In April 1946, Eric Blair (better known by his pen name of George Orwell) intending to give himself 'six months’ quiet' in which to complete his latest novel, moved to a remote farmhouse called Barnhill, at the northern end of Jura, which he had visited for the first time the previous year.

Orwell appears to have relished the challenge of living in Barnhill, fishing almost every night, shooting rabbits, laying lobster pots, and even attempting a little farming. Along with his adopted three-year-old son Richard, and later his sister Avril, he clearly enjoyed his spartan existence. The book Orwell was writing, under the working title The Last Man in Europe, was to become 1984 (the title was arrived at by simply reversing the last two digits of the year in which it was finished – 1948). During his time on Jura, however, Orwell was suffering badly from tuberculosis, and eventually he was forced to return to London, where he died in January 1950.

Barnhill, 23 miles north of Craighouse, is as remote today as it was in Orwell’s day. The road deteriorates rapidly beyond Lealt, where you should park your vehicle, leaving pilgrims a four-mile walk to the house itself. Orwell wrote most of the book in the bedroom (top left window as you look at the house), but at present, there is no public access.

If you’re keen on making the journey out to Barnhill, you might as well combine it with a trip to the nearby Gulf of Corrievrechan, which lies between Jura and Scarba, to the north. Orwell nearly drowned in the whirlpool during a fishing trip in August 1947, along with his three companions (including Richard): the outboard motor was washed away, and they had to row to a nearby island and wait for several hours before being rescued by a passing fisherman. The best time to see the water whirling is between flood and half-flood tide, with a southerly or westerly wind, and the best place to view it from is Carraig Mhor, seven miles from Lealt.