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  • Byre floor

    The byre floor at Jake Munn’s farmhouse in Baugh. The whitewashed channels for sweeping the dung out can be seen. The wall construction, using lime mortar is also shown, as well as the fixture for restraining cattle. By kind permission of Andy Cameron, the present owner.
    The byre floor at Jake Munn’s farmhouse in Baugh. The whitewashed channels for sweeping the dung out can be seen. The wall construction, using lime mortar is also shown, as well as the fixture for restraining cattle. By kind permission of Andy Cameron, the present owner.
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  • Third pier at Scarinish harbour

    Used at very low tide. A series of metal stanchions and a concrete ramp were installed, possibly during the Second World War. There is a small quay at the water’s edge.

    ‘The Boat Slip is making good progress. Bags of cement, one upon the other, are laid in front, and already the slip is proving of some use for boats going out to the steamers. Mr MacArthur and his assistant spare no pains in making the slip a complete success. It will be of the utmost value to the island. ‘ (Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser 27 October 1900, 6)
    Used at very low tide. A series of metal stanchions and a concrete ramp were installed, possibly during the Second World War. There is a small quay at the water’s edge.

    ‘The Boat Slip is making good progress. Bags of cement, one upon the other, are laid in front, and already the slip is proving of some use for boats going out to the steamers. Mr MacArthur and his assistant spare no pains in making the slip a complete success. It will be of the utmost value to the island. ‘ (Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser 27 October 1900, 6)
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  • Sunrise at the Hough stone circles

    Taken 20.9.2024
    Taken 20.9.2024
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  • An Fhang, Happy Valley

    The sheepfold at the north end of Happy Valley. It was built between 1850 and 1878. The west side has been almost completely covered by sand blow.
    The sheepfold at the north end of Happy Valley. It was built between 1850 and 1878. The west side has been almost completely covered by sand blow.
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  • Kelp drying walls

    A low bank of cobbles, and an augmented outcrop
    A low bank of cobbles, and an augmented outcrop
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  • Sluice gate and aqueduct, Ben Hynish

    This sluice gate and aqueduct was built by Alan Stevenson around 1840 to carry water down to the lighthouse shore station. It was collected in a dam, and used to scour out the box harbour when it fills with sand.
    This sluice gate and aqueduct was built by Alan Stevenson around 1840 to carry water down to the lighthouse shore station. It was collected in a dam, and used to scour out the box harbour when it fills with sand.
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  • Hawthorn tree in Balephuil

    A square of trees (hawthorn and elder) was planted by the factor in Glac nan Smear ‘the hollow of the berries’ in Balephuil in 1802. Only a handful survive. This photograph was taken in May 2017.
    A square of trees (hawthorn and elder) was planted by the factor in Glac nan Smear ‘the hollow of the berries’ in Balephuil in 1802. Only a handful survive. This photograph was taken in May 2017.
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  • Cross-beds in a sand dune

    These cross-beds, or layers, in an erosion scarp in a sand dune on the Barrapol machair are caused by successive sand blows. There have been a number of periods when storms have been more common—in the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and the Little Ice Age from around 1400 to 1900. Huge amounts of sand were blown inland, covering fields and farms.
    These cross-beds, or layers, in an erosion scarp in a sand dune on the Barrapol machair are caused by successive sand blows. There have been a number of periods when storms have been more common—in the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and the Little Ice Age from around 1400 to 1900. Huge amounts of sand were blown inland, covering fields and farms.
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  • Film showing evidence of iron-rich water

    ‘With its iron-rich bedrock, and with a flat, poorly draining and acidic hinterland, Tiree is likely to have been quite well-supplied with iron in the late prehistoric and Early Medieval periods. Many forms of the Lewisian gneiss complex have a high iron content, concentrated in its darker bands. This is slowly leached from the surface of the rock by water in a process of chemical weathering. Iron-oxidising bacteria then feed on this iron-rich water. In doing so, they produce nodules containing iron oxyhydroxide, which collect in the banks of small streams on the sliabh. This is bog iron. These flat landscapes cut by streams lined with darkly stained rocks, and pools of rust-coloured water with their characteristic iridescent film, were highly prized in late prehistoric and Early Medieval times. They are very common on Tiree. A plausible derivation of the Tiree primary settlement name Ruaig is ON *Rauðavík ‘the red inlet’ from the iron-rich water in its hinterland (see Gazetteer). The modern name of the moorland east of this settlement is G An Sliabh Dearg ‘the red moor’. Bog iron is a renewable resource, and an area can be re-harvested approximately every generation. Smelting and smithing were extremely fuel-intensive, however, and iron production and processing came at some environmental cost. Tiree’s woodlands are likely to have been much reduced by the Early Medieval period (see section 5.6.5). Most of the charcoal needed to create the high temperatures demanded must have been made by the controlled burning of peat over several days inside a turfcovered clamp. Bog iron nodules were first roasted to create surface cracks. Smelting was done in a small furnace called a bloomery. This was made from clay that was tempered with dung. After lighting a fire inside the furnace to dry the clay, the bog iron and peat-charcoal were loaded in equal proportions. After setting light to the mixture, the furnace was then pumped from below with bellows. Liquid waste slag collected at the base and could be drained through a small hole, leaving the sponge-like iron-rich bloom to be picked out of another hole with tongs. The bloom then had to be beaten and re-heated to purify it. Objects made with bog iron have a characteristic sheen due to the high silica content and are relatively rust-resistant. Bloomeries, with their unmistakable conical heaps of slag, were usually sited on the sliabh near the raw materials, and slag and pottery moulds have been found recently at Baca Charachain, a deflated dune in Balevullin.’ Holliday, J. (2021) Longships on the Sand, pp. 200–1.
    ‘With its iron-rich bedrock, and with a flat, poorly draining and acidic hinterland, Tiree is likely to have been quite well-supplied with iron in the late prehistoric and Early Medieval periods. Many forms of the Lewisian gneiss complex have a high iron content, concentrated in its darker bands. This is slowly leached from the surface of the rock by water in a process of chemical weathering. Iron-oxidising bacteria then feed on this iron-rich water. In doing so, they produce nodules containing iron oxyhydroxide, which collect in the banks of small streams on the sliabh. This is bog iron. These flat landscapes cut by streams lined with darkly stained rocks, and pools of rust-coloured water with their characteristic iridescent film, were highly prized in late prehistoric and Early Medieval times. They are very common on Tiree. A plausible derivation of the Tiree primary settlement name Ruaig is ON *Rauðavík ‘the red inlet’ from the iron-rich water in its hinterland (see Gazetteer). The modern name of the moorland east of this settlement is G An Sliabh Dearg ‘the red moor’. Bog iron is a renewable resource, and an area can be re-harvested approximately every generation. Smelting and smithing were extremely fuel-intensive, however, and iron production and processing came at some environmental cost. Tiree’s woodlands are likely to have been much reduced by the Early Medieval period (see section 5.6.5). Most of the charcoal needed to create the high temperatures demanded must have been made by the controlled burning of peat over several days inside a turfcovered clamp. Bog iron nodules were first roasted to create surface cracks. Smelting was done in a small furnace called a bloomery. This was made from clay that was tempered with dung. After lighting a fire inside the furnace to dry the clay, the bog iron and peat-charcoal were loaded in equal proportions. After setting light to the mixture, the furnace was then pumped from below with bellows. Liquid waste slag collected at the base and could be drained through a small hole, leaving the sponge-like iron-rich bloom to be picked out of another hole with tongs. The bloom then had to be beaten and re-heated to purify it. Objects made with bog iron have a characteristic sheen due to the high silica content and are relatively rust-resistant. Bloomeries, with their unmistakable conical heaps of slag, were usually sited on the sliabh near the raw materials, and slag and pottery moulds have been found recently at Baca Charachain, a deflated dune in Balevullin.’ Holliday, J. (2021) Longships on the Sand, pp. 200–1.
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