Easdale - paradise in miniature

Paulina Dunn explains some of the history behind Easdale, a perfect island-hopping adventure if you're already in Oban.

The first thing you see when you arrive on the island of Easdale is the wheelbarrows, each well used and numbered.

There’s no cars on this wee island 15 miles south of Oban, so you park at the harbour opposite and take a two-minute ferry journey across. The natives get most of their messages from the mainland so the wheelbarrows are to cart all their groceries off the boat and up to their homes.

150 years ago slate from Easdale roofed houses all over Britain, now the quarries are flooded and eerily quiet. A museum details the island’s odd history, these days the main livelihood is tourism. A big draw is the speed boat trips which offers a chance to see some of the magnificent maritime wildlife of the Inner Hebrides - eagles, seals and more. Though the scenery is worth the press of admission alone.

The real joy of Easdale though is not in the seeing but in the being there. The locals have a small, tight-knit community that is amazingly welcome and friendly. The Puffer bar does a great line in seafood but the backroom bar is like stepping back into a time when the pub was the boozy heartbeat of every community. And if you’re lucky enough to be there when the community hall is open all for all of their famous ceilidhs, then you're truly in for a treat.

Though most of the year it’s fairly sleepy, each September it hosts the world stone skimming champions with the still plentiful slate offering the perfect ammunition. An unique contest but visiting Easdale at any time offers a never to be forgotten experience.

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There's regular ferries to Easdale - Argyll and Bute Council operate this service.