I've always been fascinated by looking down on Islay from above, and here are a couple of photographs taken on a recent flight showing part of the Machrie Golf Course and the airport. The conservationist in me wonders what was destroyed when that area of dunes was turned into a golf course back in 1891. On the other hand, there are still plenty of unmanaged areas full of wild flowers and butterflies in the summer, while the Barnacle Geese like the mown areas in the winter!
The airport clearly shows its original layout of three intersecting runways as constructed in the early years of the Second World War, but only the main (1,545 metres) north-west to south-east runway (across the picture from left to right) and part (635 metres) of the approximately east-west runway are now in use.
Malcolm
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