15th of March
Hello folks, had a wonderful gig on Saturday over on the West Coast. Matthew and Yvonne Anderson put on a house concert at their beautiful place at Kilmelford, a few miles south of Oban (see below). It was very well attended and the local folkies really know their stuff! Many thanks to the Anderson family. Here we are at the ferry terminal in Oban grabbing a few mussels from the handy seafood shack. Oban was the scene of an amusing Guy Fawkes incident back in 2011 when an entire firework display went off in just 30 seconds – see “The Oban Community Fireworks Fiasco” on youtube. On the right is the Corryvreckan restaurant named after the infamous local whirlpool (a song about which is on my latest cd – plugity-plug!) the round structure at the top of the town is McCaigs Folly, built by locals during a slump in the fishing industry back in the nineteenth century. There’s nothing new about work creation schemes.
The lovely Melfort House, an upmarket guest house which looks out across Loch Melford. Serene and close to lots of great places to visit, we recommend it as a base for sightseeing around Oban. Yvonne and Matthew, thanks for being such wonderful hosts!
Sandy took this arty black and white shot of the ‘Bridge across the Atlantic’ between the mainland and the isle of Seil. It crosses a narrow strait that looks in certain tidal conditions like it continues indefinitely in either direction. The first building you come to on the Island of Seil is called ‘Tigh an Truish’ meaning ‘The House of the Trousers’. During the period after the Battle of Culloden when Highland dress was illegal, the islanders defiantly continued to wear their plaids but changed into trousers just before they left the island…
