Argyll - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 90

Isle of Seil
The most northerly of the Slate Islands is Seil , a lush island, now something of an
exclusive enclave. It's separated from the mainland only by the thinnest of sea channels
and spanned by the elegant humpback Clachan Bridge , built in 1793 and popularly
known as the “Bridge over the Atlantic”. The pub next door to the bridge is the Tigh
na Truish (House of the Trousers), where kilt-wearing islanders would change into
trousers to conform to the post-1745 ban on Highland dress.

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Ellenabeich
The main village on Seil is Ellenabeich , its neat white terraces of workers' cottages
- featured in the film Ring of Bright Water - crouching below black cliffs on the
westernmost tip of the island. This was once the tiny island of Eilean a'Beithich
(hence “Ellenabeich”), separated from the mainland by a slim sea channel until the
intensive slate quarrying succeeded in silting it up. Confusingly, the village is often
referred to by the same name as the nearby island of Easdale, since they formed an
interdependent community based exclusively around the slate industry. The Slate
Islands Heritage Centre (April-Oct daily 10.30am-1pm & 2-5pm; free; W slateislands
.org.uk), in one of the little white cottages, has a model of the slate quarry as it would
have been in its heyday.

Isle of Easdale
W easdale.org
Easdale remains an island, though the few hundred yards that separate it from
Ellanabeich have to be dredged to keep the channel open. On the eve of a great storm
in 1881, Easdale, less than a mile across at any one point, supported an incredible 452
inhabitants. That night, waves engulfed the island and flooded the quarries. The island
never really recovered, slate quarrying stopped in 1914, and by the 1960s the
population had dwindled to single figures.
With lots of wonderfully flat stones freely available, Easdale makes the perfect venue for
the annual World Stone Skimming Championships , held on the last Sunday of September.

Easdale Folk Museum
Near the main square • Daily: April-June, Sept & Oct 11am-4.30pm; July & Aug 11am-5pm • £2.50 • W easdalemuseum.org
Many of the old workers' cottages have been restored recently: some as holiday homes,
others sold to new residents. One of the cottages houses the interesting Easdale Folk
Museum , which has surprisingly expansive collections covering not just the local slate
industry, but the island's social and military associations. It also sells a useful historical
map of the island and you can buy some interesting slate souvenirs in the shop.

Isle of Luing
W isleofluing.co.uk
South of Seil, across the narrow, treacherous Cuan Sound, lies Luing - pronounced
“Ling” - a long, thin, fertile island which once supported more than six hundred
people, but now has a third of that. During the Clearances, the population was
drastically reduced to make way for cattle; Luing is still renowned for its beef and for
the chocolate-brown crossbreed named after it.
Cullipool , a mile or so southwest of the ferry slipway, is the main village, its
whitewashed cottages (mostly built by the slate company) dotted along the shore facing
Scarba and Mull. Luing's only other village, Toberonochy , lies on the more sheltered
east coast, three miles southeast, and boasts the same distinctive white cottages.
GETTING AROUND AND TOURS THE SLATE ISLANDS

By ferry The Cuan Ferry (Seil) to Luing runs every 30min
(5min). The ferry from Ellenabeich on Seil to the Isle of

Easdale runs more or less on demand (press the buttons in
the ferry shed or phone T 01852 300559).