In the 1800s the population on Easdale Island, in the Firth of Lorn, Scotland, was ten-fold what it is now. The slate mines were thriving. Easdale slate can be found all over the world covering the rooftops of churches as far away as New Zealand. There are specks of iron in the slate that are a signature for the island. Quarries on the island were as deep as 300ft in places, with a thin wall protecting them from the sea beyond. In 1881 a colossal storm put an industrial sized nail in the coffin, filling many of them with seawater and instigating the decline of slate mining in Scotland. By 1960 Easdale had a population of 4, but this has since climbed back up to around 50 people.
This was a commission by Avaunt Magazine in 2017. The article was written by Cal Flyn, who you can find here.
