Terse British Islands Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brownsea Island

Robert Baden-Powell organised the first Boy Scout camp here in 1907. Brownsea Island, in Poole Harbour on England's south coast, is one of the few safe location for the indigenous red squirrel, away from those awful grey squirrels imported from America. The island belongs to the National Trust on account of its abundant wildlife.

Answer: Hayling Island

According to British patent law, the sport of wind-surfing was invented here. A young boy, Peter Chilvers, assembled his surfboard combined with a sail, here in 1958. The case held in 1982 found that Chilvers's invention "incorporated all the elements of modern windsurfer" and that subsequent innovations were obvious extensions.

The island is still a mecca for windsurfers and summer holidaymakers generally.

Answer: Lewis and Harris

Lewis and Harris is actually a single island in the Scottish Outer Hebrides, although the two parts are often referred to as though they were separate islands, and there does not appear to be a single name for it, at least not in English.
The southern part, Harris, is famous for the main local industry, which is making of the woollen fabric called tweed. Only tweed made here can legally be called Harris Tweed.
In the nineteenth century a set of twelfth century chessman were discovered in a sand-bank on Lewis, and their distinctive design makes them popular - and expensive - today.
On the west coast of Lewis, near the village of Callanish, is a group of standing stones, probably Neolithic in origin and used for religious rites during the Bronze Age.

Answer: Stroma

The small island of Stroma in the Pentland Firth north of Scotland was once the home of a small community of farmers and fishermen, but the last of these left in the 1960s, partly due to its isolation and the awful local conditions.

Answer: Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is only accessible by public ferry, unless you own a boat. In summer sailors gather in their thousands for "Cowes Week" to participate in a series of races held over all eight days of the festival.
Probably the most famous is the "Round the Island" yacht race where at one point the boats pass close to the chalk stacks known as the "Needles" at the far west of the island.

Answer: Barra

The beautiful island of Barra in the Outer Hebrides has miles of white sandy beaches, one of which is used as the runway for Barra Airport. It is claimed that Traigh Mhor beach is the only beach runway in the world to handle scheduled services (there are flights to and from Glasgow), although the schedule is dependent on the tide, and the public has to be warned off the beach.

Answer: Bardsey

Bardsey, that name deriving from an early Viking lord, is called Ynys Enlle in Welsh. That name meaning "island of currents" reflects the dangerous tide race in Bardsey Sound which connects Caernarvon and Cardigan bays. Bardsey was the home of the oldest religious buildings in Wales, and legend describes it as "the burial place of 20,000 saints", which is why it was a place of pilgrimage.

Answer: Islay

There are several Scottish islands where there are scotch whisky distilleries, but Islay is famous for its distinctive malt, and anyway it's the only one in the options. This beautiful island is known as "The Queen of the Hebrides".

Answer: Staffa

The uninhabited island of Staffa is famous for the huge cave, called after the giant Fingal, which has unusual acoustics. It is decorated with six-sided basalt columns, similar to those at the Giant's causeway in Ireland. The German composer Felix Mendelssohn was so impressed by his visit to the cave that he was inspired to write his famous "Hebrides" overture. Dr Johnson on the other hand was less impressed, reputedly describing it as "worth seeing, but not worth going to see", possibly because it can only be visited by small boat.

Answer: Ailsa Craig

This small rocky island is in the outer Firth of Clyde, and being halfway between Glasgow and Belfast, it has been called "Paddy's milestone". It is composed of a type of microgranite (also called blue hone granite) which has been quarried to make curling stones, which are colloquially called "Ailsas" or "Ailsa Craigs".

There is no human population but it is home to colonies of gannets and other sea birds.

Answer: Benbecula

A famous song celebrates the escape of Prince Charles Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden. "Speed bonnie boat" is how it goes, and anybody can tell you that the bonnie boat was going "over the seas to Skye", but what the song does not tell us is where it was coming from.

The answer is the Outer Hebridean island of Benbecula, where Prince Charlie's boat had been forced in a storm. Flora MacDonald was laird of Clan Ranald on Benbecula, and helped the Prince to get to Skye by disguising him as her maid.

Answer: Flatholm

Flatholm, in the middle of the Bristol Channel, is the site of one of the forts built during the Victorian period when it was feared that France with a growing navy might try to attack England. Lord Palmerston who was Prime Minister at the time was a strong advocate of building a series of similar forts along the south coast of England.

By the time they were completed the political situation had changed so much these defences were redundant, and they became known as "Palmerston's Follies".

Answer: Holy Island

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is cut off by the tide twice a day, and is reached by a causeway. There is a small village on the island with the church of St Mary, and it is the site of an ancient monastery. St Cuthbert was bishop here and his body was originally buried on Holy island, but taken eventually to Durham in fear of Danish invasions. An imposing castle lies at the far end of the island.

Answer: Lundy

The small mostly cliff-bound island of Lundy, in the mouth of the Bristol Channel, is the home of many seabirds, in particular puffins, and tourists may visit it from Ilfracombe or Bideford in North Devon. It is also the location of the highest British lighthouse, and Georgian cannons which are fired every ten minutes when it is very foggy.

Answer: Portsea

Portsea is the island on which the naval port of Portsmouth stands, and the Spinnaker Tower was built for the millennium and is a popular tourist attraction.
Many people do not realise that Portsea is an island, but in fact it is part of the sequence of harbours and islands along the Hampshire coast: Portsmouth Harbour, Portsea, Langstone Harbour, Hayling island, Chichester Harbour and Thorney Island. The old town of Portsmouth was the birthplace of Charles Dickens.