We decided to stay closer to home today and head just south of Oban to the Isle of Seil. This is where you can cross over the Atlantic Ocean at the Clachan Bridge, or as it’s more commonly known ‘Bridge over the Atlantic’, dating from 1792.
We pulled over at a small car park just outside of Ellenabeich (Island of the birch tree) for a picnic but stayed in the car as it was very wet and windy.
We drove down a bit further and did get out of the car, in our wet weather clothing again, as we wanted to visit the Slate Museum so we could see how things compared to the Ballachulish slate quarries but unfortunately they don’t open on Saturdays.
The four islands of Easdale, Seil, Luing and Belnahua are collectively known as the slate islands. The slates were shaped into roof tiles and shipped all over Britain and beyond, they were known as ‘The islands which roofed the world’. The row of quarry workers cottages are very similar to those found in Ballachulish.
We started heading back home but saw a sign for Glorious Gardens of Argyll and Bute at Ardmaddy Castle. Again a lovely drive down a leafy lane. It had finally stopped raining so we had a pleasant wander around the gardens, this is another place we’ll have to come back in the early summer when more plants would be in bloom. We even picked up some courgettes and potatoes that were on sale.
We had seen a good selection of scarecrows on our drive around but got just the one shot of Willy Wonka.
