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The
island of Seil is situated a few miles south of Oban. It is one
of the islands in Scotland close enough to the mainland to have
a bridge. At Clachan there is a bridge known as the Atlantic
Bridge and it is a fantastic example of arch engineering. The
bridge was built by an Oban lad , John Stevenson in 1792 and
attracts photographers from near and far.
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One of
the first structures you come across after crossing the
bridge is the Tigh An Truish Inn, which means house of
trousers. After the Jackobite uprisings when the government
banned the wearing of tartan, islanders would change out of
the their kilts here into trousers so as not to be caught by
government redcoats. The inn is just as popular as it has
ever been and has a steady flow of customers from day
trippers to visiting yacht crews who have anchored in a
perfectly sheltered natural harbour on the other side of the
hill. There is a footpath over the hill from the inn. It is
well worth the walk to see the fantastic views out across
the Lynn of Lorn to the Island of Mull. |
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The road
then winds its way down the eastern shoreline of the Island to
Balvicar and then later to the ferry slip for Luing or if you
take a right hand fork in the road to Easdale. The village of
Balvicar owes its existence to the slate quarrying as is evident
when you visit. There is a good store here and also a boat yard
and kayak hire.
If you
like to visit the gardens of Britain then there is a lovely
garden at An Cala. they are open usually from April to October.
For many the wildness of the hills and seashore is as good a
garden as you will ever visit and so Seil offers both wildness
and secluded gardens.
Seil
Island is popular at any time of year and attracts many visitors
for its wonderful diversity of wildlife. Even from on land it is
common to see seals, otters, porpoises and dolphins as well as a
huge number and variety of sea birds. Unfortunately the wild
cats that the island used to be famous for are now interbred
with domestic animals but sometimes a glimpse of a ferral cat
may be had at a number of spots. |
