Knoydart Mica Mines
Posted: Monday, 26 May 2008 |
This is a bit out of sequence, simply because I had so many photos to go through and edit. I am also doing a contribution to another part of the 大象传媒 Scotland Outdoors web site, which I am still working on. The trip in this blog was last weekend (17th - 18th May)
The mineral mica was mined in Knoydart during WW2, as the normal supplies from India were disrupted. The mine is in one of the remotest places in the UK. In fact some contributers to a mines forum reckon it is possibly THE most remote mine in the UK
I had been determined to see it for a while and I also fancied a trip to Knoydart - a great remote area. Anyway, you can read more about the trip, its preparation and so on at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/outdoors/features/adventure_knoydart/
The article isnt actually finished yet, but here are some of the pics to go with it:
View to the hills from near the campsite at the shore. I was actually staying in the bunkhouse nearby
Monument in Glen Meadail
Folding in the rocks in Glen Meadail. On the Saturday that I arrives, I took a trip up this glen just to see the scenery. Impressive place!
More folding in the rocks.
Hills to the north of Gleann Meadail. Knoydart is great hill walking country -ruggged, steep, high, midgy.....
Two sets of antlers just lying casually beside the road.
On Sunday, I got up early and set off for the mines. The distance isnt that far in terms of "crows flying" but the ground is steep and rugged and progress tends to be slow.
This is Loch Braomasaig, on the way to the mines
Yet more excellent folding in the rocks near the mine
The mines are on the spur to the right above the lochan. Maybe hard to see in the pic, but there is a lot of debris from the workings on the hillside and it is easy to see
Me beside one of the workings. Note: hideous self conscious expression, always happens when you use a self timer. Note also: mines are totally unimpressive - little more than wee quarries in the hillside. No great dark, dank, spider infested tunnels deep into the bowels of the earth. All quite low key.
Now this is the stuff I was after - a really coarse granite called pegmatite, full of huge crystals of quartz and feldspar and of course, great chunks of mica. Some of them are up to 6 inches across. Very impressive
Some of the mica samples I took back with me - the hammer is about one foot in length, so you can get an impression of the sizes of these mica "books" as they get known. Best mica samples I have ever found in the Scottish hills. And still loads of the stuff lying around. No surprise really as it is is a seriously remote location
A little further down the hill, there is this ruin containing what I believe is a compressor, slowly rusting away
How they got it up there....
I love the name on the front of it "Lead Wool Co Ltd, Snodland, England"
This rather sorry looking wheelbarrow lay nearby
The view to Eigg and Rum from near the mine. And then it was the weary trek back to base again!
The view over to Rum was nice:
Next day I got the boat back to Mallaig:
And its farewell to Knoydart:
However, I wasnt quite finished. Later that day, I went from Morar over to the shore of Loch Nevis for a look at where I had been , from the south.
This is the view looking up Loch Nevis, probably the Scottish loch that is most "fjord like"
Now as y'all know, I hate hyperbole, but that hill in the distance, the pointy one is called Sgurr na Ciche. And it is simply the wost wonderful, amazing, fantastic hill on the west coast.
And this pic shows the mine location, across Loch Nevis. The white cross is the approximate site.
A great walk and definitely one I would like to do again
Bye for now!
MM
The mineral mica was mined in Knoydart during WW2, as the normal supplies from India were disrupted. The mine is in one of the remotest places in the UK. In fact some contributers to a mines forum reckon it is possibly THE most remote mine in the UK
I had been determined to see it for a while and I also fancied a trip to Knoydart - a great remote area. Anyway, you can read more about the trip, its preparation and so on at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/outdoors/features/adventure_knoydart/
The article isnt actually finished yet, but here are some of the pics to go with it:
View to the hills from near the campsite at the shore. I was actually staying in the bunkhouse nearby
Monument in Glen Meadail
Folding in the rocks in Glen Meadail. On the Saturday that I arrives, I took a trip up this glen just to see the scenery. Impressive place!
More folding in the rocks.
Hills to the north of Gleann Meadail. Knoydart is great hill walking country -ruggged, steep, high, midgy.....
Two sets of antlers just lying casually beside the road.
On Sunday, I got up early and set off for the mines. The distance isnt that far in terms of "crows flying" but the ground is steep and rugged and progress tends to be slow.
This is Loch Braomasaig, on the way to the mines
Yet more excellent folding in the rocks near the mine
The mines are on the spur to the right above the lochan. Maybe hard to see in the pic, but there is a lot of debris from the workings on the hillside and it is easy to see
Me beside one of the workings. Note: hideous self conscious expression, always happens when you use a self timer. Note also: mines are totally unimpressive - little more than wee quarries in the hillside. No great dark, dank, spider infested tunnels deep into the bowels of the earth. All quite low key.
Now this is the stuff I was after - a really coarse granite called pegmatite, full of huge crystals of quartz and feldspar and of course, great chunks of mica. Some of them are up to 6 inches across. Very impressive
Some of the mica samples I took back with me - the hammer is about one foot in length, so you can get an impression of the sizes of these mica "books" as they get known. Best mica samples I have ever found in the Scottish hills. And still loads of the stuff lying around. No surprise really as it is is a seriously remote location
A little further down the hill, there is this ruin containing what I believe is a compressor, slowly rusting away
How they got it up there....
I love the name on the front of it "Lead Wool Co Ltd, Snodland, England"
This rather sorry looking wheelbarrow lay nearby
The view to Eigg and Rum from near the mine. And then it was the weary trek back to base again!
The view over to Rum was nice:
Next day I got the boat back to Mallaig:
And its farewell to Knoydart:
However, I wasnt quite finished. Later that day, I went from Morar over to the shore of Loch Nevis for a look at where I had been , from the south.
This is the view looking up Loch Nevis, probably the Scottish loch that is most "fjord like"
Now as y'all know, I hate hyperbole, but that hill in the distance, the pointy one is called Sgurr na Ciche. And it is simply the wost wonderful, amazing, fantastic hill on the west coast.
And this pic shows the mine location, across Loch Nevis. The white cross is the approximate site.
A great walk and definitely one I would like to do again
Bye for now!
MM
Comments
Lovely photos MM, as ever...but how did they get planning permission for that huge Hollywood-style X on the hillside? Tsk!
Flying Cat from fairly midge-free so far
Wonderful blog, MM. You must be an enormously energetic walker! We used to use mica to make ultra-thin carbon films for electron microscopy - the freshly-cleaved surface was contamination-free and smooth at the atomic level. What was the use in WW2? Pegmatite rings a bell - is it stuff that has been deep in the bowels of the earth for eons and eons and is sort of furrin when it emerges on the surface once more?
Barney from Swithiod make mine mica
really lovely snaps,mm,expercially the ones of eigg and rum-no pics of the lovely sands at morar??
carol from getting ready to send midgies over to FC
Hi Carol - actually, when I got back from Knoydart, the lighting was not very good - that why the last shot (the Hollywood one :-))))))) is a bit flat and lacking in oomph. To get the Morar sands and the beaches near Arisaig, just right, you need nice lighting. But I'll be up there again soon I hope! Cheers MM
MM from Mull
mm interesting blog and nice photos as always, thanks,
island threads from lewis
Sadly, the LeadWool Company, Snodland is now a housing estate, although there is some nice views across the River Medway to the North Downs above Burham and Wouldham.
John Coomber from Snodland, Kent
Exploring the hills and coasts of Mull and Iona and occasionally elsewhere, with a close eye on the geology
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