A trip to the Isle of Seil and Easdale on the West Coast of Scotland
We have a few days leave and took a trip to a couple of the slate islands today, up on the west coast of Scotland.
As is suggested by the name, a lot of slate was mined in these parts producing West Highland Slate which was mostly used for roofing. Above you can see the remains of an old pier that was used for shipping the slates all around the world.
Although it is an island, you can drive to the Isle of Seil as it is connected by a short, but lovely bridge at its closest point to the main land (about 50m length).
However, our main destination was Easdale, which can only be reached by a short 3min boat ride. The pic above was taken on Easdale, showing one of the old flooded slate mine holes. In the background you can see the Isle of Seil where we caught the boat from.
Easdale is a very interesting island. The slate was mainly mined there up until 1850 when a massive storm flooded all the mines and stopped the work over night.
The island is tiny and has no cars. You can walk around it in around 30mins and its like taking a step back in time. Above you can see the main square and the old slate miners cottages (which are still lived in).
The pic above shows the waiting room for the ferry along with the island defibrillator, which is kept in the old disused red phone box you can see to the left. We had a lovely chat with some locals in there while waiting to go back over after we had walked around - everyone is so friendly.
When you get of the boat you are greeted by the view above. As there are no cars, everyone has a wheelbarrow instead ! They use that to take all their shopping and groceries back to the house after coming over from the mainland !
I've no idea what was going on with the wheelbarrow above, but it looked cool ! Waiting for a new chassis !
Easdale is famous for being one of the two places where the world stone skimming championships are held each year. The Easdale championship is about distance skimming and the pic above shows the pool where they are held. The other championship (I dont know where it is held) is about the number of skips made.
The views around the island are just stunning. On a clear sunny day the water in the deep pools takes on a lovely blue colour (which you can sort of see above).
You can follow the old slate paths around the island which are quite hairy in some places like the one above with 20m drops into the pools on either side. Not for anyone of a wobbly disposition !
It was quite a grey dull day and raining most of the time so the views out to sea were not as good as they could be. Easdale sits on the East Coast of Scotland, so its in the North Atlantic, in the Firth of Lorne just off the coast of Argyll.
The island is known for its great community. It has a pub, concert venue, gallery, museum and cafe which is pretty impressive considering there are probably only a hundred or so people living there. We saw the lovely sculpture above in the gardens of one of the locals while we were walking around.
As said, it was raining quite heavily while there as can be seen in the picture above. At this time of year in Scotland you just have to dress for the weather and get on with what you were going to do anyway - thats what I say !
Easdale really is unlike many other places, and thats what we love about it. It really does feel like stepping back in time, and its fantastic to not have to worry about cars and other vehicles while there !
On a clear day you can get great views over to many other islands in the area - but many were obscured today. The island you can see midway in the pic above is Insh, which is one of the other slate islands, but is uninhabited. Right at the back is the isle of Mull.
We walked all the way around the island and then made our way back to the boat, passing by the main square again. I just love their village green with the football goals. It must be great to grow up on that island and have safe freedom to go out an explore. I can just imagine playing football there on a sunny evening - it must be pretty awesome !
After about an hour on the island we caught the boat back over to the mainland. We absolutely loved our visit and would recommend it to anyone !
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Wow, what a beautiful place! As a lifelong pedestrian, a car free area sounds lovely. I love that sculpture and the wheelbarrows!
!HUG
I sent 1.0 HUG on behalf of @phoenixwren.
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Yes, its so nice when you are on the island to not have cars and other vehicles zooming around. You simply dont need to watch out for them, and also there is no noise from them, so the island really is very peaceful. Its quite idyllic !
!HUG
I sent 1.0 HUG on behalf of @hoosie.
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Beautiful, @hoosie!! Pity about the rain but, as they say, there's no such thing as bad weather - only unsuitable clothing 😉 The Slate Islands... I've plans to travel through the west mid-year. High priority: Isle of Harris and Isle of Lewis. But Slate Islands could also be beautiful. Any tips? I hear public transport is a no-go.
The slate islands are just south of Oban and you can do it by public transport. You can get the train to Oban, and then there is a regular bus service from Oban that goes to the Isle of Seil (probably takes about an hour to get there by bus from Oban). The boat ride over from the Isle of Seil to Easdale is also a council run boat service that goes every half an hour (and takes about 3 minutes). It was only £2.70 per adult for a return trip. So it is do-able - but you'd probably need an overnight stay in Oban if also figuring in the train trip up. However Oban and the slate islands really are worth the visit. You can also visit the Isle of Mull quite easily from Oban, again using public transport as the bus service on the island is decent. There are also a number of other islands within easy reach from Oban (as it has a Cal Mac Ferry Hub which goes to quite a few of the other islands).
I used to live in the area, hence why I know quite a bit about it.
This is great advice! Happy I asked - what a beautiful area to live?! Thank you so very much, @hoosie 💫 Yeah, a colleague at work recommended driving as there is "little to no public transport out west" - but I see she was mistaken. It sounds like there are options enough to get around, if sparse. But that's fine! (Wouldn't say "no" to a night in Oban.) £2.70 return is very affordable, and the sites you visited look breathtaking - well worth the journey, I think. Have made a note of the suggestions in your comment. Thanks again - and happy travels. 😊
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