If you don’t bring your own car, the best option for experiencing Jura is a tour with Jura Island Tours. They’re also incredibly photogenic and are often seen striking dramatic poses on the skyline, so a decent telephoto lens will help you capture their undeniable majesty. The stags can be huge, easily weighing up to 17 stone and more. These magnificent creatures, Britain’s largest land mammals, are everywhere. Some sources say the island’s name derives from the Norse for deer. One thing you’ll definitely see if you visit Jura is red deer. If you want to experience some of the thrill of the Corryvreckan without (most of) the danger, boat trips are available with Islay Sea Adventures from Port Askaig on Islay. The vessel overturned as they clambered onto the island and they were eventually rescued by a passing lobster boat. Carried away by strong currents, Orwell’s nephew managed to row them to a small island, Eilan Mor, as the author held on to his son at the stern. While attempting to navigate the Gulf, the outboard motor of their small boat became detached. Indeed, George Orwell himself almost perished there, along with his three-year-old adopted son, a niece and a nephew. With its whirlpools, powerful currents and standing waves, this stretch of water lying between Jura and Scarba is considered by sailors to be one of the most treacherous anywhere in the British Isles. From there you can see the magnificent, but at times terrifying, Gulf of Corryvreckan. If you plan on walking as far as Barnhill (which being a holiday let, isn’t open to ‘drop-in’ visitors), make sure that you have plenty of time to reach the northern tip of the island. If you fancy channeling the ghost of Orwell - or simply wish to escape the pressures of 21st century life for a while - the property is available as a holiday let. Many do make the journey to Jura in homage to George Orwell, and Barnhill remains in the hands of the Fletcher family from whom Orwell rented it. By contrast, once he was settled in and when encouraging friends to visit, Orwell was at pains to point out that they could get from London to Jura by train and ferry in 24 hours – probably about the same time as it would take by surface travel today! at the end of a six-mile-long rutted track that his visitors would have to negotiate on foot. Before he had moved there, when describing specifically the location of Barnhill, the house he rented, he said: ‘It is in an extremely un-get-at-able place’, i.e. Orwell is often quoted as describing Jura as very un-get-at-able. George Orwell famously moved to Jura in 1946 to give himself ‘six months’ quiet’ to write a novel (Nineteen Eighty-Four). The island is also home to the historic Isle of Jura distillery, which is well worth a visit. The island’s distinctive peaks, the Paps of Jura, offer fantastic hillwalking, and intrepid hikers can explore the uninhabited – and otherwise inaccessible – west coast. The deer population by contrast numbers between 6000 and 7,000. Jura is the eighth largest Scottish island and yet only around 200 people live here. Mountainous, wild and sparsely populated, it couldn’t be more different from Islay. So, what makes Jura special? There’s simply nowhere quite like it in the whole of Scotland. Hop on the ferry and you’ll reach this unique island in just ten minutes. And if you’ve made it to Islay, you’re almost within touching distance of neighbouring Jura. When you get so close to something special, it’s almost criminal not to go the extra mile.
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