Another kind of split

A few comments about driving on the left are perhaps of interest to those who are considering travel to Scotland's Hebrides.  Some trepidation naturally exists for those of us who are newbie "port side" drivers, especially in the context of "real" traffic out on U.K. highways.

While the principal "trunk" roads on Islay are quite good, they do have certain unique features to them.  Lack of a shoulder for one thing; or sheep grazing where the fog line is supposed to be.

March 23, 2017  Scottish blackface sheep on A847; oblivious to traffic

The spectacle of sheep on the A847 highway admittedly is not quite as impressive as that on the country single tracks.  We had to pull over the day before to yield at Kilnave, for example.  Still, the risk seems substantially greater, both to sheep and drivers, at higher speeds on the main trunk roads.

March 22, 2017  Sheep herding on Islay with an ATV (sheep dog was riding the ATV as well)

Single tracks aside, what you have going for you, should you plan to drive on Hebridean highways, are lower resident populations than are found on the Scottish mainland.  Or better said:  lower populations during the tourist off-season.  This merits a note.  Some Hebridean islands swell by three or four times their resident population when the summer season begins in earnest.  For that reason, avoiding the crush is one of the benefits of a tour during Easter.

This is not to say that single tracks don't have...interesting features.

March 23, 2017  Single track near Kilchiaran

It's just that in driving single tracks over back farm lands, a nod and a wave is easy enough.  Figuring out who is doing what on them is usually a mutual understanding.  Maybe it's universal.  In Idaho we have the same thing, on remote tracks like at top of Seven Devils for example.  Speeds are normally low on single tracks, and drivers are naturally being more cautious.  So, your decision space is wider and safety margin is greater...unless you happen to be in front of those pell-mell British "birders" on the Loch Gruinart Nature Reserve.  If so, all bets are off.

Still, an apprehensiveness was unavoidable as we piloted to Port Weymess at higher speeds.  It was not so much the prospect of the two lane road.  Actually, we had the "wrong side" two lane road deal figured out after a harrowing "initiation" drive from Islay airport at late dusk to Port Askaig with ice on the roads, and gravel trucks crowding center line.  We earned our main road confidence.

March 23, 2017  Two lane A847; west shore of Loch Indaal; note standing stone on left

The biggest concern in the drive to Port Weymss/Portnahaven was what would happen when highway A847 reduced down to a single track...which I would style as a "highway single track" having more vehicles running at greater speeds.  Perhaps it is a man thing.  You never want to look like you don't know what you're doing...even if you don't.  The trick gets sketchier whenever trying to figure out what the other guy is doing (or may do) when traveling at speed.

The worry turned out to be a non-issue.  Simply put, there was little traffic of any kind, in either direction.  Our drive took place during a workday, and few were on the road at that time.  We pulled out perhaps three times total. 

Road map; from islayinfo.com

For those Stateside considering Islay as a destination, their heaviest duty road is the A846, a good two lane running north-south from Port Askaig to Port Ellen.  Actually, A846 ends at Ardbeg, chasing the big money just east of Port Ellen.  Which is to say it serves south Islay's "Trinity"--the Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg distilleries.

March 23, 2017  Lagavulin distillery

The bulk of Islay's population lives on the east "half" of the island--principally in Port Ellen and in Bowmore (the administrative center of the island and location of the Bowmore distillery).  That makes A846 Islay's busiest roadway.  In addition, it is the main route between Islay's two ports.

Double lane roads accommodate Islay's economically vital distillery industry.  "Lorry" traffic associated with whisky making can be an issue hauling barley, malt, glassware and of course spirits (most of which are aged on mainland Scotland due to warehouse limitations).  Even so, traffic was a great deal less than here in Idaho County.

March 23, 2017  Laphroaig

Islay's distilleries on the Jura sound--Bunnahabhain, Coal Ila and now Ardnahoe--are linked with strong single tracks to A846 in the north.  At Bridgend (the important junction for Islay), the A846 is met by the A847 from the west, a road network that resembles a caltrops of a sort.

A847 serves the lower populated Rinns "half" of the island.  From Bridgend, it runs along the west shore of Loch Indaal as a two lane highway to Port Charlotte.  Its double lane serves Bruichladdich distillery just north of Port Charlotte.  Kilchoman distillery, as is the case for the north Islay distilleries, is linked to the two lane via a hardened single track connection.

South of Port Charlotte, however, there are no distilleries (not legal ones, at least).  And A847's road class drops to a paved singed track out to the tip of the Rinns at Portnahaven.  It is well paved, and it has actual pull outs, versus the "sort of-maybe" pull out spots found on the lighter duty single tracks.  The A847 pullouts are marked with black and white posts.  Once you know what to look for, these are fairly easy to spot sufficiently in advance.  This assumes, of course, that the black and white posts marking the pullouts (which you can anticipate at the crest of a hill or in a curve) are standing upright.  Not all of them are.

I conclude this segment with the following "Say wha?!" photo taken north east of Ardbeg distillery on a single track.  Ya' never know.

March 23, 2017  A peacock, of all things, on Islay on single track to Kildalton