewellery and more! ‘S ann à Eilean Arain a tha John. Tha e ag obair le fiodh gus cisteachan a chruthachadh ach chan ann cisteachan a mhàin a tha e a’ deanamh. Tha John cuideachd a’ dèanamh soidhnichean agus seudradh fiodha! John from Honest Coffins is based in the Isle of Arran.
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What is isleHoliday and why are we doing it?
You might have noticed us talking about a new project recently – isleHoliday.com Maybe you are wondering what it is and why we are doing it! Rhoda explains… As isle20 developed, I decided it should be one of multiple projects under a social enterprise. So I formed Isle Develop CIC and started experimenting with new
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How you are helping: Tiree Crab Company
Meet Kirsty and Callum – starting a new seafood venture in Tiree! Callum Williams and Kirsty Bennett from the Isle of Tiree took a huge step this year, opening a new retail outlet in Tiree for locally landed and sourced shellfish. It’s great to have support from another local business to help us grow and
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How many Scottish islands are there?
If you are looking for a list of Scottish islands, or their names, you are in the right place! So, how many Scottish islands are there? That’s a great question. It all depends on whether you want to know about the ones which are populated or not! We will focus on the number of Scottish
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Honesty Boxes of the Scottish Islands
Last week saw the final episode of current series of the Ann Cleaves inspired drama Shetland. Never mind who dunnit? and the cries of Shetlanders everywhere saying there’s no way you can get from Fair Isle to a crime scene THAT quickly, the MOST important question was… is the Cake Fridge real? First of all,
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Isle Develop…
Isle Develop… It’s been just over 4 months since I tweeted about a web directory, and it’s been pretty much non-stop ever since. It’s been incredibly humbling to watch isle20.com grow and develop. I’ve learnt so much in the process that my brain hurts. If you’re on twitter at all, you might have come across
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Scotland Correspondent!
Scotland Correspondent! Scotland Correspondent is a free digital magazine focussing on all things Scottish. This month as well as being a great read, it’s featuring an advert from isle20.com, and a great article on one of our vendors – Modren! Check out page 146 for Modren‘s feature and page 162 for our advert!
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Isle20 is in the news!
Isle20 is in the news! We made the Sunday Post, folks! Read the article online here.
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isle20 – Guardian Live Blog
isle20 – Guardian Live Blog We made it into the Guardian a few weeks back!
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isle20: the origin story
isle20 started as a message to a few friends in early March, where I joked that I might put together directory website of island businesses and call it isle20. That way, people could come and do their shopping in the islands even if they couldn’t make it over on holiday this year. I was mainly