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More on the Pentland Skerries thread.
Upper: view towards Little Skerry from lighthouse on Muckle Skerry, 1991 (3 yrs before light was automated). The tower on right is a former lighthouse converted to foghorn use. Why the fields and their walls are so obsessively geometric I don't know.
Lower: seals (mostly Grey) hauled out on Muckle Skerry, 1997.
My first visit to the Skerries was with the unfortunate Burwick boatman on a routine changeover of keepers in 1953. Heavy swell prevented landing at the regular site, but a rather awkward exchange was effected in a more sheltered place. Too busy puking to be of much assistance, I recovered sufficiently on the return trip to be able to drive the relieved keeper back to Stromness without delay. (I was earning a more-or-less honest penny driving for Wishart's Garage in my summer vacation.)
Picture added on 04 April 2012 at 13:47
I have been told that my gt/grandfather, John Sinclair, built the walls around the lighthouse earning the best pay he ever had in his career as a stone mason.
Added by Herbert Mackenzie on 05 April 2012
A fine mason he must have been Herbert! I wonder if all the stone was quarried on the skerry - and of course, as I hinted before - why such perfect walls were needed in the first place.
Added by Ian Hourston on 10 April 2012
Sorry Ian, I have no knowledge of where the stone was quarried but imagine it would have been obtained on the Skerries.
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Added by Herbert Mackenzie on 12 April 2012
Other South Isle
