This small island has an airport with a history intertwined with air ambulance services.  In the 1970’s Loganair had flights to Coll which landed on a landing strip on Ballard Farm.  That landing strip closed briefly in the 1990’s but reopened as an unlicensed airstrip.  In 2008 a new licensed airport was finally established providing scheduled flights to Oban and Tiree. The airport is serviced by Hebridean Air and is located about 5 miles from Arinagour at the west end of the island.

Also at this end of the island is Breachacha Castle, which I’ve mentioned in an earlier post. The castle was restored by Nicholas MacLean-Bristol who wrote several books and essays such as  From Clan to Regiment – Six Hundred Years in the Hebrides 1400-2000 a history of the MacLeans of Coll.  He also authored “One Clan or Two?: The Feud Between the Macleans of Duart and the Maclaines of Lochbuie 1100-1717.  The castle sits on Breachacha Bay and no doubt that is the route the medieval warriors would have taken to get to the castle. I can only wonder where the actual tide line was centuries ago as today it seems there is a fair distance to where the bay is deep enough to bring the birlins into close proximity of the castle. The setting is strategic as the bay offers shelter and a view to any invaders.  The oldest surviving portion of the castle is the tower-house, which was probably erected during the first half of the 15th century. This was a rectangular building of four main stories and a garret. After the completion of the lower stages of the tower-house, the S and E sides of the tower were enclosed by a curtain-wall.  The castle is inhabited today by Lavinia MacLean-Bristol, wife of Nicholas.