Inhabited west coast Scottish islands - Easdale Island

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Easdale is the smallest of the still inhabited Slate Isles with the now uninhabited Balnahua being even smaller. Unless you have your own boat or helicopter then the only way to get to Easdale is via the passenger ferry from Ellenabeich on Seil (see the post about Seil to find out how to get to that island).
If both Luing and Seil are small then Easdale Island is miniscule - no more than the dot over the letter ‘i’ . It is only about 60 acres in size - but squeezed onto that is a population of around sixty. It is located just off the south west tip of Seil’s clenched fist (using my earlier description of Seil’s shape in my post about that island). It is reached by a passenger ferry from the village of Ellenabeich on Seil. It is roughly a round shape, mainly flat with a rocky outcrop, around 125 feet high, on the western side. It is possible (from what I read) to climb this hillock. I am sure there are fine views from the top but I did not undertake this on my (so far) only visit as I also wished to get over to Luing that day and ferry times had to be considered. The Easdale ferry is fairly frequent but I also had the Luing ferry to factor in and I didn’t want to end up rushing around Luing or not getting to visit some of it.
On arriving on Easdale you find yourself almost in the village centre. A short walk up from the jetty will lead you past a community hall and the Puffer Bar And Restaurant - both, I suspect, vital to living on this little rock (especially during the long, dark winter months). I doubt that Easdale has a police person stationed there so I would imagine that the ‘lock ins’ might be both frequent and lengthy! The village mainly comprises of old miner’s cottages, all painted white. There are no cars on the island - and no roads to drive them about on (that most of us would call roads). The cottages surround a large grassy area and I felt I had stepped into Tolkien’s Hobbiton in Middle Earth. Quaint hardly describes it. Close to the pier there is usually a jumble of wheelbarrows which the inhabitants use to get goods to their homes from the ferry (this due to the lack of roads or cars that could otherwise assist in this task). I have to wonder how the bar gets it’s deliveries or how larger items, such as furniture and white goods, are delivered and how the refuse is collected. I presume there must be a larger boat that is called into action to meet this need as doing so with the normal passenger ferry would be impossible.
Easdale’s main claim to fame is it’s slate quarrying history - of which plenty of evidence still survives in the form of seven flooded quarries. A path leads west from the village and goes around the west of the rocky hillock before coming back to the south side of the village. Along this walk you will pass five of those flooded quarries - and see some fine views to the west, out across the Firth of Lorn towards Mull, and south towards the Garvellachs, the west coast of Luing, Lunga and Scarba. The east side of the island hosts another two flooded quarries, one of which holds the annual skiffing world championship (when no COVID pandemic prevents this taking place). This is Easdales’ second claim to fame. I also got the impression that the east side of the island hosted newer houses (than the old houses in the village centre) but I did not visit this side of the island for the same reason I did not climb the rocky hillock. I did not, either, visit the Puffin Bar as I was on the island, and off it again, well before opening time but reviews I’ve read suggest it’s very good but expensive. There is not much more that can be said about Easdale Island.
It should also be mentioned that there are several more islands included under the banner of The Slate Isles but these would all appear to be uninhabited. This includes Torsa (or Torsay - depending upon which map you look at) and Shuna. As far as I can tell both host holiday cottages but have no permanent residents. If further research indicates otherwise then I will have to visit them and add them to my list at a later date.


The Slate Isles are well worth a visit but unless you don’t want to do much more than laze about and have a few walks and sea excursions then, individually, they are too small to offer much in the way activities to keep you amused for more than a few days - although visiting all of them, with a base on one, would easily fill at least a week. The lack of family friendly, sandy beaches also makes them less appealing to families with young children seeking to build sand castles and splash about in the sea. However, for those wanting to visit the few ancient ruins and flooded quarries, go for walks, partake in sea activities and visit museums and gardens, then these islands offer all you could wish for. There are, of course, far more details about these islands to be found on the Internet for those thinking about visiting.
 

The above photo is of Easdale Island from Ellenabeich on Seil.


 

The photo above is of the harbour at Easdale.


The above photo is of Easdale close to the jetty. Notice the jumble of wheelbarrows mentioned earlier in the post.

The above photo is of part of the village on Easdale.


The photo above is of one of the seven flooded slate quarries to be found on Easdale.




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