A few years ago neighbour-man Steve told us of a visit he made to Cruaday Quarry, and showed us some pics. he’d taken, this was because he knows that we like stone and bits of rusty old metal, which the quarry has in abundance!
We’ve been meaning to go there, and finally got round to it. I’ll mention that it’s private property. The public are allowed to go there, but care must be taken of the place, and of your safety.
What impressed us most about the place is the sense of time passing…..from very deep time, when fossils and stone were being formed, through to when the stone was quarried, to today when it’s become a haven for wildlife.
I’ll now attempt to take you through time, starting with the fossil beds
If you go to the Fossil & Heritage Centre, Burray, you can see some examples of the fossils which were found here
We didn’t find any fossils, but if we had done I’d have taken pictures but taken nothing else
Some examples of the varied stones which constitute the quarry
These pieces of stone show marks of being used as a base for cutting other stone
From the quarry we could see the cairns on Vestra Fiold
Forward in time, to the ruin of a croft-house – once someone’s pride and joy – keeping it clean, having neighbours round
Then the land was quarried, and from that time there are massive pieces of machinery left to rust
Some of the abandoned digger buckets now hold small pools – a bit rank – but something lives there
And, there are actual pools – this one had beetles swimming in its depths
A tangle of rusty wire becomes a globe
The quarry was closed and abandoned, and folk took to dumping things there – a real assortment – including a Ford Fiesta which was also, once upon a time, someone’s pride and joy
Some used the quarry for shooting – there are I don’t know how many spent cartridge cases scattered about, and collected in one of the sheds
Shot-gun pellets gather in cracks in the rock – a different kind of rock-art?
And now, the quarry is a haven for wildlife
One of the sheds has a turf roof – something I’m always pleased to see – another bit of habitat
There are wonderful views – we could see for miles & miles & miles
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