Judges for the Ploughing Match in Feburary, or for the August Show, normally stayed at the Bridgend Hotel, choosing dinner costing a few shillings from a menu like this.

History of Bridgend Hotel

The earliest known reference to Bridgend Hotel is from 1849, when it was still known as the Bridgend Inn. Before purchasing most of the island, the Morrison family visited Islay on holiday in 1849, and stayed at the hotel for a week, before being forced to leave early due to bad weather. They later bought Islay in 1853 for £451,000, and began letting out the hotel to a variety of different tenants. A farm was also included in the let, which would have supplied the milk and produce needed for the hotel. There were also several, now demolished, buildings at the back of the hotel which were used for byres and stables.

The longest known tenant was Mr. Alexander Campbell, who was landlord for over 50 years. The Hotel is also noted on the 1878 Ordnance Survey as being the Estate Factor’s office, and a Court of Justice.

In 1887, whisky historian Alfred Barnard visited Islay on his tour of the country's distilleries. Describing his arrival in Bridgend, he wrote:

"Within a very short distance of our journey's end a most agreeable and surprising change came over the scene, and we found ourselves driving beneath trees whose thick branches met overhead, and passing through the well-cultivated policies and rural retreats, which farm the aristocratic village of Bridgend. Presently the coach pulled up in front of a picturesque hotel rejoicing in the name of "Beul-an-ath", the best and only one of any importance in Islay, possessing gardens and grounds of most enchanting loveliness. The hotel was pretty full, but we were able to secure a comfortable bed, and made this place our headquarters for many days."

The last tenants were Ted Hiram and his wife, following which the Morrison family themselves took the business as their own, instating Campbell Nairn and his wife as managers. The hotel itself has had constant changes to its structure over the years. In the 1970s the cocktail bar was enlarged and the old derelict proprietors' accommodation being converted into a public bar and modern toilets, a difficult conversion overseen by the architect Bill Crerar, who later went on to create the Crerar chain of hotels. Rooms were later added above the public bar, and then over the dining room.

The Factor on Islay Estate, James MacKillop (right), with other guests, including one woman, in Bridgend Hotel, perhaps in 1928 after a ploughing match, or at a presentation of Highland and Agricultural Society medals.