The Ileach newspaper is getting more active on the internet lately and they started a collection of Islay images a while back on Flickr, the popular photosharing website of Yahoo. When I had a look recently I found out that they currently have 1,478 items in their collection and I think this could well be the one of the largest collections of online Islay images. While most images are taken recently, you can find image sets of the Fly Fishing championships, the Islay Triathlon and Beach Rugby tournament, there is also a very interesting collection from the hand of Gilbert Carmichael. Click here for the Ileach collection.

Gilbert Carmichael, also known from the book Old Islay, is a gifted photographer and produced an almost endless series of postcards in the nineteen nineties, modern interpretations of the original images. The collection of Gilbert Carmichael at the Ileach Flickr page contains many images and postcards from Islay. Some coloured and some black and white but most of them showing scenes that have hardly changed through the years. One of the exceptions is the corner building at Bruichladdich Distillery which was destroyed by a fire many years ago. It's up to you to find the other differences! Continue reading.......

I myself happen to have one very old postcard from Islay. I bought it a couple of years ago and it is titled "Geisgeir Strand, Port Ellen, Islay". It shows, from what I believe, is Port Ellen Distillery. The beach will probably be the beach in front of the White Hart Hotel. I don't know it by the name Geisgeir Strand, I haven't heard of it before, which doesn't mean much, and I'm not sure if this name is still being used. It is a very picturesque scene by Alexander Cameron dated 1929! Below is a picture of the postcard:

The 1929 postcard titled "Geisgeir Strand, Port Ellen, Islay" by Alexander Cameron

Tag: postcards photography ileach pictures