While I was on the train to Glasgow last Tuesday I got a text message from Libby telling me to make sure I photographed the house on Jura where George Orwell wrote 1984. He was there in 1946 (to 1947), and stayed at Barnhill, a house owned by David Astor, the editor of the Observer. Orwell was in ill health - he died just a few years later - was recently bereaved, and struggled through one of the harshest winters of the century: but he finished a first draft of the book while he was there.

If you're interested, there's a good article here with a lot more detail.

When I looked into it didn't seem likely that we'd be able to get there. The house is at the end of an eight mile track, close to the northernmost end of the island, and we didn't have a 4x4, nor did I fancy a 16 mile walk. As luck would have it we had a boat trip planned for Wednesday morning: from the jetty across the way from the Jura Lodge up to the Corryvreckan whirlpool, and we passed Barnhill on the way.

Next time I go I'll hire a 4x4.