‘Gateway to hell’ — the treacherous strait of water that nearly killed literary legend George Orwell
20 November 2017
While his remote lodgings on the Isle of Jura, accessible only by a five mile walk, offered him the peace and quiet to work on his final novel, 1984, George Orwell’s time in the Inner Hebridies was not without incident.
During a break in writing, Orwell’s boat narrowly escaped being sucked into the notorious tidal whirlpool, Corryvreckan.
The writer, and his young son Richard, had to scramble to a small, rocky island to be rescued by passing lobster fisherman.
Corryvreckan is one of the largest whirlpools in the world.
Tides from the east and west of Jura meet off the northernmost tip of the island, funnelling in at great force.
An underwater basalt pillar known as ‘The Old Hag’ then forces the tidal water upwards, as the water smashes off the sides of the channel, resulting in the whirlpool.
The wild waters of the Corryvreckan whirlpool
Witness the wild frenzy known as the Corryvreckan.
(Whirlpool image © Walter Baxter; licence information)
The story behind the story
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The Road to Nineteen Eighty-Four
David Aaronovitch traces how a decade of political chaos shaped Orwell’s vision of a totalitarian future.
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