Discover Oban: The Gateway to Scotland’s Western Isles
Oban is the quietly majestic gateway to Scotland’s western isles. Lockdown arrival Antonia Quirke discovers its mythical shores.
6 November 2021
The suddenness of Oban always surprises me. Without warning, you’re topplingly high above a horseshoe bay in the Firth of Lorn, granite villas jutting into cliffs glittering in the frequent rain. This view is a ravishment. Mull to the west, Lismore to the north, the small island of Kerrera vaporous in the near distance. Hebridean light bounces off crimson horizons. Everything on shore is presided over by the vast folly of a circular tower – a stone halo as though built by Zeus or, in this case, an eccentric banker for reasons nobody could fully put their finger on even when it was constructed just before the turn of the last century. A fantabula to mark Oban’s peak prosperity when the resort town was the Charing Cross of the Highlands, chimneys of the whisky distillery steaming, and a train station built in 1880 to mark the final stop on the West Highland Line.
History and Charm of Oban
Edwardian hotels along the seafront served tattie scones and black pudding to visitors taking paddle boats to Staffa. Even a miniature department store was built – Chalmers outfitters (still trading) – with little wooden drawers for cashmere gloves and bigger ones for robust woollen trousers. On its walls, pictures of dogs sniff far-off bonfires paint a nostalgic picture. My boyfriend Paul’s mother Betty once told me that she visited it before her wedding to Tommy, the town barber, in 1963 to buy ‘not my dress, but my finery’, in a way that struck me as far sweeter and older than anything I’d heard in years. Oban still seems to exist in a kind of antique sweetness.
A Year in Oban
A couple of years ago, Paul said he’d had his fill of Glasgow and was returning to Oban to renovate a near-derelict house called Home Farm in a forest in the glen directly behind the town – Glencruitten, or ‘glen of the crofts’. This house he’d known as a boy, riding horses out of its stables and trailing back and forth via the cattle market on the days he could get away with avoiding school. When lockdown happened, I stayed with him for a couple of weeks that turned into a year, then longer, and then I didn’t really leave.
Seasons in Oban
Early one morning in autumn, I walk into town again, the air growing saltier. Swelling thickly through Glencruitten, the gaudy yellow broom looks like a harvest festival. Along the short, hilly golf course, they are pinning a new banner of Robert MacIntyre, a local sporting sensation. In town, the only sign of life is a young man tanned the colour of dry sherry straggling towards one of the few yachts left in the marina.
Three months ago, the scene was high-season frantic: boats painted scarlet and cobalt celebrated the hot day, fishermen hosing down trawlers, and the smell of burnt toast wafted from the windows of wheelhouses. Children dragged picnics onto boats while backpackers off the ferry from Craignure pushed bikes with filthy panniers, falling with greedy cries on the stalls doing a brisk trade in mussels fried with onions.
Winter in Oban
But now, as winter approaches, the sea has a metallic gleam. Gulls drift off a shingle beach scribbled in bladderwrack. Slowly, I climb a stone staircase named Jacob’s Ladder leading up to the high lanes of the town, set into cliffs and lined with rows of Victorian villas, some shuttered. Gardens reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty, defended by rusted iron gates, are twined in ivy. Practising in a distant car park, the Oban high-school pipe band strikes up a tune in a relentlessly rolling, reedy legato. From a wilderness of blackberries, I pick a handful and sit on a wall to gaze at the moon hanging oddly low in broad daylight over the mountains of Mull. Oban clings on to bright northern light as long as it can – in early summer it’s only dark at night for a few hours, and year-round the sun does peculiar things.
Natural Beauty and Inspiration
On astonishing winter afternoons, vibrant rainbows might appear in the sky. Yachts suddenly glisten like illuminated galleons. My favourite old house has turrets and towers, stained-glass windows of thistles and swords. It once served as a maternity hospital where expectant mothers traveled from the isles. Betty gave birth here and shared that she was wheeled into the room with the biggest windows to recover in ‘the Queen’s bed’ – Lismore over the water, sun on her face.
Oban’s Enchanting Bay
Whenever I’m away from Oban, the thought of this bay and its islands fully occupies my mind. Iona is some 36 miles beyond; a home of mystics, the wind often violent up the cloisters of its ancient abbey. Kerrera lies directly before me – closest to shore, very green and beautiful. You could swim if you were strong enough, and then walk the entire island in a few hours on a grassy footpath past thickets of foxgloves, down to beaches of black slate.
I often reflect on past visits of renowned figures like John Keats, toiling across the graveyard on Iona, and the journeys of the Highland Chieftain, a boat that during that century carried emigrés off to far-off lands.
Exploring the Highlands
Although the progress in Oban is always, inevitably, towards the sea, it’s what lies behind the town that I love the most. One quiet winter afternoon, we walk two miles through Glencruitten into the highlands, passing farms out to Loch Nell – with its picturesque scenery and historical significance, marking the route of funeral cortèges of ancient Scottish kings.
On the black pebbles of the shore, I share with Paul my intention to swim in Loch Nell come spring, met with his customary hesitation. The air seems to hold ancient tales, weaving through the mist rising like ghosts that indisputably haunt the West Highlands.
Where to Stay
Home Farm is an inviting retreat surrounded by stunning landscapes. It offers spacious accommodations ideal for larger groups.
Where to Eat
Local seafood establishments and fine dining options make for delightful culinary experiences, from the simple pleasures of seafront huts to gourmet meals that celebrate Scotland’s rich culinary traditions.
Oban embodies the charm and enchanting beauty that make Scotland’s western isles a must-visit destination. Come discover its magical shores!
