Aerial view of part of Ballachulish village, and of the slate quarries

Description Aerial view of part of Ballachulish village, and of the slate quarries

Date 1991

Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography

Catalogue Number SC 1676187

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 69302

Scope and Content Ballachulish slate quarries from north, Highland The village of Ballachulish was developed around slate quarries established in 1693. The quarries provided waste material which was used to create the nearby harbour. Most of the housing was built in the 20th century by the local council to provide accommodation for quarry workers, although the site ceased working in 1955. This shows the disused and flooded quarries next to the village of Ballachulish (right). Although now filled with water, it is still possible to see the terraces where stone was quarried (centre). Much of the quarry waste was used to build the harbour (bottom right) and other structures in the town. Some rows of local authority housing can also be seen (right). Slate would be blasted out from the quarry and loaded onto railway wagons to be drawn by horses to the dressing sheds. Here highly skilled workers would split the rocks into thin sheets and trim them to the correct size using a special knife. An apprentice would have to spend seven years in the quarry before being considered a qualified slate worker, dresser and splitter. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1676187

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap