6 Chapels Walk, Islay - Islay Walking Week 2008, Scotland

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	For our first walk of WalkIslay 2008 we met at Dunlossit Kennels, from where Donald James (DJ) MacPhee took us on walk through historic Islay, passing 6 ancient chapels on the way. Heading out from the kennels our first stop was at Loch Lossit, where DJ pointed out the small island, once home to a now ‘lost chapel’. At Lossit Farm we had a brief look at some of the rare pig breeds kept at the farm. We also saw the Alpaca, several of us remembering it from a visit in 2007. It's always nice to see these efforts to keep rare breeds. Leaving Lossit Farm we headed north-east, following the contours of the hill just below Dun Bhorariac. We were now on the way to Kilslevan.

	Soon we arrived in Kilslevan, where DJ told us a lot about the history of the area and why the village was abandoned. We made a short stop for elevenses before continuing our walk. From the village we continued to the chapel, or better what remains of it, not much. Just the foundations are still visible, everything else having pretty much disappeared. The pigs Dunlossit Estate keeps had also been in the area, churning up the ground very efficiently. For large parts of the walk so far we had good views of the Paps of Jura, initially their summits were covered in clouds. As we got closer the clouds lifted, providing us some great views from just above Loch Allan on Islay.

	Near Carnbeg we came across some of the Dunlossit pigs again, although they were hiding in the undergrowth and didn't seem to want to be photographed. A sheep with its young lamb was much more obliging. Our next stop was Keills, where we stopped at the cemetery with the remains of the old chapel of St Colm-cille. Our stop here was a bit longer, as we also had our lunch at Keills. Refreshed we continued, turning west towards Mulreesh. At Mulreesh we stopped at the old lead works before walking on towards Cill Eileagain chapel. From here we turned south towards Finlaggan, crossing various fences on the way.

More to come here...
If you are interested in more information about Islay, Colonsay and Jura you might also be interested in my Isle of Islay pages. There you will find many more pictures and further information about Islay, Jura and Colonsay.

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