In 2007 Easdale had 70 permanent residents and 72 part time residents (many of the cottages are holiday homes). Most of them live in the former slate workers cottages. The island is tiny – just 594 x 457 metres and its past inhabitants seem to have been intent on making it even smaller, as the edges have been extensively quarried. Slate was quarried from the mid 18th Century. The heyday was in the late 19th Century when over 450 people lived on the island but large scale quarrying came to an abrupt end on 22nd November 1881 when the sea flooded the workings during a violent storm. The quarry closed in 1911, although a small amount of quarrying for local purposes continued until the 1960s. By 1951 the population had dwindled to 23.
The highest point on the island is only 38 metres above sea level.
There is an excellent café on the island and a small but very interesting folk museum. The island is accessed by a passenger ferry from Ellenabeich on Seil.
I love Easdale. I'm not sure why, as I am not that keen on its larger neighbour Seil. Easdale reminds me a bit of the Isle of Portland in Dorset, which is another post-industrial landscape, although on a much larger scale.
The World Stone Skimming Championships have been held at one of the quarries every year since 1997.
Garth and Vicky Waite wrote a book about their life on Easdale. It is called Island: Diary of a Year on Easdale. It is lavishly illustrated by the authors (in the style of the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden that was a bestseller in the late 1970s) and was published in 1985.
The highest point on the island is only 38 metres above sea level.
There is an excellent café on the island and a small but very interesting folk museum. The island is accessed by a passenger ferry from Ellenabeich on Seil.
I love Easdale. I'm not sure why, as I am not that keen on its larger neighbour Seil. Easdale reminds me a bit of the Isle of Portland in Dorset, which is another post-industrial landscape, although on a much larger scale.
The World Stone Skimming Championships have been held at one of the quarries every year since 1997.
Garth and Vicky Waite wrote a book about their life on Easdale. It is called Island: Diary of a Year on Easdale. It is lavishly illustrated by the authors (in the style of the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden that was a bestseller in the late 1970s) and was published in 1985.
Harbour
A good place to grow tomatoes but not so good if you need to make a telephone call!
Ellenabeich on Seil from one of Easdale's flooded quarries
Distance to world locations from Easdale
Toposcope on the summit
Former quarry workers' cottages
Ferry waiting room
Easdale's wheelbarrow collection!
Village from the summit
Insh Island from the NW coast of Easdale
Community Centre
An escapee from Easter Island?
Easdale Island Ferry
Wildflowers and a ruined quarry hut
When I visited in September 2012 the island was covered with a profusion of wild flowers and garden escapees e.g. fuchsias, bracken, thistles, rosebay willowherb, ragwort, yarrow, scabious, bell and ling heathers, blackberries, birdsfoot trefoil, harebells, mombretia, and honeysuckle.
An artistic garden
View from the summit
No comments:
Post a Comment