Islay Woollen Mill – Tweed Since 1883 and Lunch in Bridgend
A few hours.
The route
Islay Woollen Mill has been weaving in its old stone buildings outside Bridgend since 1883, and its tweeds have gone to Savile Row tailors, shooting estates and the costume makers of films like Braveheart and Rob Roy.
Its shop is full of the mill's own cloth, with caps, scarves and sheepskins beside it. Then it's a three-minute drive into Bridgend, at the head of Loch Indaal, for lunch by the wood-burning stove at the Bridgend Hotel.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
None of ours is close by: the nearest is The Hollies, 40 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Ring the Bridgend Hotel on 01496 810212 to book a table for lunch, served from noon to 3pm.
The day
Bridgend
An unhurried late morning in the middle of Islay: a browse through the mill's tweeds, then a long lunch in the village just down the road.
About two and a half hours
Islay Woollen Mill
The mill is just off the main Port Askaig road, about a mile and a half from Bridgend, in a group of old stone buildings with its name along the wall. It was founded in 1883, and the Covell family, who have run it since 1983, weave tweeds for shooting estates, Savile Row tailors and the film industry: cloth from here was used in Braveheart, Forrest Gump and Rob Roy. The shop sells the mill's own fabrics, tweed caps and jackets, scarves, rare breed sheepskins and Islay souvenirs. It opens Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm and on Saturday from 10am to 3pm, and it's shut on Sundays. To visit outside those hours, ring the mill on 01496 810563 to arrange it.
3 min by car
The Bridgend Hotel
Lunch
Lunch is at the Bridgend Hotel, 3 minutes' drive back down the road in the middle of the village, where the menus use the island's own produce, including game from the estate, oysters and shellfish. Lunch is served from noon to 3pm, with soup and sandwiches from 3pm to 5pm, and you can eat in the restaurant or by the wood-burning stove in Katie's Bar, which keeps Islay's whiskies and Islay Ales. It's worth ringing ahead on 01496 810212 for a table. If it's full, the Port Charlotte Hotel, 15 minutes' drive round Loch Indaal, serves bar lunches from noon to 2pm.
If it rains
All of it is under a roof: the mill's shop and the hotel's restaurant and bar.
Where to stay