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| Diatomite | |
| Diatomite is a clay-like substance which is found in certain freshwater lochs. It is composed of microscopic siliceous skeletons of algae and was at one time widely used in the manufacture of dynamite and in the production of insulation. Today it has been lagely superseded by china clay for many of its purposes. Trotternish had two main mining areas for diatomite - one in Digg (Staffin) and the other at Loch Cuithir in Lealt. At the time of writing little is known of the mine at Digg which came to an end sometime after the First World War. It is known that initial extraction at Loch Cuithir took place in the 1850s, and that there were active and inactive periods for over a hundred years, until it ceased altogether, in 1959 or 1960. A railway was built at Loch Cuithir sometime between 1875 and 1898 to transport the diatomite from Lealt to Invertote - and there are traces of it to this day. In 1993, Donald Macnab of Solitote in Kilmaluag spoke to Sine Gillespie of the Dualchas Museums Service to give his own personal account of his diatomite years at Loch Cuithir, during the 1950s. The interview is reproduced with the kind permission of Dualchas Museums' Service. |
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In this collection, there is a group photo of the diatomite workers which was taken at An Amach in Dùn Mór, Dìg circa 1915. A quay was built at Port a' Bhlunden circa 1915. 'Blunden' was the diatomite engineer whose design was replicated for the quay. At Dìg, the workers operated the Blunden system of carrying cargo. The system was based on the laws of gravity. The carriages ran on wires (rather like a mountain car). There was an endless rail with anchor points here and there. Workers were stationed here and there on the production line. At the time of writing, there are still holes to be seen in the rocks where the wooden harbour was. It was a dry compound which was loaded onto the puffer at Port a' Bhlunden. It was comon to fill perhaps one puffer in a day. The traditional name for Port a' Bhlunden which preceded the diatomite days was Port Thruisg. Before the second world war broke out, there was building work ongoing at Loch Cuithir. Alasdair Thormoid was at that time supplementing his income by snaring rabbits in the woods during the winter. For this, he was on the go at 4.00 am, make and walking up to Ruigeadh na Coireachan - between Marisiadar and Geàros. Rabbits were plentiful. He would come home with a doun of rabbits and after dinner he visited the houses to sell them. Three men had come from Glendale for the work at Cuithir. One was given the nickname 'Snowdrop' because he was clad in white trousers on the day he arrived. Clearly, white trousers were most unusual on a building site, and hence the nickname. 'Snowdrop' had come to work at Loch Cuithir at the request of a man called 'Mutch'. Dòmhnall beag nan Crannag met with a man at Aros in 1996 who was knowledgeable about diatomite in north Skye. He knew about Loch Cuithir and about Dùn Mór (Dìg/Glas pheighinn), at Creag Sniosdail (Kilmuir) and behind Earlais. A road goes to Locha Mhor (behind Earlais) - it branches off where the minister's house is (ministear Shleite) on your right hand side to iochdar a' bhaile - before you reach croit Brown. Danaidh an t-Saoir - the road goes out to the loch. The township people built the road when they were cutting peats. The gentleman understood that the road had been built for the diatomite. Locha Mhór was a popular spot for fishing. The researchers of this study have not, however, established whether the diatomite ever was working behind Earlish. |
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