Photocopied newspaper article about Tiree.
Local news about the dinner for the pier contractors employees at Scarinish Hotel provided by Lord Archibald Campbell and the speech given Lady Frances Balfour.
2001.49.13
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Tag Archives: piers
2001.49.16
Photocopied newspaper article about Tiree.
Local news about a visiting artist, the arrival of cement for the new pier, the home visit of Chief Engineer John Brown of Mannal, the opening of the schools after the summer holidays, harvesting, the new club house at Vaul golf course, the end of the tourist season, the meeting of the Parish Council at the Reading Room and return from holiday of Miss Robertson to Scarinish Post Office
1998.286.1
Audio cassette recording of David MacClounnan of Balephuil talking to John Donald MacLean in June 1998.
David MacClounnan (Dàibhidh na Croige) of Balephuil talks to John Donald MacLean (Teòn Dòmhnall a’ Mhuilinn) of Crossapol about himself and Flòraidh Bhàird going home by bicycle, fishing, the caves around ‘cowrie shell beach’, the hanging island, a mermaid found at Diobadal in Hynish, Hynish pier and Skerryvore lighthouse, a well in Balephuil, beach-combing, forts, second sight, the first tractor in Tiree, a fairy woman, old funerals and funeral costs.
2000.239.1
Report of the inspection of Gott Bay pier bu SAR Marine & General Ltd in 2000.
Report of the the underwater inspection of the linkspan terminal at Gott Bay pier by SAR Marine & General, Lancaster in 2000.
2004.2.2
John MacDonald of Heanish with visiting children at Gott Bay pier
Photograph of John MacDonald of Heanish with visiting children at Gott Bay pier around 1930.
Courtesy of Dr John MacDonald
John MacDonald of Heanish is seen here on the left with visiting children on Gott Bay pier around 1930. John, known as ‘Nonian’, was the caretaker for Scarinish lighthouse and also worked as a docker at the pier. On the right is Hector MacKinnon (Eachann Dhonnchaidh) of Scarinish. The horse belonged to Alan MacFadyen of Gott.
In those days, a railway ran down the centre of the pier and a bogey, pulled by the horse, carried cargo between the ferry or puffer and the pier shed and office where all loads were marked in the ledger and pier dues collected. The bogey was attached to the horse’s collar by chains which can be seen in the photograph.
Nonian was good piper and fiddle player and would sing at ceilidhs and dances. His favourite song was ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’.
Black and white photograph of John MacDonald on Gott Bay pier in the 1920s or 30s.
John MacDonald of Heanish is seen here on the left with visiting children on Gott Bay pier around 1930. John, known as ‘Nonian’, was the caretaker for Scarinish lighthouse and also worked as a docker at the pier. On the right is Hector MacKinnon (Eachann Dhonnchaidh) of Scarinish. The horse belonged to Alan MacFadyen of Gott. In those days, a railway ran down the centre of the pier and a bogey, pulled by the horse, carried cargo between the ferry or puffer and the pier shed and office where all loads were marked in the ledger and pier dues collected. The bogey was attached to the horse’s collar by chains which can be seen in the photograph.
2004.2.3
John and Donald MacDonald with a sunfish on Gott Bay pier
Photograph of John and Donald MacDonald with a sunfish on Gott Bay pier.
Courtesy of Dr John MacDonald
John MacDonald of Heanish and his son Donald were photographed with a sunfish on Gott Bay pier in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the most massive bony fish in the world and can grow over three metres in length.
Sunfish feed on jellyfish, plankton and small fish. They stay primarily in open waters, but can often be seen near kelp beds, large expanses of which surround Tiree. Its name ‘mola’ is Latin for ‘millstone’ which the fish is said to resemble in shape, colour and texture.
They propel themselves by flapping their large fins from side to side. Sometimes they are seen floating sideways in the water and it is commonly thought that they are basking in the sun. They are more often to be found further south in the waters round Cornwall and Wales.
Black and white photograph of John MacDonald on Gott Bay pier in the 1920s.
L-R: John `Nonian` MacDonald of Heanish and his son Donald with a sunfish on Gott Bay pier in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Donald jumped ship in Australia and lived there. (Donald is the brother of Jean MacEwan.)
2000.192.10
Colour photograph of the old pier office in 2000.
The old pier office in 2000.
2000.191.5
Lobster boat and dinghy at Scarinish pier
Photograph of a lobster boat and dinghy at Scarinish pier in July 2000.
Tiree may be known as Tìr an Eòrna, the land of barley, but the abundance of shellfish on its shores must have been one of the attractions that brought the first men to the island 7,000 years ago. In the 19th century, dried ling and cod were a major export from the island.
Today the lobster and crab fishery is Tiree’s second biggest earner with an estimated annual catch worth £750,000. By comparison, in 2004 crofting was estimated to be worth £730,000 to the island with a further £680,000 coming in subsidy.
Currently five boats fish out of Tiree for velvet crabs (deiseagan) and brown crabs (crùban or partan) which sell for 50-70 pence a kilo. ‘Deiseagan’ are particularly prized in Spain where they are cut in half and the body contents picked out whole with a spoon.
Colour photograph of Scarinish harbour in July 2000.
Lobster boat and dinghy at Scarinish pier in July 2000.
2003.184.1
Black and white photograph of Gott Bay pier in the 1920s.
The ferry at Gott Bay pier from a small photograph album from Silversands dating from the late 1920s.
2003.184.10
Black and white photograph of Gott Bay pier in the late 1920s or early 1930s
Gott Bay pier, from a small photograph album from Silversands in Vaul dating from the late 1920s.
